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Player profile · NYK / WSB
DeWayne Scales
DeWayne Scales stats, teams and career impact
#2286 all-timeCareer averages · 4.6 PPG · 2.9 RPG · 0.2 APGPeak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded
- Position
- Power forward
- Final NBA team
- Washington Bullets
- Height / weight
- 6 ft 8 in (203 cm) · 208 lb (94 kg)
- Born
- December 28, 1958 (67 yrs old)
- College
- LSU
- NBA seasons
- 3 seasons · 1980–81 to 1983–84
Career summaryDeWayne Scales was a power forward who played 3 NBA seasons, from 1980–81 through 1983–84.
- Career PPG
- 4.6
- Career RPG
- 2.9
- Career APG
- 0.2
- #241 in 1980–81
- #2286 all-time
Career overview
Why DeWayne Scales ranks #2286 all time
DeWayne Scales ranks #2286 all time. Across his three best seasons, his average league finish was #247.0. His full-career value ranks #3972, so this placement is driven more by dominance than longevity.
450+ minutes required per season
49 games · Career Value Rank #3972
Head to head
Compare DeWayne Scales with…
Suggested matchups from basketball rivalries, comparable roles, and similar careers. Compare career impact, peak seasons, and the numbers behind the result.
- DeWayne Scales vs. Nikoloz Tskitishvili Similar career path
- DeWayne Scales vs. Eddie Lee Wilkins Similar career path
- DeWayne Scales vs. Mel Bennett Similar career path
- DeWayne Scales vs. Bob Thornton Similar career path
- DeWayne Scales vs. Rafael Araújo Similar career path
- DeWayne Scales vs. Tyrone Wallace Similar career path
- DeWayne Scales vs. John Duren Same-era comparison
- DeWayne Scales vs. Carl Nicks Same-era comparison
- DeWayne Scales vs. Charles Bradley Same-era comparison
- DeWayne Scales vs. Rudy Macklin Same-era comparison
Full player detailsTeam history, career shooting and sources
Full team history
- Teams
- New York Knicks and Washington Bullets
Career shooting
NBA regular season- Field goal
- 41.7%FG%
- Three-point
- 16.7%3P%
- Free throw
- 62.8%FT%
49 career games · 521 minutes
Sources and updateConventional stats and measurements: Basketball Reference, accessed Sep 13, 2026. hussEyquation ranking data through 2025–26. Life dates: Wikidata; conflicting dates checked against Basketball Reference, accessed Sep 17, 2026.
Traditional box score
DeWayne Scales stats by season
Start with scoring and impact, then switch views for shooting or the full advanced picture. Career percentages use total makes and attempts.
Box impact is an estimate in points per 100 possessions, not the 0–100 Impact Rate score. Zero is league average; higher is better. Rate rank is a league place: No. 1 is best.
Swipe for PPG · RPG · APG · Box impact · Team · G · GS · MPG →
| pts/100 · higher is better | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983–84 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | -11.77 | WSB | 2 | 0 | 6.5 | 60.0% | — | 0.0% | — | -2.6 |
| 1981–82 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.0 | -11.49 | NYK | 3 | 0 | 8.0 | 20.0% | — | 50.0% | — | -4.7 |
| 1980–81 | 4.9 | 3.0 | 0.2 | -5.16 | NYK | 44 | 7 | 11.0 | 41.8% | 16.7% | 66.7% | #241 | -32.2 |
| Career | 4.6 | 2.9 | 0.2 | — | NYK/WSB | 49 | — | 10.6 | 41.7% | 16.7% | 62.8% | — | — |
Source: Basketball Reference regular-season totals, accessed Sep 13, 2026.
What these measures mean
- Box impact
- Estimated points per 100 possessions above that season's league average, from the historical box-score model. Zero is league average; higher is better. Historical defense estimates are included where labeled. This is not the live model's lineup-adjusted estimate.
- Impact Rate
- A 0–100 score comparing performance within one season. Higher is better. This is a score, not points per possession.
- Impact estimate
- The season model's final estimated points per 100 possessions above league average, before conversion to the 0–100 Impact Rate score. It includes lineup evidence where available. Zero is league average; higher is better.
- Impact Rate rank
- The player's place among qualified players in that season's Impact Rate ranking. No. 1 is best. This is a rank, not an impact score.
- Value contribution / Season Value
- Completed seasons use a fixed-baseline contribution to Career Value. The live season instead uses Season Value, combining that season's impact with workload.
- Career Impact Rank
- An all-time rank weighted toward the player's best three, five, and ten seasons.
247.8 composite · lower is better
248.2 average league finish
-39 total value
- Impact Rate
- 0–100 score within one season. Higher is better.
- Box impact
- Estimated points per 100 possessions above league average, from the historical model. Zero is average; higher is better.
Career standing
How DeWayne Scales ranks all time
These are league placements, not raw scores. Each season is judged against that season's qualified player pool.
Best in the league
Elite finishes
Upper-tier finishes
Tie-breaker across top-ten seasons
Best 3, Best 5, and Best 10 average league finishes receive 50%, 30%, and 20% window weights. Missing seasons receive a replacement finish just below the player's typical qualified field. Lower is better.
- Best 3 effective weight
- 74%
- Missing-season finish
- 250.0
- Qualified seasons
- 1
- All-time rank
- #2286
Every season
DeWayne Scales advanced stats by season
Era-centered box impact supports comparisons through time. Impact Rate and its rank compare players only within that season.
More advanced statsAge, minutes, impact, rank, value and data coverage
Career movement
DeWayne Scales's box impact by season
Peak box impact -5.16 points per 100 possessions in 1980–81 · 3 seasons · 521 minutes
Box impact estimates points per 100 possessions above each season's league average. Zero is average; higher is better. Rank labels show Impact Rate league places, not ranks on this chart's box-impact scale.
Early-career comparison
Compare the first 3 seasons
Both players are limited to their first 3 seasons. Later seasons never affect the selection or score, and the result is not a career prediction.
| NBA season | DeWayne Scales | Nikoloz Tskitishvili |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | -5.2 | -4.0 |
| 2 | -11.5 | -7.8 |
| 3 | -11.8 | -8.7 |
NBA season number · first 3 seasons only
Similar starts
Players with starts similar to DeWayne Scales
The start-similarity percentile compares era-relative impact, season-relative workload, trajectory, debut age, and role across exactly 3 seasons and 2,104 eligible starts. Higher means closer; it is not a probability or forecast.
Nikoloz Tskitishvili
91.8start similarity percentile
Eddie Lee Wilkins
90.5start similarity percentile
Mel Bennett
85.7start similarity percentile
Impact Rate shows how strong a player was compared with everyone else that season. Season Value adds how much he played; completed player-profile rows instead show each season's fixed-baseline contribution to Career Value. Career Impact Rank rewards a high peak, a long prime, and repeated seasons near the top. Older seasons use clearly labeled estimates where the NBA did not record today's full set of statistics. Read how every ranking works →