Elvin Hayes
In the senior year of 1963, Elvin Hayes led his Britton High School team to a state championship in Louisiana. He averaged thirty-five points per game during that regular season. The final victory saw him score forty-five points and grab twenty rebounds. This performance established a local legend before he ever stepped onto a college court. His hometown of Rayville watched as a young man became a statistical anomaly for high school basketball.
On the 20th of January 1968, Houston faced UCLA inside the Astrodome stadium. A record crowd of fifty-two thousand six hundred ninety-three fans filled the arena. Hayes scored thirty-nine points while grabbing fifteen rebounds. He held Lew Alcindor to just fifteen points in a seventy-one to sixty-nine win. This result snapped a forty-seven-game winning streak for the Bruins. The Sporting News later named him College Basketball Player of the Year based on this single contest.
Elvin Hayes entered the NBA with the San Diego Rockets in 1968. He led the league in scoring with an average of twenty-eight point four points per game. That mark remains the fifth-best all-time for any rookie player. On the 11th of November 1968, he scored a career-high fifty-four points against Detroit. In his second season, he became the first player other than Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain to lead the league in rebounding since 1957.
Hayes was traded to the Baltimore Bullets on the 23rd of June 1972. He formed a partnership with co-star Wes Unseld that would define their franchise history. The team reached three NBA Finals appearances between 1975 and 1979. They secured an NBA title over the Seattle SuperSonics in 1978. During that championship run, Hayes averaged twenty-one point eight points and twelve point one rebounds across twenty-one playoff games.
He played 1,303 games over sixteen seasons without missing more than two games in any single year. This durability earned him exactly 50,000 minutes played during his career. In 1981, he returned to the Rockets after being sent back from Washington. The trade involved second-round draft picks for Charles Davis and Sidney Lowe. He finished his playing days in Texas, the state of his college triumphs.
After retiring in 1984, Hayes returned to finish thirty credit hours at the University of Houston. He stated that earning this degree was harder than playing sixteen years of pro basketball. On the 22nd of November 2010, he began working as an analyst for radio broadcasts on KBME. Earlier, in November 2007, he became a Liberty County sheriff's deputy. His jersey number forty-four was retired by the Rockets on the 18th of November 2022.
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Common questions
When did Elvin Hayes lead his high school team to a state championship in Louisiana?
Elvin Hayes led his Britton High School team to a state championship during the senior year of 1963. He averaged thirty-five points per game that regular season and scored forty-five points with twenty rebounds in the final victory.
What happened when Elvin Hayes played against UCLA on the 20th of January 1968?
Elvin Hayes scored thirty-nine points and grabbed fifteen rebounds to help Houston defeat UCLA seventy-one to sixty-nine inside the Astrodome stadium. This result snapped a forty-seven-game winning streak for the Bruins and earned him College Basketball Player of the Year from The Sporting News.
How many games did Elvin Hayes play over sixteen seasons without missing more than two games in any single year?
Elvin Hayes played 1,303 games over sixteen seasons without missing more than two games in any single year. This durability earned him exactly 50,000 minutes played during his career.
Which teams did Elvin Hayes play for after being traded from the San Diego Rockets in 1972?
Elvin Hayes was traded to the Baltimore Bullets on the 23rd of June 1972 and later returned to the Rockets in 1981 after being sent back from Washington. He finished his playing days in Texas where he won an NBA title over the Seattle SuperSonics in 1978.
When was Elvin Hayes jersey number forty-four retired by the Rockets?
The Rockets retired Elvin Hayes jersey number forty-four on the 18th of November 2022. He had previously become a Liberty County sheriff's deputy in November 2007 and began working as an analyst for radio broadcasts on KBME on the 22nd of November 2010.