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Harold "Happy" Hairston (May 31, 1942 – May 1, 2001) was an American professional basketball player. A 6'7" (200 cm) 225 lb (102 kg) forward, he was best remembered for playing with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and he also played for the Cincinnati Royals and the Detroit Pistons. Hairston was a member of the NBA champion 1971–72 Lakers; that team won 33 games in a row, a record not duplicated in any other American professional sport.
 Hairston in 1974 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 31, 1942 Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | May 1, 2001 (aged 58) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Listed weight | 225 lb (102 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Atkins (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) |
| College | NYU (1961–1964) |
| NBA draft | 1964: 4th round, 33rd overall pick |
| Selected by the Cincinnati Royals | |
| Playing career | 1964–1975 |
| Position | Forward |
| Number | 22, 5, 52 |
| Career history | |
| 1964–1968 | Cincinnati Royals |
| 1968–1969 | Detroit Pistons |
| 1969–1975 | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Career statistics | |
| Points | 11,505 (14.8 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 8,019 (10.3 rpg) |
| Assists | 1,268 (1.6 apg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Early life and college career
editHairston was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and attended Atkins High School in Winston-Salem.[1] He graduated from New York University, where he played college basketball for coach Lou Rossini from 1962 to 1964. One of his teammates at NYU was Barry Kramer; the two smashed almost every record for the NYU Violets. Hairston averaged 21 points per game, set an all-time rebounding record at NYU, and scored 1,350 total points in his college career. He was inducted into the NYU Hall of Fame in 1981.[2]
Professional career
editDrafted by the Cincinnati Royals (now the Sacramento Kings), Hairston played professionally for the Cincinnati Royals and Detroit Pistons before joining the Los Angeles Lakers in 1969. In 1971–72, Hairston grabbed 1,045 rebounds; his teammate Wilt Chamberlain pulled down 1,572. Hairston led the Lakers in both rebounds and field goal percentage during the 1973–74 and 1974–75 seasons. He set an NBA record for most defensive rebounds in a quarter with 13 against the Philadelphia 76ers on November 15, 1974.[3] During his 11 seasons in the NBA, Hairston averaged 14.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.[1]
Personal life
editAfter retiring from the NBA in 1975, Hairston established the Happy Hairston Youth Foundation in Century City, California. With financial help from celebrities such as Kelsey Grammer, the foundation found bright children from broken homes and paid for their college educations. Hairston also hosted a celebrity golf tournament and had a small role in the 1981 Happy Days episode "Tall Story," where he played the father of an epileptic high school basketball player.[4]
Hairston died in Los Angeles in 2001 from respiratory complications brought on by prostate cancer. He was 58 years of age and was survived by a daughter, Amber, and three sisters.[5]
Career statistics
edit| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Won an NBA championship | * | Led the league |
NBA
editSource[1]
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964–65 | Cincinnati | 61 | 12.1 | .373 | .667 | 4.8 | .4 | 6.1 | ||
| 1965–66 | Cincinnati | 72 | 24.9 | .489 | .685 | 7.6 | .6 | 14.1 | ||
| 1966–67 | Cincinnati | 79 | 30.9 | .479 | .660 | 8.0 | .8 | 14.9 | ||
| 1967–68 | Cincinnati | 48 | 33.9 | .503 | .686 | 7.4 | 1.2 | 17.4 | ||
| 1967–68 | Detroit | 26 | 34.3 | .459 | .717 | 10.1 | 1.4 | 18.8 | ||
| 1968–69 | Detroit | 81 | 35.7 | .469 | .731 | 11.8 | 1.3 | 18.1 | ||
| 1969–70 | Detroit | 15 | 18.8 | .553 | .714 | 5.9 | .7 | 10.6 | ||
| 1969–70 | L.A. Lakers | 55 | 39.0 | .490 | .803 | 12.5 | 2.0 | 20.6 | ||
| 1970–71 | L.A. Lakers | 80 | 36.5 | .466 | .782 | 10.0 | 2.1 | 18.6 | ||
| 1971–72† | L.A. Lakers | 80 | 34.4 | .461 | .779 | 13.1 | 2.4 | 13.1 | ||
| 1972–73 | L.A. Lakers | 28 | 33.5 | .482 | .787 | 13.2 | 2.4 | 16.3 | ||
| 1973–74 | L.A. Lakers | 77 | 34.2 | .507 | .771 | 13.5 | 2.7 | .8 | .2 | 14.5 |
| 1974–75 | L.A. Lakers | 74 | 30.9 | .506 | .801 | 12.8 | 2.3 | .7 | .1 | 10.3 |
| Career | 776 | 31.4 | .478 | .741 | 10.3 | 1.6 | .8 | .2 | 14.8 | |
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Cincinnati | 3 | 13.0 | .278 | .667 | 6.7 | 1.0 | 4.0 | ||
| 1966 | Cincinnati | 5 | 30.0 | .403 | .711 | 7.4 | .0 | 15.4 | ||
| 1967 | Cincinnati | 4 | 35.0 | .519 | .533 | 6.8 | 1.5 | 16.0 | ||
| 1968 | Detroit | 6 | 24.8 | .408 | .600 | 6.2 | 1.2 | 11.7 | ||
| 1970 | L.A. Lakers | 16 | 18.5 | .435 | .686 | 4.8 | 1.3 | 7.4 | ||
| 1971 | L.A. Lakers | 12 | 39.3 | .506 | .760 | 9.1 | 2.8 | 17.0 | ||
| 1972† | L.A. Lakers | 15 | 38.5 | .440 | .794 | 13.1 | 2.1 | 13.5 | ||
| 1973 | L.A. Lakers | 3 | 8.7 | .111 | .750 | 1.3 | .3 | 2.7 | ||
| 1974 | L.A. Lakers | 5 | 34.4 | .417 | .889 | 10.4 | 3.8 | 1.0 | .2 | 9.2 |
| Career | 69 | 29.3 | .445 | .733 | 8.1 | 1.8 | 1.0 | .2 | 11.6 | |
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Columbo : The most crucial game | Himself | |
| 1977 | Emergency! : Firehouse Quintet | Referee | |
| 1979 | The Concorde ... Airport '79 | American Olympic Team Coach | |
| 1994 | The Paper | James Hairston | (final film role) |
References
edit- ^ a b c "Happy Hairston NBA Stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
- ^ "Harold 'Happy' Hairston: NYU Athletics Hall of Fame". gonyuathletics.com. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
- ^ "NBA.com: Regular Season Records: Rebounds (Through the 2004–2005 season)". NBA.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-05. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
- ^ Mayo, Michael (February 11, 1996). "Ex–Laker Hairston finds fun in golf, life". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
- ^ Wong, Edward (May 2, 2001). "Happy Hairston, forward on Champion Lakers Team dies at 58". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2021.