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 (appr ...

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 and a metropolitan area population of 223,259, making the Me ...

, Hale played college basketball at

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

, then played professionally in the early

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball 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 in the United St ...

as a member of the

Indianapolis Jets The Indianapolis Jets were a Basketball Association of America (BAA) team based in Indianapolis. They were founded as the Indianapolis Kautskys and used that name until the team joined the BAA. They played for one year in the BAA and then ceased o ...

Fort Wayne Pistons A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, and

Indianapolis Olympians The Indianapolis Olympians were a founding National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Indianapolis. They were founded in 1949 and folded in 1953. Their home arena was Butler Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University--now known as Hin ...

. 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 research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

, the Oakland Oaks of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

, and St. Mary's College of California. Before he died of a heart attack in 1980, he had been working as a marketing director at the

KNBR KNBR may refer to: * KNBR (AM), a radio station (680 AM) licensed to serve San Francisco, California, United States * KNBR-FM KNBR-FM (104.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to San Francisco, California, serving the greater San ...

radio station. Hale's daughter, Pam, married basketball player

Rick Barry Richard Francis Dennis Barry III (born March 28, 1944) is an American retired professional basketball player who starred at the NCAA, American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) levels. Barry ranks among the ...

, who played for Hale at the University of Miami. Through Pam, Hale is the grandfather of NBA players

Brent Barry Brent Robert Barry (born December 31, 1971), also known by the nickname "Bones", is an American basketball executive, broadcaster and former player. He is the current vice president of basketball operations for the San Antonio Spurs. The shooti ...

Jon Barry Jon Alan Barry (born July 25, 1969) is an American former basketball player and current television analyst for ABC and ESPN. Biography Barry is the son of Hall of Famer Rick Barry and Pam Connolly, and has three brothers: Scooter, Brent, and ...

, and

Drew Barry Drew William Barry (born February 17, 1973) is an American retired professional basketball player. He is the son of Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry and has four brothers: Scooter, Jon, Canyon and Brent, who also share his profession. His ...

. Hale was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 1986.University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame inductees
. Retrieved on February 1, 2010.

BAA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

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 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 National Basketball Association players