Who had the greatest playoff debuts in sports history?

Two players in history can claim a playoff debut with at least 35 points and 20 rebounds. One is Wilt Chamberlain, and the other is Abdul-Jabbar, who torched the 76ers for 36 and 20 in a 125-118 Bucks win in 1970. Abdul-Jabbar did all of this in just 39 minutes, and while fouling out. He and the Bucks went on to win the series four games to one, before falling to the Knicks by the same margin in the Eastern Division Finals.

Homering off of Randy Johnson in your postseason debut? Pretty cool. Homering off of Randy Johnson AND hitting a game-winning grand slam in the ninth inning of that same game? Even better. Alfonzo did exactly that against the Diamondbacks in the 1999 NLDS. The Mets won the game 8-4 thanks to his grand slam, and took the series three games to one. New York’s run would end in a six-game loss against the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS.

Blount was a solid, reliable running back for the duration of his nine-year career. He only topped 1,000 yards twice, including a 2016 campaign that saw him lead the NFL with 18 rushing touchdowns. His playoff debut wasn’t just solid, it was spectacular. Blount tore through the Colts in the 2014 AFC divisional round, rolling up 166 yards and 4 touchdowns on 24 carries. He is the only player in league history to score four touchdowns in his playoff debut. In classic Bill Belichick fashion, he got a whopping 5 carries the following week.

Continuing the tradition of solid, hardly spectacular players having incredible debuts is Brooks, who finished his career with a 78.5 passer rating. His only playoff appearances came in 2000, his rookie season, after he had taken over for starter Jeff Blake, who was lost for the season in November. Brooks tossed four touchdowns in a 31-28 win over the defending champion St. Louis Rams, becoming one of only four quarterbacks in history to throw at least four touchdowns in their postseason debut. Brooks, by the way, only had one regular-season game with at least four touchdown passes despite making 90 starts in his career.

It should hardly be a surprise that the Big Dipper, an unstoppable force for virtually his entire career, would take the playoffs by storm. His first postseason game was an NBA Eastern Division Semifinal clash between his Philadelphia Warriors and the Syracuse Nationals. Chamberlain poured in 35 points and 27 rebounds to pace the Warriors to a 115-92 win. Oh, and in a do-or-die Game 3, he dropped 53 points and 22 rebounds in a 132-112 win. Not bad.

It isn’t a stretch to say that Davis had the best playoff debut of any tight end in history. The numbers are staggering: 7 catches, 180 yards, and two touchdowns. What makes Davis’ big game all the more impressive is that the 49ers needed every bit of it to beat New Orleans in the 2011 NFC divisional round. He opened the scoring with a 49-yard catch from Alex Smith, and then, with San Francisco trailing, caught a 14-yarder for the 36-32 win with just nine seconds remaining. Davis followed it up with another huge performance the next week, with three catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns, though San Francisco fell to the Giants, 20-17.

Put an asterisk next to it if you wish, since it happened in the playoff bubble, but Doncic still holds the record for most points in a playoff debut, with 42. In fact, he is the only player in NBA history to top 40 in his first playoff game. He poured in 42 on just 21 field goal attempts, but his Mavericks fell to the Clippers, 118-110.

Gustavsson and the Minnesota Wild had a tall order in front of them in the 2023 Western Conference First Round, taking on a Dallas Stars team that was a serious threat to win the Stanley Cup. Dallas peppered Gustavsson with 53 shots in over 90 minutes of ice time. Gustavsson turned away all but two of them, and the Wild snuck out of Dallas with a 3-2 win. The Stars, however, would go on to win the series in six games. 

Before he was the guy who won three straight MVP awards, Favre was a promising young player who still needed to prove himself in the postseason. He did that in a big way on the road in Detroit for the 1993 wild card round, throwing three touchdowns, including a winning 40-yard strike to Sterling Sharpe, with barely a minute to go in the fourth quarter.

Fitzgerald’s numbers are gaudy enough, even though he rarely had a great quarterback throwing him the ball. He finally got to the playoffs in 2008, his fifth season in the league, and immediately made his presence known. Fitzgerald notched 6 catches for 101 yards and a touchdown in a 30-24 win over the Falcons. Incredibly, that was his worst game in Arizona’s run to Super Bowl XLIII. He had eight catches for 166 yards and a touchdown against Carolina, nine catches for 152 yards and three touchdowns in an NFC Championship Game win over the Eagles, and seven catches for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns, including what would have been the game-winning touchdown against the Steelers. Alas, Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes had other plans.

It’s hard to top what Halladay did in his postseason debut. For years one of baseball’s best pitchers, Halladay toiled on the also-ran Blue Jays, winning a Cy Young in 2003, and finishing in the top-five in the voting four more times. He was traded to Philadelphia prior to the 2010 season, and won his second Cy Young that year. He then one-upped himself in spectacular fashion in his postseason debut. Halladay twirled a no-hitter against Cincinnati in Game 1 of the NLDS, only allowing a single base runner on a walk, and striking out eight.

Harris’ first playoff game saw him make a play now known as “The Immaculate Reception.” I don’t think I need to say anything else.

The Cavaliers struggled for James’ first few seasons in the league, failing to surround him with a good enough supporting cast to get to the playoffs. They finally broke through in 2006, and James made his first appearance count, becoming just the third player (at the time) to notch a triple-double in his postseason debut. James tallied 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in a 97-86 win over the Washington Wizards. Cleveland went on to win a hotly-contested series in six games.

Detroit wasn’t exactly a playoff regular for the entirety of Johnson’s career, and in fact the team’s lack of success contributed to his early retirement. He must have had a feeling that he wouldn’t get many postseason opportunities because he went off in spectacular fashion in his first one. Johnson rolled up 12 catches, 211 yards, and two touchdowns, but – and stop me if you’ve heard this one before – the Lions still lost, 45-28, to the New Orleans Saints in the 2011 NFC wild-card round. Johnson would appear in just one more playoff game for the rest of his career.

It isn’t often that a player singlehandedly carries their team to victory, and rarer still that it happens in a playoff debut, but that’s exactly what Minnesota’s Royce Lewis did in Game 1 of the team’s 2023 wild card series against the Blue Jays. Lewis, who was battling injuries and could only DH for the Twins, hit two home runs and knocked in all three of Minnesota’s runs in a 3-1 win. Minnesota took the series two games to none before getting bounced in the ALDS by the Astros.

Unfortunately for Lincecum, his postseason debut came precisely one day after Roy Halladay tossed a no-hitter against the Reds. Lincecum, the NL Cy Young winner in 2008 and 2009, nearly matched Halladay with a dominant performance against the Braves in the NLDS. Lincecum threw a complete-game shutout, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out 14 Atlanta hitters. San Francisco needed every bit of Lincecum’s brilliance, as they won the game 1-0. According to Bill James’ “Game Score” statistic, which attempts to contextualize a pitcher’s individual dominance, Lincecum’s outing, which got a score of 96, was the best ever by a pitcher in their postseason debut – even better than Halladay's.

Lott is one of the greatest defensive backs in history, and his playoff debut yielded the kind of performance only the true greats are capable of. He picked off two passes, and returned one of them 20 yards for a touchdown to put away the game in the fourth quarter, as the 49ers defeated the New York Giants 38-24. Lott’s brilliance helped propel the Niners to the NFC Championship Game, where I’m told some guys named Montana and Clark connected on a pretty famous catch.

Love sat behind Aaron Rodgers for a long time, and there was no guarantee Green Bay’s patience with him would be rewarded. The Packers and their fans have to be feeling a lot better about the future now, however. Love went on the road and shredded the vaunted Cowboys defense in the 2023 NFC wild-card round, throwing for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns and posting a near-perfect 157.2 passer rating. He was a little more uneven the following week against the eventual NFC champion 49ers, but still pushed San Francisco to the brink.

It has been a strange journey, to put it mildly, for 2018’s top overall pick. He rediscovered himself in Tampa Bay in 2023 after being jettisoned by the Browns and then bouncing from the Panthers to the Rams in 2022. Mayfield did experience significant success in Cleveland, despite the way the organization handled him. He led the Browns to an 11-5 mark in 2020, and then gave Cleveland its first and only playoff win since rejoining the league by throwing for 263 yards and three touchdowns in a 48-37 wild-card win over the Steelers.

Not the name you were expecting on this list, right? Millwood’s career, while more than solid – a 4.11 career ERA pitching mostly in an offense-dominated era, 169 career wins – never quite lived up to the exceptional promise he displayed early on. He went 18-7 for Atlanta in 1999, his third year in the league, and one-upped himself in his playoff debut. Millwood stifled the Houston Astros in the NLDS, throwing a complete-game one-hitter. Other than a Ken Caminiti home run, and Jeff Bagwell reaching on a Chipper Jones error, not a single Astro reached base against Millwood.

You don’t get a nickname like Joe Cool without being great in the biggest games. Montana showed exactly the kind of playoff performer he was going to be in his very first postseason appearance, coolly throwing for 304 yards and tossing 2 touchdowns to pace the 49ers to a 38-24 win over the New York Giants in the 1982 playoffs. That he did so against the league’s third-ranked scoring defense made the performance that much more impressive. Montana’s next game featured a play called, “The Catch.” You may have heard of it.

How many players have had more receiving yards than Nacua in their playoff debuts? Precisely two. And they’re both included in this gallery of stars. Only Calvin Johnson and Demaryius Thomas had better debut performances than Nacua’s nine-catch, 181-yard day against the Lions in the 2023 wild-card round. He also threw in a touchdown catch for good measure. Alas, like Johnson, his performance came in a losing effort, as Detroit triumphed 24-23, for their first playoff win in over 30 years.

Curiously, Rodgers’ later career has seen some strange playoff performances, where one of the league’s all-time greatest at the position has suffered some home losses and at times looked risk averse, particularly in his most recent effort in the 2022 playoffs. His first start in the postseason was much more in keeping with his overall career. Rodgers threw for 423 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another in the 2009 wild-card round against the Arizona Cardinals. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to beat Kurt Warner, who threw for five touchdowns. Oh, and Rodgers fumbled the ball directly to Karlos Dansby, who returned it for the winning score in a 51-45 overtime thriller. Still, it was a terrific debut.

Luongo never played in the postseason during his brief time with the Islanders, or his subsequent five seasons with the Florida Panthers. He finally got his chance with the Vancouver Canucks in 2007, and made it count right from the start. Luongo stopped a whopping 72 of 76 shots in a four-overtime win over the Dallas Stars. He holds the record for most minutes played and most saves in a debut playoff game.

Before injuries wrecked his knees and robbed him of his top-end athleticism, Rose was one of the most explosive athletes in NBA history. The Boston Celtics found out the hard way in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series in 2009. Rose went off for the underdog Bulls, pouring in 36 points and adding 11 assists on the way to a 105-103 victory. The Bulls lost the series in seven games, but Rose had loudly announced himself to one of the league’s marquee franchises.

Technically, Ruth’s postseason debut came as a hitter, and was, by his standards, nondescript. His debut as a pitcher, a year later, was anything but. Ruth went all 14 innings of a 2-1 Red Sox win over the Brooklyn Robins in Game 2 of the 1916 World Series, and also knocked in Boston’s first run with a groundout. After surrendering an inside-the-park home run in the first inning, Ruth blanked Brooklyn over the next 13 frames to get the win. And he did it all on just 145 pitches.

No disrespect to Smith, but he might be the most nondescript name of anyone mentioned here. He performed like a Hall of Famer in his initial playoff game for Miami in 2000, rushing for 209 yards and 2 touchdowns on 40 carries, as the Dolphins pulled off a 23-17 overtime win, overcoming a 14-0 deficit in the process. The kicker? Smith provided the winning score, courtesy of a 17-yard rush.

After a rookie season that saw him look more like a 10-year veteran than a guy getting his first taste of the NFL, Stroud one-upped himself in the Texans’ 2023 wild-card matchup with Cleveland. Stroud didn’t play in Houston’s lopsided regular-season loss to the Browns, and it’s clear his presence made the difference. He scorched the Browns’ vaunted defense for 274 yards and 3 touchdowns, and came up just short of a perfect passer rating. Reality set in the following week against Baltimore, but Stroud left no doubt about what fans can expect in the coming years.

Giguere is the most recent player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy despite playing for the losing team. His incredible postseason run is all the more impressive when you consider that it was his first playoff exposure. His very first game foretold what was to come. Facing the heavily-favored Detroit Red Wings in 2003, Giguere stopped 63 of 64 shots in a triple-overtime thriller. The Ducks won the game and ended up sweeping Detroit in stunning fashion; Giguere allowed just six goals all series.

With apologies to, well, every other receiver in history, Thomas has the best playoff debut of all time. Facing the defending AFC Champion Steelers in the 2011 wild card round, and with Tim Tebow at quarterback, Thomas caught four passes for a jaw-dropping 204 yards, capping things off with a game-winning 80-yard touchdown catch on the first play of overtime to send the Broncos to New England with a shocking 29-23 win. Things didn’t go so well after that, but Thomas’ big game will never be forgotten.

Warner dazzled fans with his out-of-nowhere, rags-to-riches run to the 1999 NFL MVP Award. Still, perhaps some thought that the Greatest Show on Turf might fizzle out in the postseason, particularly when facing off against the defending NFC Champion Minnesota Vikings in the divisional round. Warner made sure that wouldn’t happen by delivering an all-time playoff debut. He remains the only passer in NFL history to throw five touchdowns in his playoff debut, including a 77-yarder to Isaac Bruce on the Rams’ first offensive snap, and when the Vikings rallied to take a 17-14 lead, Warner led St. Louis to 35 unanswered points to start the second half, and the Rams cruised to a 49-37 win.

Young’s inclusion here might be a byproduct of the surprising run the Hawks made in the 2021 Eastern Conference playoffs, but he did loudly announce himself, at Madison Square Garden no less, in a 107-105 win over the Knicks in his playoff debut. Young had 32 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds, and silenced a raucous Garden crowd with a game-winning floater as time expired. Young’s strong play continued, as Atlanta bounced New York in five games.

Arrieta’s second half of the 2015 season is one of the most dominant stretches by any pitcher in history, and he continued that into the playoffs, silencing the Pirates in a 5-hit, 11-strikeout shutout in the 2015 Wild Card Game. Arrieta is the only player in major league history to throw a complete-game shutout in their playoff debut, while also striking out 10 or more hitters and not surrendering a walk.

deGrom wasn’t yet the force of nature he became a few years later, but he was already one of baseball’s best pitchers when he took the mound for his first postseason start in the 2015 NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. deGrom silenced the crowd at Chavez Ravine with an electric seven-inning performance. He struck out 13 Dodgers while walking just one, and did not surrender a run. The Mets went on to win the series in five games and advance to the World Series, where they fell to Kansas City.

In some ways, what Samuel did in his playoff debut will go unremembered by history, mainly because the game featured one of the wildest postseason comebacks of all time. Samuel intercepted Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence three times in the Chargers’ 2022 wild-card tilt with the Jaguars, including twice in the first quarter. Those interceptions led directly to 10 points and staked the Chargers to a 17-0 lead. Samuel picked off Lawrence again in the second quarter and the resulting field goal put the Chargers up 27-0. Of course, the roof caved in and Jacksonville outscored Los Angeles 31-3 the rest of the way to escape with an improbable 31-30 win. Still, Samuel is the only player in NFL history with three interceptions in his postseason debut.

Another random name? Yes. Another random great playoff debut? Also yes. Kubalik’s great game comes with perhaps a few asterisks, as it was a qualifying-round game that technically preceded the formal playoffs, and happened in the bubble in Edmonton in 2020. Still, we’re going to count it here, because Kubalik became the only player in league history with a 5-point game in his playoff debut. He tallied 2 goals and 3 assists, pacing Chicago to a 6-4 win over the favored Oilers. The Blackhawks went on to shock Edmonton in four games. Kubalik? He has a total of 3 points in his other eight playoff games.

There have been plenty of great playoff debuts – that’s why you’re perusing this right now – but rare is the debut performance that stands alone in history. That brings us to Holliday, who did something in the 2012 divisional round for Denver that had never been done before, and has never been done since. The diminutive Holliday became the first and only player to return a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown in a playoff game. His 90-yard punt return gave the Broncos a 7-0 lead over Baltimore, and his 104-yard kick return to start the second half put Denver up 28-21. Alas, the Broncos couldn’t hold the lead, thanks to some very shoddy prevent defense, and lost to the eventual Super Bowl champs in double overtime.

Dent was a linchpin for the Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl team, but his playoff debut came a year earlier, and he had a huge game in a win over Washington. Dent became one of just five players to register three sacks in his postseason debut, and the Bears needed them, as they narrowly escaped Washington with a 23-19 win.

To this day, only two players have run for at least 200 yards in their postseason debut. Miami’s Lamar Smith in 2000 is one, and Grant, who did so for the Packers in the 2007 playoffs, is the other. Green Bay rolled over Seattle, 42-20, and Grant had a game for the ages, piling up 201 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 27 carries. What makes Grant’s big day so unusual is that for the first five minutes of the game, he looked like he would be the goat, as a pair of early fumbles led to a 14-0 Seattle lead.

Boddicker had a good career in the 1980s and early 1990s, winning 134 games and posting a career 3.80 ERA with the Orioles, Red Sox, Royals and Brewers. His playoff debut, at the end of what was officially his rookie season with Baltimore in 1983, was nothing short of spectacular. Facing a 1-0 series deficit against the White Sox in the ALCS, Boddicker twirled a five-hit shutout, striking out 14 White Sox hitters in the process. Baltimore went on to win the series in four games on their way to a World Series title.