Earl Monroe + Nickname Earl The Pearl---Vernon Earl Monroe born November 21, 1944: Earl The Pearlis the nickname of Vernon Earl Monroe, the NBA player.Monroe joined the NBA in 1967 and parlayed his talents into a distinguished 13-year career.
Earl is known for his flamboyant dribbling, passing, and play-making.In 1967, the two-time All-American was drafted by the Baltimore Bullets in the first round of the NBA draft.
He won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in a season in which he averaged 24.3 points per game, and scored 56 points in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
This still stands as the third-highest rookie total in NBA history. It was also a franchise record, later broken by Gilbert Arenas on December 17, 2006.
He was part of a changing of the guard in the NBA, arriving at a time when high scorers like Dave Bing and Jerry West were showing that the backcourt could rack up points just as effectively as the center position.
He finished with a career average of 18.8 ppg.