William Joseph Hassett (October 21, 1921 – November 15, 1992) 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 (appro ...

player. A 5'11" guard from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

, where he also lettered in baseball, he was a consensus first team All American selection in 1945 and a second team selection in 1946. Hassett played five seasons (1946–51) in the National Basketball League, the Professional Basketball League of America, and the

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

as a member of the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

Tri-Cities Blackhawks Tri-Cities most often refers to: *Tri-Cities, Tennessee, United States *Tri-Cities, Washington, United States Tri-City, Tricity or Tri-Cities may also refer to: Populated places Americas Canada * Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of C ...

, the Chicago Gears, the

Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, having played and won championships in both the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA) prior to ...

, and the Baltimore Bullets. He averaged 4.5

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player or team per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of poi ...

professionally in the NBA. He won an NBA championship with the Lakers in 1950 with teammate

George Mikan George Lawrence Mikan Jr. (; June 18, 1924 – June 1, 2005), nicknamed "Mr. Basketball", was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Minneapolis Lakers of ...

. Billy was the leading scorer for the Blackhawks with 15 points in the first game in history of the NBA as a member of the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. Bob Brown on the Nuggets led all scorers with 16 points. The game was played on October 29, 1949, against to old

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

. Hassett also played one year for the

Georgetown Hoyas The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located at Washington, D.C. The Georgetown's athletics department fields 24 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the Natio ...

in 1942–43 (All American selection), playing in the

NCAA Championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

against

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

in 1943. Hassett played for the AAU Dow Chemics in 1944 after Georgetown dropped basketball due to World War II. He transferred to Notre Dame in 1945. Hassett managed the 24 second clock the first time it was used in the NBA at a

Syracuse Nationals The Philadelphia 76ers are an American basketball team currently playing in the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 76ers are third in NBA ...

game. His brother, John Aloysious "Buddy" Hassett, played Major League Baseball for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

, the

Boston Bees The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). Then in 1966 they were relocated to Atlanta, whe ...

and Braves and the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

(1936–1942).

Career statistics

NBL

Source

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1946–47 , style="text-align:left;", Tri-Cities , 27 , , 73 , , 66 , , 101 , , .653 , , 212 , , 7.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1947–48 , style="text-align:left;", Tri-Cities , 56 , , 199 , , 203 , , 269 , , .755 , , 601 , , 10.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1948–49 , style="text-align:left;", Tri-Cities , 64 , , 125 , , 106 , , 156 , , .679 , , 356 , , 5.6 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 147 , , 397 , , 375 , , 526 , , .713 , , 1,169 , , 8.0

Playoffs

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

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

, style="text-align:left;", Tri-Cities , 6 , , 18 , , 17 , , 26 , , .654 , , 53 , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

, style="text-align:left;", Tri-Cities , 5 , , 11 , , 17 , , 21 , , .810 , , 39 , , 7.8 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 11 , , 29 , , 34 , , 47 , , .723 , , 92 , , 8.4

NBA

Source

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

*
Peach Basket Society profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassett, Billy 1921 births 1992 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) players Basketball players from New York (state) Buffalo Bisons (NBL) players Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball players Guards (basketball) La Salle Academy alumni Minneapolis Lakers players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball players Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball players Professional Basketball League of America players Tri-Cities Blackhawks players