- Happy Hairston
Harold "Happy" Hairston (
May 31 ,1942 –May 1 ,2001 ) was an American professionalbasketball player who played for theLos Angeles Lakers of the NBA. He was a member of 1971–72 NBA championship team that won 33 games in a row, a record not duplicated in any other American professional sport. Hairston was a 6'7" (200 cm) 225 lb (102 kg) forward. He was born inWinston-Salem, North Carolina .Hairston attended Erasmus Hall in
Brooklyn ,New York and playedcollege basketball atNew York University from 1962 to 1964 and professionally for the Cincinnati Royals andDetroit Pistons before arriving at the Lakers in 1969.In 1971-72, Hairston grabbed 1,045 rebounds while his teammate
Wilt Chamberlain pulled down 1,572. This remains the only time any two NBA teammates have grabbed more than 1,000 rebounds each in the same season. He led the Lakers in both rebounds and field goal percentage during the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons, and set an NBA record for most defensive rebounds in a quarter with 13 (vs. thePhiladelphia 76ers ,November 15 1974 ). [ [http://www.nba.com/history/records/regular_rebounds.html NBA.com: Regular Season Records: Rebounds (Through the 2004-2005 season)] ]During his 11 seasons in the NBA, Hairston averaged 14.8 points and 10.3 rebounds.
After his retirement in 1975, Hairston established the Happy Hairston Youth Foundation in
Century City . With financial help from celebrities likeKelsey Grammer , the foundation found bright children from broken homes and paid for their college education. He also hosted a celebrity golf tournament.Hairston died at the age of 58 in Los Angeles from complications due to
prostate cancer .References
*cite news|url=http://www.nba.com/news/hairston_010501.html?nav=ArticleList|title=Former Laker Happy Hairston Dies at 58|publisher=
Associated Press |date=May 2, 2001External links
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=22232 Happy Hairston Memorial] at
Find A Grave
* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hairsha01.html Bio at Basketball-reference.com]Persondata
NAME=Hairston, Harold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Hairston, Happy (nickname)
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Professional basketball player
DATE OF BIRTH=May 31 ,1942
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=May 1 ,2001
PLACE OF DEATH=Los Angeles, California
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