Final
Houston Rockets at Dallas Mavericks
135 – 117
2026-27 · Preseason · Preseason
Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 5:36 pm EDTNBA legend. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Ralph Sampson
Career at a glance
Ralph Sampson played 9 NBA regular seasons between 1983 and 1992, appearing in 456 games and averaging 15.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He played for 4 teams: Houston (1983–88, 305 games), Golden State (1987–89, 90 games), Sacramento (1989–91, 51 games), Washington (1991–92, 10 games). His best scoring season was 1984–85 with Houston: 22.1 points per game over 82 games.
He rebounded best in 1983–84 at 11.1 per game. In the playoffs he appeared in 4 postseason runs (38 games, 18.7 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 7,000 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total).
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Ralph Sampson
Ralph Lee Sampson Jr. (born July 7, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A 7-foot-4-inch (2.24m) phenom, three-time college national player of the year, and first overall selection in the 1983 NBA draft, Sampson brought heavy expectations with him to the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The NBA Rookie of the Year, Sampson averaged 20.7 points and 10.9 rebounds for his first three seasons with the Houston Rockets before injuries began to take their toll. Three knee surgeries later, after 12 seasons in professional basketball, he retired in 1995 as a four-time NBA All-Star and the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the 1985 NBA All-Star Game.
- Born
- July 7, 1960 (age 66) Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S.
- Listed height
- 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m)
- Listed weight
- 228 lb (103 kg)
- Position
- Center / power forward
- High school
- Harrisonburg (Harrisonburg, Virginia)
- College
- Virginia (1979–1983)
- NBA draft
- 1983: 1st round, 1st overall pick
- Playing career
- 1983–1995
Career highlights and awards
- 4× NBA All-Star (1984–1987)
- NBA All-Star Game MVP (1985)
- All-NBA Second Team (1985)
- NBA Rookie of the Year (1984)
- NBA All-Rookie Team (1984)
- 3× National college player of the year (1981–1983)
- 3× Consensus first-team All-American (1981–1983)
- ACC Athlete of the Year (1983)
- 3× ACC Player of the Year (1981–1983)
- NIT MVP (1980)
- 3× First-team All-ACC (1981–1983)
- ACC Rookie of the Year (1980)
- No. 50 retired by Virginia Cavaliers
- McDonald's All-American (1979)
- First-team Parade All-American (1979)
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983–84 | Houston | 82 | 82 | 32.8 | .523 | .250 | .661 | 11.1 | 2.0 | .9 | 2.4 | 21.0 |
| 1984–85 | Houston | 82 | 82 | 37.6 | .502 | .000 | .676 | 10.4 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 22.1 |
| 1985–86 | Houston | 79 | 76 | 36.3 | .488 | .133 | .641 | 11.1 | 3.6 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 18.9 |
| 1986–87 | Houston | 43 | 32 | 30.8 | .489 | .000 | .624 | 8.7 | 2.8 | .9 | 1.3 | 15.6 |
| 1987–88 | Houston | 19 | 19 | 37.1 | .439 | .333 | .741 | 9.1 | 1.9 | .9 | 1.7 | 15.9 |
| 1987–88 | Golden State | 29 | 25 | 33.0 | .438 | .000 | .775 | 10.0 | 2.9 | .8 | 1.9 | 15.4 |
| 1988–89 | Golden State | 61 | 36 | 17.8 | .449 | .375 | .653 | 5.0 | 1.3 | .5 | 1.1 | 6.4 |
| 1989–90 | Sacramento | 26 | 7 | 16.0 | .372 | .250 | .522 | 3.2 | 1.1 | .5 | .8 | 4.2 |
| 1990–91 | Sacramento | 25 | 4 | 13.9 | .366 | .200 | .263 | 4.4 | .7 | .4 | .7 | 3.0 |
| 1991–92 | Washington | 10 | 0 | 10.8 | .310 | .000 | .667 | 3.0 | .4 | .3 | .8 | 2.2 |
| Career | 456 | 363 | 29.8 | .486 | .172 | .661 | 8.8 | 2.3 | .9 | 1.6 | 15.4 | |
| All-Star | 3 | 2 | 22.0 | .636 | — | .700 | 6.3 | .7 | .0 | .3 | 16.3 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Houston | 5 | 5 | 38.6 | .430 | 1.000 | .514 | 16.6 | 1.4 | .4 | 1.6 | 21.2 |
| 1986 | Houston | 20 | 20 | 37.1 | .518 | 1.000 | .729 | 10.8 | 4.0 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 20.0 |
| 1987 | Houston | 10 | 10 | 33.0 | .514 | .500 | .814 | 8.8 | 2.1 | .2 | 1.2 | 18.6 |
| 1989 | Golden State | 3 | 1 | 14.3 | .409 | .000 | .500 | 4.7 | .3 | .3 | .7 | 6.7 |
| Career | 38 | 36 | 34.4 | .497 | .375 | .703 | 10.5 | 2.9 | .9 | 1.5 | 18.7 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979–80 | Virginia | 34 | — | 29.9 | .547 | — | .702 | 11.2 | 1.1 | .8 | 4.6 | 14.9 |
| 1980–81 | Virginia | 33 | 31 | 32.0 | .557 | — | .631 | 11.5 | 1.5 | .8 | 3.1 | 17.7 |
| 1981–82 | Virginia | 32 | 31 | 31.3 | .561 | — | .615 | 11.4 | 1.2 | .6 | 3.1 | 15.8 |
| 1982–83 | Virginia | 33 | 33 | 30.2 | .604 | — | .704 | 11.7 | 1.0 | .6 | 3.1 | 19.0 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 7′ 4″
- Weight
- 228 lb
- Position
- Center / power forward
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1983
- Draft pick
- Round 1 · Pick 1
Height, Weight, Position, Country, Draft year, Draft pick: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
Latest on Ralph Sampson
Roster observations
These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.
No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.
Profile source
Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.
View the official NBA player profile ↗