UVA alum Malcolm Brogdon was named the NBA Rookie of the Year at the league’s awards ceremony Monday night.
The 36th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Brogdon is the first Rookie of the Year honoree not taken in the first round of the draft in the common draft era, dating to 1966.
“This is a testament to guys who are overlooked, guys who are second-round picks,” said Brogdon, who spent five years at Virginia, including a redshirt year in his sophomore season, before joining the Milwaukee Bucks.
Brogdon led all rookies in assists (4.2 apg) and steals (1.12 spg) and ranked second in three-point field goal percentage (40.4) and free throw percentage (86.5). He was also third in field goal percentage (45.7) and fourth in scoring (10.2 ppg).
Brogdon became one of just five rookies in NBA history to shoot 40 percent or better from 3-point range while averaging at least 4.0 assists per game. He recorded the first rookie triple-double in Bucks’ history, and the only one by a rookie during the 2016-17 season, when he scored 15 points with 12 assists and 11 rebounds at Chicago on Dec. 31.
Brogdon emerged as the team’s starting point guard as the 2016-2017 season played out.
After the All-Star break, Brogdon averaged 12 points per game on 49 percent shooting from the field.
“I just think it’s an important message for people to see. That it can be done, that it takes a lot of hard work, it takes a lot of sacrifice and a lot of good decisions,” said Brogdon, who was a three-time first-team All-ACC player at Virginia, and was the 2016 ACC Player of the Year.
Brogdon joins Ralph Sampson as Cavaliers who have been honored as the NBA Rookie of the Year. Sampson averaged 21 points and 11.1 rebounds en route to NBA Rookie of the Year honors in 1984.
UVA retired his number 15 at a ceremony in February in which Brogdon was also presented with his master’s in public policy degree.
That was after he dunked on LeBron, as seen in the video below.
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