Former UCLA and NBA superstar Walt Hazzard dies at the age of 69
Former University of California Los Angeles’ (UCLA) head coach and NBA superstar Walt Hazzard, who earned huge recognition both as a player and coach, has died at the age 69.
After retiring from basketball, Hazzard had a stroke in 1996 but made a tremendous recovery. However his public presence reduced substantially after that.
Walt has undergone a heart surgery and his family has declared that the former NBA superstar had been recuperating from the complications for a long time. However he failed to recover while he was in the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Centre and died on Friday.
Walt Hazzard was best known for his splendid career with the men’s basketball team at California where he not only earned the reputations of a star player in 1960’s, Hazzard also led UCLA powerfully from the coaching staff in 1980’s.
Being the co-captain of the National team in 1964, Hazzard registered a career-high 18.6 points per game and also spearheaded his team for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) title in the same year.
Playing for the depleted Bruins during his junior season, Walt Hazzard not only helped the team to record 20 victories for the first time since 1957, Hazzard also guided Bruins into the Final Four almost singlehandedly where they lost by only two points against the eventual champions Cincinnati.
After retiring from the basketball as a player, Walt was hired coach of the UCLA in 1984. Walt Hazzard coached for four seasons and helped the team to finish in top 4 every time.
The current head coach of UCLA Ben Howland was saddened to hear the news of Walt’s death and admired his extraordinary work for the team.
“Walt was one of the pillars of UCLA’s first championship team in men’s basketball. He was a great player and an outstanding coach at UCLA. He is a huge part of the Bruin legacy, and he left life-long memories for the Bruin faithful.” Ben Howland said.
After becoming one of the best players in the college league, Walt Hazzard enjoyed an exciting career in National Basketball Association as well. The year Hazzard became the NCAA champion; he was selected by the Western Conference elite Los Angeles Lakers with the first overall pick during the 1964 NBA Draft.
Hazzard played for five different NBA teams which include Lakers, Seattle Supersonics, Atlanta Hawks, Buffalo Braves and Golden State Warriors. During his NBA career, Walt Hazzard converted to Islam and also changed his name to Mahdi Abdul-Rehman. However, considering that the name was poorly conceived which also affected his professional opportunities, he continued to use his old name Walt Hazzard but remained devoted to the Muslim faith.
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