Alex Hannum

Infobox NBA Player
name = Alex Hannum


caption =
position = Forward
nickname =
height_ft = 6
height_in = 7
weight_lb = 210
team =
nationality = USA
birth_date = July 19, 1923
death_date = January 18, 2002
birth_place = Los Angeles
college = USC
highschool = Hamilton High School
draft = BAA
draft_year = 1948
draft_team = Indianapolis Jets
career_start = 1949
career_end = 1957
former_teams = Syracuse Nationals
awards =

Alexander Murray Hannum (July 19, 1923 — January 18, 2002) was a professional basketball player and Hall-of-Fame coach.

Coaching career

Hannum is mostly known for coaching the Wilt Chamberlain-led Philadelphia 76ers of 1966-67 to the NBA championship, ending the eight-year title streak of the Boston Celtics. He had also coached the Bob Pettit-led St. Louis Hawks team to the 1958 NBA Championship over the Celtics in the NBA Finals, thus making him the first of only three head coaches in NBA history to win championships with two different teams (the other two are Phil Jackson and Pat Riley). The aforementioned seasons were the only two in Celtics center Bill Russell's 13-year career in which he did not win an NBA championship. In 1964, Hannum was named NBA Coach of the Year while with the San Francisco Warriors.

In 1969, Hannum led the Rick Barry-led Oakland Oaks to an ABA title, becoming the first of two coaches to win championships in both the NBA and ABA. Hannum won the ABA Coach of the Year honors the same season.

Hannum was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. Twelve Hall-of-Famers played for Hannum — in addition to Pettit, Chamberlain and Barry, he had also coached Cliff Hagan, Ed Macauley, Slater Martin, Dolph Schayes, Nate Thurmond, Billy Cunningham, Hal Greer, Elvin Hayes and Calvin Murphy. Hannum, a native of Los Angeles, California, and graduate of the University of Southern California, died at the age of 78 in San Diego, California.

Playing career

Hannum played in the NBA between 1949 and 1957.

College career

Hannum played at USC.

High school career

Hannum prepped at Hamilton High School in Los Angeles.

Trivia

*Hannum is one of only two NBA players to receive more than six personal fouls in a single game (Don Otten is the other). On December 26, 1950, Hannum received seven personal fouls in a game against the Boston Celtics.cite book | title = The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia, | publisher = Villard Books | date = 1994 | pages = pp. 388 | isbn = 0-679-43293-8]
*Coincidentally, the only other coach to win a championship in both the NBA and ABA, Bill Sharman, also coached a Chamberlain-led team — the 1972 Los Angeles Lakers — to an NBA championship. Like Hannum, Sharman was a product of the University of Southern Cal, and both served time as head coaches for the San Francisco Warriors. Given their historic accomplishments, the two also shared status as among the most ironic ommissions from the NBA's 50th Anniversary list of the "Ten Greatest Coaches of All-Time" (1996).

References

External links