Charles Hentz (born March 17, 1948) is an American former 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. A 6'5"

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

from Arkansas AM&N College, Hentz was the 6th pick in the 5th round of the

1969 NBA Draft The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college bas ...

(63rd overall pick), selected by the

San Diego Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1967, and pl ...

,Charlie Hentz
basketball-reference.com. but he signed with the

Pittsburgh Condors The Pittsburgh Condors were a professional basketball team in the original American Basketball Association (ABA). Originally called the Pittsburgh Pipers, they were a charter franchise of the ABA and captured the first league title. The team pla ...

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, ...

. He appeared in 57 games during the 1970–71 ABA season, averaging 6.0

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player 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 points by nu ...

and 6.8

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 ...

. He was nicknamed "The

Helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

" for his jumping and dunking abilities. Hentz is best remembered for his actions in a November 6, 1970 game against the

Carolina Cougars The Carolina Cougars were a basketball franchise in the American Basketball Association that existed from 1969 through 1974. The Cougars were originally a charter member of the ABA as the Houston Mavericks in 1967. The Mavericks moved to North Ca ...

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

. Late in the first half of the game, Hentz went up for a dunk and tore the rim from his team's backboard, destroying the glass backboard in the process. The game was delayed for about an hour until the rim and backboard were replaced with a wooden backboard. With 1:07 left in the game (and the Cougars assured of victory with a 122–107 lead), Hentz destroyed ''another'' glass backboard (the one on the other end of the court) while dunking – and since there were no other replacements available, the coaches and referees agreed to end the game. According to teammate Charlie Williams, "the Helicopter just stood there smiling."Carolina Cougars Fan Memories at RememberTheABA.com
A starter early in the season, Hentz was later consigned to the Pittsburgh bench. After signing ex-

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

forward Rich Johnson, the Condors waived Hentz on February 27, 1971. He never played pro ball again.

Notes

1948 births Living people American men's basketball players Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions men's basketball players Pittsburgh Condors players Place of birth missing (living people) Power forwards (basketball) San Diego Rockets draft picks {{1940s-US-basketball-bio-stub