Julian Crifton Hammond (May 27, 1943 – October 8, 2022) 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

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

, Hammond played for the

Denver Rockets Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of ...

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 ...

from 1967 to 1971.

Career

Hammond graduated from

DuSable High School Jean Baptiste Point DuSable High School is a public 4–year high school campus in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Chicago Public Schools and named after Chicago's first permanent no ...

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 ...

, Illinois. He played for the school's basketball team, but was a

bench player In team sports, substitution (or interchange) is replacing one player with another during a match. Substitute players that are not in the starting lineup (also known as bench players, backups, interchange, or reserves) reside on the bench and are ...

throughout his four years at DuSable. A

, Hammond began his

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 ...

career at Parsons Junior College. After two years at Parsons, he transferred to the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

to continue his college basketball career with the

Tulsa Golden Hurricane The Tulsa Golden Hurricane are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tulsa. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (or variously as TU or Tulsa). Before adopting the name Golden Hurricane in 1922, the Universit ...

. He was among the first group of black basketball players at Tulsa. During the 1965–66 season, Hammond led the

National Collegiate Athletic Association 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. ...

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the gene ...

by making 65.9 percent (172 for 261) of his shot attempts, missing the record of 66.0 percent. 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 Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

of 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 ...

(NBA) selected Hammond in the

1966 NBA draft The 1966 NBA draft was the 20th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 11 and 12, 1966, before the 1966–67 season. In this draft, ten NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball ...

. Hammond did not sign with the Lakers, instead signing with the

of the

(ABA) in September 1967 as one of the franchise's first

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

signings. After three seasons with Denver, Hammond became a free agent, and he signed a two-year contract to stay with the Rockets. The Rockets waived Hammond in December 1971. Playing with the Rockets from the 1967–68 to 1971–72 seasons, Hammond averaged 10.8 points and 6.2

rebounds per game 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

on 51 percent shooting in 329

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

Personal life

After retiring from the ABA, Hammond settled in Denver. He worked for

Mountain Bell Qwest Corporation, doing business as CenturyLink QC, is a Regional Bell Operating Company owned by Lumen Technologies. It was originally named Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company, later becoming known as Mountain Bell, then US West C ...

for 31 years. He then worked as an usher at the

Pepsi Center Ball Arena (formerly known as the Pepsi Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Denver, Colorado, United States. It is situated at Speer Boulevard, a main thoroughfare in downtown Denver, and is served by two nearby exits off Int ...

during

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 ...

games for 14 years. Hammond's son, Julian II, played college basketball for the

Loyola Marymount Lions The Loyola Marymount Lions are the athletic teams that represent Loyola Marymount University, a Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, Jesuit institution in Los Angeles, California. The school competes in NCAA Division I and the West Co ...

. His grandson, Julian III, plays college basketball for the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado Boulder. The university sponsors 16 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden ...

. Hammond died in

Centennial, Colorado Centennial is a home rule city located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,418 at the 2020 United States census, making Centennial the 11th most populous municipality in Colorado. Centennial is a principal ...

, on October 8, 2022, at age 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, Julian 1943 births 2022 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago Businesspeople from Colorado Denver Rockets players Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball players