Ernie DiGregorio
Ernie DiGregorio is an American former National Basketball Association player.
He was the 1973-74 NBA Rookie of the Year and holds the NBA rookie record for assists in a single game with 25. Due to a severe knee injury suffered early in DiGregorio's professional career, he played only five NBA seasons.
He was selected third overall by the Buffalo Braves in the 1973 NBA draft out of Providence College, and won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 1973-74 after averaging 15.2 points and leading the league in both free throw percentage and assists per game. DiGregorio still holds the NBA rookie record for assists in a single game with 25 (a record now shared with Nate McMillan). He would never again come close to that level of production, but managed to have a decent NBA career, most of which he spent with the Braves.
During the 1976-77 season, DiGregorio led the league in free throw percentage a second time, with a then-NBA record 94.5%, and going into the 2019-20 season, the eighth-greatest one-season percentage in NBA history. In 1977, he joined fellow NBA stars Julius Erving, Rick Barry, Wilt Chamberlain, and Peter Maravich, in endorsing Spalding's line of rubber basketballs.
Before the 1977-78 season, DiGregorio was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, and played in a Lakers' uniform in only 25 games before being waived. The Boston Celtics signed him as a free agent but he played only sparingly for the rest of the season. He would not play in the NBA again, although he did not formally retire until 1981.
A 1973 NCAA All-American at Providence, DiGregorio was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
He was the 1973-74 NBA Rookie of the Year and holds the NBA rookie record for assists in a single game with 25. Due to a severe knee injury suffered early in DiGregorio's professional career, he played only five NBA seasons.
He was selected third overall by the Buffalo Braves in the 1973 NBA draft out of Providence College, and won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 1973-74 after averaging 15.2 points and leading the league in both free throw percentage and assists per game. DiGregorio still holds the NBA rookie record for assists in a single game with 25 (a record now shared with Nate McMillan). He would never again come close to that level of production, but managed to have a decent NBA career, most of which he spent with the Braves.
During the 1976-77 season, DiGregorio led the league in free throw percentage a second time, with a then-NBA record 94.5%, and going into the 2019-20 season, the eighth-greatest one-season percentage in NBA history. In 1977, he joined fellow NBA stars Julius Erving, Rick Barry, Wilt Chamberlain, and Peter Maravich, in endorsing Spalding's line of rubber basketballs.
Before the 1977-78 season, DiGregorio was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, and played in a Lakers' uniform in only 25 games before being waived. The Boston Celtics signed him as a free agent but he played only sparingly for the rest of the season. He would not play in the NBA again, although he did not formally retire until 1981.
A 1973 NCAA All-American at Providence, DiGregorio was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.