William Bruce Hale (August 30, 1918 – December 30, 1980) 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 and coach.
A 6'1" guard/forward from
Medford, Oregon
Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824, making it the List of cities in Oregon, eighth-most populo ...
, Hale played
college basketball
College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...
for the
Santa Clara Broncos, then played professionally in the early
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 ...
(NBA) as a member of the
Indianapolis Jets,
Fort Wayne Pistons, and
Indianapolis Olympians. He averaged 9.1 points per game over his NBA career.
[ He later held coaching positions with the ]University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
, the Oakland Oaks of the American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...
, and St. Mary's College of California. With Miami, he took the program to their first NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 1960, which would be the last for the program for 38 years. Before he died of a heart attack in 1980, he had been working as a marketing director at the KNBR radio station.
Hale's daughter, Pam, married basketball player Rick Barry
Richard Francis Dennis Barry III (born March 28, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player who starred at the NCAA, American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) levels. Barry ranks among the m ...
, who played for Hale at the University of Miami. Through Pam, Hale is the grandfather of NBA players Brent Barry, Jon Barry
Jon Alan Barry (born July 25, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player and television analyst for American Broadcasting Company, ABC and ESPN. Barry is currently the lead analyst for NBA_on_ESPN_Radio, ESPN Radio's coverage of ...
, and Drew Barry.
Hale was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.
Career playing statistics
NBL
Source
Regular season
, -
, style="text-align:left;background:#ffe6fa;", 1946–47†
, style="text-align:left;", Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, 41 , , 156 , , 116 , , 141 , , .823 , , 428 , , 10.4
, -
, style="text-align:left;", 1947–48
, style="text-align:left;", Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
, 48 , , 196 , , 155 , , 215 , , .721 , , 547 , , 11.4
, -
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career
, 89 , , 352 , , 271 , , 356 , , .761 , , 975 , , 11.0
Playoffs
, -
, style="text-align:left;background:#ffe6fa;", 1947
It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Events
January
* January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...
†
, style="text-align:left;", Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, 11 , , 35 , , 24 , , 30 , , .800 , , 94 , , 8.5
, -
, 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;", Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
, 4 , , 21 , , 20 , , 25 , , .800 , , 62 , , 15.5
, -
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career
, 15 , , 56 , , 44 , , 55 , , .800 , , 156 , , 10.4
BAA/NBA
Regular season
Source
Playoffs
Head coaching record
NBA/ABA
, -
, style="text-align:left;", Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
(BAA)
, style="text-align:left;", 1948–49
, 17, , 4, , 13, , , , style="text-align:center;", —, , —, , —, , —, , —
, style="text-align:center;", (replaced)
, -
, style="text-align:left;", Oakland
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
(ABA)
, style="text-align:left;",
, 78, , 22, , 56, , , , style="text-align:center;", 6th in Western, , —, , —, , —, , —
, style="text-align:center;", Missed Playoffs
, - class="sortbottom"
, style="text-align:left;", Career (overall)
, , , 95, , 26, , 69, , , , , , —, , —, , —, , —
College
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hale, Bruce
1918 births
1980 deaths
All-American college men's basketball players
American men's basketball players
Basketball coaches from Oregon
Basketball players from Oregon
Chicago American Gears players
College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
Fort Wayne Pistons players
Forwards (basketball)
Guards (basketball)
Indianapolis Jets coaches
Indianapolis Jets players
Indianapolis Kautskys players
Indianapolis Olympians players
Miami Hurricanes men's basketball coaches
Oakland Oaks coaches
Basketball player-coaches
Professional Basketball League of America players
Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball coaches
Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball players
Sportspeople from Medford, Oregon
Undrafted NBA players
Professional Basketball League of America coaches