Player profile · SYR

Wally Osterkorn

Wally Osterkorn stats, teams and career impact

#618 all-timeCareer averages · 7.0 PPG · 6.0 RPG · 1.7 APGPeak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded

Position: Small forward
Final NBA team: Syracuse Nationals
Height / weight: 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) · 215 lb (98 kg)
Born: July 6, 1928
Died: January 11, 2012 (83 yrs old)
College: Illinois
NBA seasons: 4 seasons · 1951–52 to 1954–55

Career or season view

Career summaryWally Osterkorn was a small forward who played 4 NBA seasons, from 1951–52 through 1954–55.

Career PPG: 7.0
Career RPG: 6.0
Career APG: 1.7; #37 in 1953–54; #618 all-time

Peak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded

Career overview

Why Wally Osterkorn ranks #618 all time

Wally Osterkorn ranks #618 all time. Across his three best seasons, his average league finish was #54.7. His full-career value ranks #1390, so this placement is driven more by dominance than longevity.

Peak#37 in 1953–54

Best league finish

Sustained excellence3 ranked seasons

450+ minutes required per season

Career breadth4 seasons

204 games · Career Value Rank #1390

Head to head

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Full player detailsTeam history, career shooting and sources

Full team history

Teams: Syracuse Nationals
Greatest 76ers →

Career shooting

NBA regular season

Field goal: 33.4%FG%
Three-point: —3P%
Free throw: 59.2%FT%

204 career games · 5,187 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

Wally Osterkorn 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
1954–55	2.9	3.7	0.9	-5.46	SYR	19	0	15.1	20.6%	—	50.0%	—	-21.3
1953–54	8.8	7.0	2.2	-0.11	SYR	70	0	30.9	34.6%	—	57.9%	#37	79.7
1952–53	5.6	4.4	1.2	-1.52	SYR	49	0	20.7	32.4%	—	63.1%	#71	9.4
1951–52	7.4	6.7	1.8	-0.78	SYR	66	0	26.1	35.1%	—	59.4%	#56	42.1
Career	7.0	6.0	1.7	—	SYR	204	—	25.4	33.4%	—	59.2%	—	—

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.

Career Impact Rank#618

65.4 composite · lower is better

Best 5#698

71.2 average league finish

Career Value Rank#1390

110 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 Wally Osterkorn ranks all time

These are league placements, not raw scores. Each season is judged against that season's qualified player pool.

Number-one seasons0

Best in the league

Top-five seasons0

Elite finishes

Top-ten seasons0

Upper-tier finishes

Top-10 Impact Margin0.0

Tie-breaker across top-ten seasons

Career Composite Score65.4

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: 96.0
Qualified seasons: 3
All-time rank: #618

Strongest seasons

Every season

Wally Osterkorn 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

					pts/100 · higher is better	0–100 · higher is better
1954–55Historical Defense Estimate	SYR	26	19	286	-5.46	—	—	-21.3	—	Modeled
1953–54Historical Defense Estimate	SYR	25	70	2,164	-0.11	56.1	#37	79.7	62nd	Modeled
1952–53Historical Defense Estimate	SYR	24	49	1,016	-1.52	25.5	#71	9.4	28th	Modeled
1951–52Historical Defense Estimate	SYR	23	66	1,721	-0.78	42.1	#56	42.1	47th	Modeled

Career movement

Wally Osterkorn's box impact by season

Peak box impact -0.11 points per 100 possessions in 1953–54 · 4 seasons · 5,187 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.

Box impact · points per 100 possessionsMinutesModeled estimate

Player-specific impact scaleWorkload

Early-career comparison

Compare the first 4 seasons

Both players are limited to their first 4 seasons. Later seasons never affect the selection or score, and the result is not a career prediction.

Compare with a similar careerOpen full comparison →

Wally OsterkornTim Kempton

Box impactEra-adjusted points per 100 possessions above league average · higher is better · dashed marker means the player did not play

Wally Osterkorn and Tim Kempton era-centered impact values by NBA season number
NBA season	Wally Osterkorn	Tim Kempton
1	-0.8	-2.3
2	-1.5	-2.8
3	-0.1	-1.8
4	-5.5	-7.6

NBA season number · first 4 seasons only

Similar starts

Players with starts similar to Wally Osterkorn

The start-similarity percentile compares era-relative impact, season-relative workload, trajectory, debut age, and role across exactly 4 seasons and 1,880 eligible starts. Higher means closer; it is not a probability or forecast.

PF · All-Time Career #1976

Tim Kempton

95.7

start similarity percentile

Impact: very closeWorkload: closeTrend: closeAge: very closeRole: very close

Medium evidence · first 4 seasonsClosest early-season pairing · 1953–54 ↔ 1989–90 PF · All-Time Career #1868

Larry Krystkowiak

95.7

start similarity percentile

Impact: closeWorkload: very closeTrend: closeAge: very closeRole: very close

Medium evidence · first 4 seasonsClosest early-season pairing · 1953–54 ↔ 1988–89 SG · All-Time Career #2345

Felipe López

94.8

start similarity percentile

Impact: closeWorkload: very closeTrend: closeAge: very closeRole: close

Medium evidence · first 4 seasonsClosest early-season pairing · 1953–54 ↔ 2000–01

How to read this page

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 →