My last two reviews on NBA basketball have been on Knicks. Bernard King and Patrick Ewing were the court culprits, whose accomplishments I briefly revamped. I love basketball. But to everyone’s surprise, I do not even have a favorite team. I have never had. Still, I have always had favorite players. These are scattered among several teams; and I am not bothered. I enjoy their games, and would never review any of them until retirement comes. I like reviewing a player’s career: not just games. That is the reason for my stance.
The bloke on the review menu tonight is named Elvin Hayes. He began playing basketball long before I was born. But I grew up hearing a lot about him. I also studied the clips of his many professional games. And I was glad that someone who has followed my reviews on retired NBA professionals (here at Lunch), sent me an e-mail with a specific request that I review Elvin Hayes. Well, I would not decline.
The “Big E” (as he was fondly called during his active years) was born as Elvin Ernest Hayes on the 17th day of November 1945. His birth place was Rayville, Louisiana. At that time, it was a town of less than 5,000 residents. It was also less than idyllic then: with racial tensions rising and falling like tidal waves. Elvin grew up there. He attended the Eula D. Britton High School, before proceeding to the University of Houston, Texas.
Right from his High School days, Elvin was both fluent and loquacious on the basketball court. The rhythm of the game’s flow was his language. And it came as natural to him as was heartbeat. He excelled with ease. His college days were even much better and more successful. More than 50,000 fans and spectators thronged the Astrodome on January 20, 1968 to watch the grand college battle between Elvin and the formidable Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who was known then as Lewis Alcindor).
Their respective teams (Uni Houston and UCLA Bruins) have been unstoppable prior to this ultimate square-off. And UCLA’s 47-game winning streak was particularly intimidating. But an undeterred Elvin ran amok in a positive manner: posting 39 points and snatching a slim victory from Kareem’s jaws. And as if that wasn’t enough, he edged-out Kareem in that year’s Player of the Year Award. His outstanding performance included average of 36.8 points per game and 18.9 rebounds per game. He easily became the first overall pick during the 1968 draft period.
Elvin Hayes’ skills would improve further in the NBA. In no time, they became insistent weapon. His durability also ensured that he only missed nine games in his career (which spanned remarkable sixteen seasons). He was always among the best performers in the league; and was selected for All-Star games the first twelve years he played in the league. He was a prolific scorer as well as a great rebounder. In fact during that his first twelve years, the 6’9” 240lbs Forward earned an average of 19.7points per game and 11.0 rebounds per game.
Some of his notable stats and achievements are as follows:
1. 1968 first overall draft pick (by the then San Diego Rockets)
2. 1969 All-NBA Rookie Team Selection
3. 3-time All-NBA First Team (1975, ’77, and ‘70)
4. 3-time All-NBA Second Team (1973, ’74, and ‘76)
5. 2-time All-NBA Defensive Second Team (1974-‘75)
6. 1978 NBA Champion
7. 12-time NBA All-Star Selections (1969-’80, i.e. twelve straight years)
8. 6th All-time leader in NBA career points (27,313 points)
9. 4th All-time leader in NBA career rebounds (16,279 rebounds)
10. 5th All-time leader in number of NBA games played (1,303 games)
11. 3rd All-time leader in the number of minutes played (50,000 minutes)
One thing that statistics will never explain is the fluidity of Hayes’ entertainment on court. His trademark turnaround jumpers, dribbles, and competitive spirit are better seen than read. And many people consider him as an NBA-equivalent of black hole. Some would even nickname him “The Black Hole”, because they noted that whenever the ball went into his hands, it wasn’t coming out. And that added to the anguish and frustrations of those who were unlucky to contest against him. Elvin Hayes was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990.
VALENTINE ODUENYI.
