Harold “Happy” Hairston

Harold “Happy” Hairston, A L.A. Laker And Man Of The Community

He was born on May 31, 1942 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

American professional basketball player. He was best remembered for playing with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), along with stints with the Cincinnati Royals and the Detroit Pistons. He was a member of the 1971–72 NBA championship Lakers, a 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 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Hairston attended Atkins High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He played college basketball for coach Lou Rossini at New York University from 1962 to 1964 where he graduated. One of his teammates was Barry Kramer. The two smashed almost every record for the NYU Violets. Hairston averaged 21 pts per game led NYU on all time rebounding and totaled 1350 pts in his college career for which he was inducted into NYU hall of fame in 1981. Drafted by Now defunct Cincinnati Royals, he played professionally for the Cincinnati Royals and Detroit Pistons before joining the Lakers in 1969.

While often overshadowed by Chamberlain and West, Hairston was seen as the ultimate “glue guy” for the Lakers. He was hailed by legendary broadcaster Chick Hearn as “one of the fiercest rebounders the Lakers ever had” while his coach in L.A., Bill Sharman, called him the “perfect role player.”
In 1971-72, Hairston grabbed 1,045 rebounds; his teammate Wilt Chamberlain pulled down 1,572. Hairston astoundingly 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. the Philadelphia 76ers, November 15, 1974).

During his 11 seasons in the NBA, Hairston averaged 14.8 points and 10.3 rebounds.

From 1970 until his death, Hairston appeared in 17 television shows or movies including Happy Days and Airport ’79.

“A lot of us cry wolf,” Hairston told The Dallas Morning News in 1996. “We get huge amounts of money and don’t put anything back. The [Youth Foundation] is my way of putting back.”

After his retirement in 1975,he settled in Marina del Rey and established the Happy Hairston Youth Foundation in Century City. With financial help from celebrities such as Kelsey Grammer, the foundation found bright children from broken homes and paid for their college education. He also hosted a celebrity golf tournament and had a small role in the 1981 Happy Daysepisode "Tall Story," where he played the father of an epileptic high school basketball player.

Hairston died in Los Angeles in 2001 from respiratory complications brought on by prostate cancer. He was 58 and was survived by a daughter, Amber, and three sisters all of whom live in North Carolina.

Source: The Associated Press
Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Hairston
Source:https://www.journalnow.com/.../article_4b652b12-f7eb-11e6...