Mahdi Abdul-Rahman (born Walter Raphael Hazzard Jr.; April 15, 1942 – November 18, 2011) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach. He played in college for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

and was a member of their first national championship team in 1964. He also won a gold medal that year with the US national team at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this h ...

. Hazzard began his pro career in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA) with the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

, who selected him a territorial pick in the

1964 NBA draft The 1964 NBA draft was the 18th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 4, 1964, before the 1964–65 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball player ...

. He was named an

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Originally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...

with the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

in 1968. After his playing career ended, he was the head coach at UCLA during the 1980s.

College career

Hazzard attended Overbrook High School in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, where his teams went 89–3 and he was named the city's player of the year when he was a senior. Hazzard then went on to the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...

, where he became a key player on the Bruins varsity basketball team. In Hazzard's first season on the varsity squad, UCLA made their first Final Four appearance in the 1962 NCAA tournament. They lost 72–70 to eventual champion

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

in the semi-finals. UCLA's first undefeated season in 1963–64 was in no small part due to Hazzard, his backcourt partner

Gail Goodrich Gail Charles Goodrich Jr. (born April 23, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is best known for scoring a then record 42 points for UCLA in the 1965 NCAA championship game v ...

, and coach

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as hea ...

. The team won its first NCAA Championship, and Hazzard was selected by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

as the tournament's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a partic ...

. Following UCLA's victory in the 1964 tournament, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

'' featured a cover photograph of Walt Hazzard dribbling the basketball up court and the headline, "UCLA Is The Champ. Walt Hazzard Drives Through Duke." Hazzard was chosen as an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n and also selected as College Player of the Year by the

United States Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awar ...

(USBWA). His number 42 jersey was retired by UCLA in 1996 in

Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The ...

, but Hazzard gave his permission for stand-out recruit

Kevin Love Kevin Wesley Love (born September 7, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a five-time NBA All-Star Game, All-Star, a two-time member of the All-NBA ...

to wear the number. Hazzard and

Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. He served three terms as a Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey (1979–1997). He ran for the Democratic Party's nomination f ...

earned a spot on the 1964 Olympic basketball team for the U.S., which unsurprisingly won the gold medal. He was pre-draft territorial pick in 1964 by the

NBA career

Hazzard later played in the NBA, first with the

from 1964–1967, then the

, the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

, the Buffalo Braves, and briefly for the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

. He returned to the SuperSonics for the 1973–74 season, after which he retired from professional basketball. While playing for the SuperSonics in their inaugural 1967–68 season, Hazzard scored a career high 24.0 points per game, averaged 6.2 assists per game, and was selected to play in the

1968 NBA All-Star Game The 1968 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game which was played at Madison Square Garden in New York City, January 23, 1968. *Coaches: East: Alex Hannum, West: Bill Sharman. *Officials: Mendy Rudolph and Don Murphy *MVP: Hal Gre ...

. Seattle traded him to the Hawks during the off-season for

Lenny Wilkens Leonard Randolph Wilkens (born October 28, 1937) is an American former basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, first in 1989 as ...

. Hazzard's career-high average in assists came during the 1969–70 season, when he averaged 6.8 assists per game while playing for the Hawks.

Coaching career

In 1980, Hazzard took a part-time position paying $1,500 annually to be the head coach at Compton Community College. He compiled a 53–9 record in his two seasons, but 21 wins from the first season were later forfeited because he used an ineligible player. According to Hazzard, poor records from the season before his arrival failed to note that the ineligible player had played that season. He went on to Division II school Chapman College, where he coach two seasons with a 44–14 record. In 1984, he returned to UCLA as its men's basketball coach, twenty years after winning the national championship as a player. That same year, he was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame. He coached for four seasons, winning 77 out of 125 games. The 1984–85 UCLA Bruins basketball team won the NIT championship. The 1986–87 Bruins won both the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Divisio ...

regular season championship as well as the inaugural

Pac-10 tournament The Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournament, otherwise known as the Pac-12 tournament, is the annual concluding tournament for the NCAA college basketball in the Pac-12, taking place in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena. History The predeces ...

. However, after the 1987–88 Bruins finished only two games above .500—the closest they had come to a losing record in 40 years—Hazzard was fired. He later spent a number of years working for the Los Angeles Lakers, first as an advance

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, secti ...

on the west coast and later as a special consultant.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, 66 , , – , , 13.9 , , .382 , , – , , .648 , , 1.7 , , 2.1 , , – , , – , , 4.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , – , , 27.5 , , .457 , , – , , .708 , , 2.7 , , 4.9 , , – , , – , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , – , , 20.8 , , .426 , , – , , .729 , , 2.9 , , 4.1 , , – , , – , , 9.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, 79 , , – , , 33.7 , , .441 , , – , , .774 , , 4.2 , , 6.2 , , – , , – , , 24.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, 80 , , – , , 30.3 , , .397 , , – , , .707 , , 3.3 , , 5.9 , , – , , – , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , – , , 33.6 , , .467 , , – , , .809 , , 4.0 , , 6.8 , , – , , – , , 15.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , – , , 35.1 , , .459 , , – , , .759 , , 3.7 , , 6.3 , , – , , – , , 16.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 72 , , – , , 33.2 , , .451 , , – , , .782 , , 3.0 , , 5.6 , , – , , – , , 15.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 9 , , – , , 14.9 , , .417 , , – , , .500 , , 1.1 , , 1.9 , , – , , – , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 46 , , – , , 13.7 , , .418 , , – , , .863 , , 1.7 , , 2.4 , , – , , – , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 49 , , – , , 11.7 , , .422 , , – , , .756 , , 1.2 , , 2.5 , , .5 , , .1 , , 3.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 724 , , – , , 26.5 , , .441 , , – , , .757 , , 3.0 , , 4.9 , , .5 , , .1 , , 12.6

Playoffs

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1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term ...

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, 7 , , – , , 16.9 , , .333 , , – , , .750 , , 2.6 , , 4.3 , , – , , – , , 7.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 14 , , – , , 24.3 , , .493 , , – , , .619 , , 2.9 , , 3.1 , , – , , – , , 11.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , – , , 28.7 , , .240 , , – , , .800 , , 2.7 , , 5.3 , , – , , – , , 6.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

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, 11 , , – , , 32.7 , , .393 , , – , , .787 , , 3.0 , , 3.9 , , – , , – , , 14.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1970 , style="text-align:left;",

, 7 , , – , , 36.4 , , .500 , , – , , .625 , , 3.4 , , 7.7 , , – , , – , , 21.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , – , , 40.4 , , .329 , , – , , .800 , , 5.0 , , 5.4 , , – , , – , , 14.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1973 , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 11 , , – , , 19.5 , , .357 , , – , , 1.000 , , 1.8 , , 2.5 , , – , , – , , 6.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 58 , , – , , 27.2 , , .413 , , – , , .738 , , 2.9 , , 4.2 , , – , , – , , 11.8

Coaching statistics

Personal life and death

In the summer of 1972, Hazzard embraced

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

, and started going by the name "Mahdi Abdul-Rahman" in 1972–73, his eighth season in the NBA. In 1976–77, he returned to study at UCLA, completing his degree in

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human heal ...

at age 35. By 1980 when he joined Compton, he changed his name to Abdul-Rahman Hazzard. One of the reasons he cited was the recognition of the name ''Hazzard''. He felt that the name change was poorly received in basketball circles, believing that it cost him opportunities, both during and after his playing career. Although he remained a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, he chose to return to using his original name professionally. In 1984, UCLA introduced him as Walt Hazzard when they hired him as their coach. Hazzard and his wife Jaleesa had four children: Yakub, Jalal, Rasheed, and Khalil, the latter being a

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, well known in hip hop circles by the stage name DJ Khalil. Hazzard's grandsons, Jacob and Max Hazzard, also play basketball. Jacob is a former walk-on basketball player at

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, and Max played basketball for

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** ''University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the t ...

and Arizona. On March 22, 1996, Hazzard was hospitalized following a stroke. Although he made a substantial recovery over the ensuing years, his health never returned in full and subsequent to his illness he was much less active in the public sphere. Shortly after the stroke, Lakers owner Jerry Buss promised Hazzard's family that he would remain on the team's payroll as long as Buss owned the team; Hazzard remained a Lakers employee for the rest of his life. By the middle of 2011, his health had deteriorated significantly and he was hospitalized in

intensive care Intensive care medicine, also called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes pro ...

. On November 18 of that year, Hazzard died at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center due to complications following heart surgery. He was 69. Walt Hazzard is interred in the Muslim section at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

References

www.uclabruins.com UCLA Men's Basketball Media Guide

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazzard, Walt 1942 births 2011 deaths African-American basketball coaches African-American basketball players African-American Muslims All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Basketball coaches from Delaware Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Wilmington, Delaware Basketball players from Philadelphia Burials at Rose Hills Memorial Park Buffalo Braves players Chapman Panthers men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Converts to Islam Golden State Warriors players Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics National Basketball Association All-Stars Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Point guards Seattle SuperSonics expansion draft picks Seattle SuperSonics players Shooting guards UCLA Bruins men's basketball coaches UCLA Bruins men's basketball players United States men's national basketball team players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people