Walt Hazzard

Professional Basketball Player, Olympic Games Gold Medalist Athlete, College Basketball Coach. Raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he displayed his basketball skills at Overbrook High School (where he was a teammate of future NBA star Wali Jones) and continued his athletics during his collegiate years at UCLA. While a member of the Bruins, he distinguished himself at the guard position and experienced a NCAA Championship, as co-captain of John Wooden's 1964 squad which defeated Duke. He received Most Outstanding Player honors for that tournament, also achieving All-American recognition in 1964. Following graduation, Hazzard converted to the Muslim faith and took the name Mahdi Abdul-Rahman (but would continue to use his birth name during his professional career) and was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers as a territorial pick during the 1st round of the 1964 NBA Draft. His national prominence and achievements earned him a spot on the US Men's Olympic Basketball Team during the summer games in Tokyo, and was a contributor to their capturing of the gold medal. For ten seasons (1964 to 1974), he played in the National Basketball Association with the Los Angeles Lakers, Seattle SuperSonics, Atlanta Hawks, Buffalo Braves and Golden State Warriors, appearing in 724 regular season games, compiling 9,087 points with 3,555 assists. In 1967, he joined Seattle during their inaugural year of 1967-1968 and produced a career-high in points with 1,894, receiving NBA All-Star status. Following his playing career, he remained in the sport, serving as a coach at Compton College, Chapman College and a return to UCLA as head coach (1984 to 1988), where he guided the Bruins to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Title in 1985. He led them to a 25 win 7 loss record, a Regular Season Conference Championship and a second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1987, while receiving Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors. He later returned to the NBA as a scout with the Lakers. Hazzard was inducted into UCLA's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984 and was honored with his uniform number 42 being retired by the Bruins in 1996. He would suffer from a variety of health issues, including a stroke in 1996 and died from complications following heart surgery.