Elvin Hayes

Elvin Ernest Hayes (born November 17, 1945), nicknamed "the Big E", is an American former professional basketball player and radio analyst for his alma-mater Houston Cougars. He is a member of the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams, and an inductee in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Known for both his offensive and defensive prowess, Hayes is often regarded as one of the best power forwards in NBA history. Hayes is also known for his longevity, being third all-time in NBA minutes played (at 50,000), and missing only nine games during his 16 season career.[1]

Elvin Hayes
Personal information
Born (1945-11-17) November 17, 1945
Rayville, Louisiana, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 9 in (206 cm)
Listed weight235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High schoolEula D. Britton (Rayville, Louisiana)
CollegeHouston (1965–1968)
NBA draft1968 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall
Selected by the San Diego Rockets
Playing career1968–1984
PositionPower forward / center
Number11, 44
Career history
1968–1972San Diego / Houston Rockets
1972–1981Baltimore / Capital / Washington Bullets
1981–1984Houston Rockets
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points27,313 (21.0 ppg)
Rebounds16,279 (12.5 rpg)
Blocks1,171 (2.0 bpg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player
College Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2006

High school career

In Hayes’ senior year at Britton High School, he led his team to the state championship, after averaging 35 points a game during the regular season. In the championship game victory, Hayes scored 45 points and grabbed 20 rebounds.[1]

College career
One of five numbers retired by the University of Houston men's basketball team, Hayes's No. 44 hangs in Fertitta Center.

In 1966, Hayes led the Houston Cougars into the Western Regional semifinals of the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament before the Cougars lost to the Pac-8 champion Oregon State Beavers.

In 1967, Hayes led the Cougars to the Final Four of the 1967 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. He would attempt 31 field goals, score 25 points, and get 24 rebounds in a 73–58 semifinal loss to the eventual champion UCLA Bruins featuring Lew Alcindor (now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Hayes' rebounding total is second to Bill Russell's Final Four record of 27.[2][3]

On January 20, 1968, Hayes and the Houston Cougars faced Alcindor and the UCLA Bruins in the first-ever nationally-televised regular-season college basketball game. In front of a record crowd of 52,693 fans at the Houston Astrodome, Hayes scored 39 points and had 15 rebounds while limiting Alcindor to just 15 points as Houston beat UCLA 71–69 to snap the Bruins' 47-game winning streak in what has been called the "Game of the Century". That game helped Hayes earn The Sporting News College Basketball Player of the Year.

In the rematch to the "Game of the Century", Hayes faced Alcindor and UCLA in the 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. UCLA coach John Wooden had the Bruins play a "triangle and two" zone defense with Alcindor playing behind Hayes and Lynn Shackleford fronting him. Hayes was held to 10 points, losing to Alcindor and the Bruins 101–69 in the semi-final game.[3]

Houston's Hayes is carried in a victory celebration after the defeat of UCLA in the Game of the Century at the Astrodome

Hayes led Houston in scoring in each of three seasons (1966: 27.2 points per game, 1967: 28.4, and 1968: 36.8). For his college career, Hayes averaged 31.0 points per game and 17.2 rebounds per game. He has the most rebounds in NCAA tournament history at 222. While a student at Houston, Hayes was initiated into the Alpha Nu Omega Chapter of the Iota Phi Theta fraternity alongside fellow future Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy.[4]

With his departure from college, Hayes was selected as the first overall selection in both the 1968 NBA draft and 1968 ABA draft. He was taken by the San Diego Rockets and the Houston Mavericks, respectively.

NBA career

San Diego/Houston Rockets

Hayes joined the NBA with the San Diego Rockets in 1968 and went on to lead the NBA in scoring with 28.4 points per game, averaged 17.1 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. Hayes' scoring average is the fifth best all-time for a rookie, and he remains the last rookie to lead the NBA in scoring average. He scored a career-high 54 points against the Detroit Pistons on November 11, 1968.

In Hayes' second season, he led the NBA in rebounding, becoming the first player other than Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain to lead the category since 1957 (Chamberlain was injured during much of the season). In Hayes' third season, 1970–71, he scored a career-best 28.7 points per game. In 1971, the Rockets moved to Houston, enabling Hayes to play in the city of his college triumphs.

Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets
Hayes with the Bullets in 1975

After a series of conflicts with Houston coach Tex Winter, Hayes was traded away to the Baltimore Bullets for Jack Marin and undisclosed considerations on June 23, 1972.[5]

In the 1974 NBA Playoffs, during the franchise’s only year called the Capital Bullets, Hayes averaged postseason career-bests of 25.9 points and 15.9 rebounds per game in a Bullets 4–3 first round series loss to the New York Knicks.[6]

Hayes, along with co-star Wes Unseld, led the Washington Bullets to three NBA Finals appearances (1975, 1978 and 1979), and an NBA title over the Seattle SuperSonics in 1978. On March 3, 1978, Hayes set a career-high of 11 blocks in a single game, while also scoring 22 points and grabbing 27 rebounds, in a 124–108 win over the Detroit Pistons.[7] During the Bullets' championship run that postseason, while aided by the addition of Bob Dandridge, Hayes averaged 21.8 points and 12.1 rebounds per game in 21 playoff games, as Washington won their only NBA title to date.

Hayes set an NBA Finals record for most offensive rebounds in a game (11), the following year, in a May 27, 1979 game against the SuperSonics. The Chicago Bulls' Dennis Rodman would tie this record twice, both games coming in the 1996 NBA Finals, also against the SuperSonics.

Return to Rockets

Desiring to finish his playing career in Texas and preferably Houston, Hayes was sent back to the Rockets for second-round draft picks in 1981 (Charles Davis) and 1983 (Sidney Lowe) on June 8, 1981.[8][9]

After basketball

Shortly after finishing his career in the NBA, Hayes returned to the University of Houston to finish the last 30 credit hours of his undergraduate degree. When interviewed about the experience, Hayes mentioned, "I played 16 years of pro basketball, but this is the hardest thing I've ever done."[10]

In November 2007, Hayes became a Liberty County, Texas, sheriff's deputy, fulfilling a childhood dream.[11] On November 22, 2010, it was announced that he would serve as an analyst for radio broadcasts of Houston Cougars games on Houston's KBME.[12]

Hayes will have his #44 jersey retired by the Houston Rockets on November 18, 2022.

Personal life

Hayes converted to Catholicism in the 1970s.[13]

Stats and honors

In his career with the San Diego/Houston Rockets and the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets, Hayes played 1,303 games over 16 seasons, registering 27,313 points (eleventh all-time) and 16,279 rebounds (fourth all-time). He is the all-time leading scorer for the Washington Bullets/Wizards. Hayes never missed more than two games in any of his 16 seasons in the NBA. In addition to his 1968 scoring title, he led the NBA in rebounding in 1970 and 1974. Hayes played in 12 straight NBA All-Star Games from 1969 to 1980. He retired holding the NBA record for total regular-season minutes played, with exactly 50,000.

Hayes was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996 and voted to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.[14] He boycotted the Hall of Fame beginning in 1990 and refused to return until Guy Lewis, his coach at the University of Houston, was admitted.[15]

In 2003, Hayes was inducted into the Breitbard Hall of Fame, which honors San Diego's finest athletes.[16]

NBA career statistics
Legend
  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

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1968–69 San Diego 82—45.1.447—.62617.11.4——28.4*
1969–70 San Diego 82*—44.7*.452—.68816.9*2.0——27.5
1970–71 San Diego 82—44.3.428—.67216.62.3——28.7
1971–72 Houston 82—42.2.434—.64914.63.3——25.2
1972–73 Baltimore 81—32.1.444—.67114.11.6——21.2
1973–74 Capital 81—44.5*.423—.72118.1*2.01.13.021.4
1974–75 Washington 82—42.3.443—.76612.22.51.92.323.0
1975–76 Washington 80—37.2.470—.62811.01.51.32.519.8
1976–77 Washington 82—41.0.501—.68712.51.91.12.723.7
1977–78† Washington 81—40.1.451—.63413.31.81.22.019.7
1978–79 Washington 82—37.9.487—.65412.11.7.92.321.8
1979–80 Washington 81—39.3.454.231.69911.11.6.82.323.0
1980–81 Washington 81—36.2.451.000.6179.71.2.82.117.8
1981–82 Houston 828237.0.472.000.6649.11.8.81.316.1
1982–83 Houston 814328.4.476.500.6837.62.0.61.012.9
1983–84 Houston 81412.3.406.000.6523.2.9.2.35.0
Career [17] 1,30312938.4.452.147.67012.51.81.02.021.0
All-Star[17] 12422.0.403—.6477.71.4––10.5

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1969 San Diego 6—46.3.526—.66013.8.8——25.8
1973 Baltimore 5—45.6.505—.69711.41.0——25.8
1974 Capital 7—46.1.531—.70715.93.00.72.125.9
1975 Washington 17—44.2.468—.67710.92.21.52.325.5
1976 Washington 7—43.6.443—.58212.61.4.74.020.0
1977 Washington 9—45.0.563—.69513.61.91.12.421.0
1978† Washington 21—41.3.491—.59413.32.01.52.521.8
1979 Washington 19—41.4.429—.66914.05.0.92.722.5
1980 Washington 2—46.0.390—.80011.03.0.02.020.0
1982 Houston 3—41.3.340—.53310.01.0.73.314.0
Career 96—43.3.464—.65213.01.91.12.622.9

See also

NBA
  • List of National Basketball Association career games played leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association franchise career scoring leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association career blocks leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association career minutes played leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association career playoff blocks leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association single-game blocks leaders
  • List of individual National Basketball Association scoring leaders by season
  • List of National Basketball Association annual minutes leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association annual rebounding leaders

College
  • List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 60 or more points in a game
  • List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 2000 points and 1000 rebounds
  • List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career rebounding leaders

References
  1. NBA Legends Profile: Elvin Hayes
  2. NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four Individual and Team Records
  3. 2007–2008 UCLA Men's Basketball Media Guide – PDF copy available at www.uclabruins.com. pg. 61 Post Season Scoring Recaps
  4. "Iota Phi Theta® Fraternity Inc. | Founded 1963 - Notable Iota Men". Archived from the original on February 13, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  5. Beard, Gordon "Rockets Trade Elvin Hayes; Goes To Bullets For Jack Marin" Associated Press, Sunday, June 25, 1972
  6. "Elvin Hayes Per Game Playoffs". Basketball Reference.
  7. "Elvin Hayes Career High 11 Blocks". Statmuse.
  8. Dupree, David & Richmond, Peter "Bullets Send Hayes to Rockets for Draft Choices" The Washington Post, Tuesday, June 9, 1981
  9. 1981 NBA Draft Pick Transactions – Pro Sports Transactions.
  10. Callahan, Tom (December 23, 1985). "Impressions in Black and White". Time. Archived from the original on May 8, 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2009.
  11. "Local basketball legend now a sheriff's deputy". KTRK-TV. November 4, 2007. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011.
  12. "Elvin Hayes to Join Men's Basketball Radio Broadcast Crew". Houston Cougars athletics. November 22, 2010. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  13. Papanek, John (October 16, 1978). "THE BIG E WANTS AN MVP". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  14. "NBA's 75 Anniversary | NBA.com". www.nba.com. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  15. "Guy Lewis waiting for Hall of Fame call". Archived from the original on March 16, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2014.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. "Hall of Fame | San Diego Hall of Champions". Archived from the original on August 9, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
  17. "Elvin Hayes". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 26, 2019.

Further reading
  • Heisler, Mark (2003). Giants: The 25 Greatest Centers of All Time. Chicago: Triumph Books. ISBN 1-57243-577-1.
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