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Ralph Lee Sampson (born July 7 1960 in Harrisonburg, Virginia) was arguably the most heavily recruited (for both college and the NBA) basketball prospect of his generation. Playing for the University of Virginia, he was the only three-time National Player of the Year in the history of college basketball, and was a #1 Draft Pick, three-time NBA All-Star, and Rookie of the Year for the Houston Rockets. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated an unprecedented six times in a span of less than four years (issues of December 17, 1979; December 1, 1980; March 30, 1981; November 29, 1982; December 20, 1982; and October 31, 1983).
Standing 7'4" but at a lean 220 pounds, he could dunk the ball almost without jumping yet was agile enough to dribble behind his back and often even tried to emulate the role of a point guard. His NBA career quickly deteriorated as he became burdened with numerous knee injuries, as though he was well over 7 feet tall, he played power forward for the Rockets and often bent over to guard men much smaller. This was because 7'0" Akeem Olajuwon played center and the versatile Sampson preferred to play forward. Together, they were called the "Twin Towers" between 1984 and 1988. By the time he was traded to the Golden State Warriors, the rest of his career was very limited.
Ralph Sampson won numerous individual awards in the short period of time he was healthy, but one thing he was not able to do was win a National Championship or an NBA Championship. He played in the Final Four with Virginia in 1981 and his Houston Rockets played in the NBA Finals of 1986, but each time he was turned away without winning the elusive championship.
College Statistics
| SEASON | TEAM | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG
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| '79-80 | Virginia | 34 | 34 | 29.9 | .547 | .702 | 11.2 | 1.1 | 14.9
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| '80-81 | Virginia | 33 | 33 | 32.0 | .557 | .631 | 11.5 | 1.5 | 17.7
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| '81-82 | Virginia | 32 | 32 | 31.3 | .561 | .615 | 11.4 | 1.2 | 15.8
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| '82-83 | Virginia | 33 | 33 | 30.2 | .604 | .704 | 11.7 | 1.0 | 19.1
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NBA Draft: Selected in the 1st round (1st overall).
NBA Statistics
| SEASON | TEAM | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG
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| '83-84 | Houston | 82 | 82 | 32.8 | .523 | .661 | 11.1 | 2.0 | 21.0
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| '84-85 | Houston | 82 | 82 | 37.6 | .502 | .676 | 10.4 | 2.7 | 22.1
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| '85-86 | Houston | 79 | 79 | 36.3 | .488 | .641 | 11.1 | 3.6 | 18.9
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| '86-87 | Houston | 43 | 43 | 30.8 | .489 | .624 | 8.7 | 2.8 | 15.6
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| '87-88 | Houston | 19 | 19 | 37.1 | .439 | .741 | 9.1 | 1.9 | 15.9
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| '87-88 | Golden State | 29 | 29 | 33.0 | .438 | .775 | 10.0 | 2.9 | 15.4
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| '88-89 | Golden State | 61 | 61 | 17.8 | .449 | .653 | 5.0 | 1.3 | 6.4
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| '89-90 | Sacramento | 26 | 26 | 16.0 | .372 | .522 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 4.2
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| '90-91 | Sacramento | 25 | 25 | 13.9 | .366 | .263 | 4.4 | 0.7 | 3.0
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| '91-92 | Washington | 10 | 10 | 10.8 | .310 | .667 | 3.0 | 0.4 | 2.2
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