Happy Hairston
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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 | |
Harold "Happy" Hairston (May 31, 1942 – May 1, 2001) was an American professional
1971–72
Lakers; that team won 33 games in a row, a record not duplicated in any other American professional sport.
Early life and college career
Hairston was born 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
Drafted by the Cincinnati Royals (now the Sacramento Kings), Hairston played professionally for the
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
After 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
| 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
Source[1]
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | 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
| 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
| 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
- ^ 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. Archived from the originalon 2014-07-05. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
- 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.
External links
- Happy Hairston at IMDb