Alexander Murray Hannum (July 19, 1923 – January 18, 2002) was a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and coach. Hannum coached two

National Basketball Association 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 ...

(NBA) teams and one American Basketball Association (ABA) team to league championships. He had a combined NBA-ABA record of 649–564 (.535) in the regular season and 61–46 (.570) in the playoffs over 16 seasons. In 1998, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach.

High school career

Hannum prepped at Hamilton High School in Los Angeles.

College career

Hannum played at USC, where he was captain of the 1948 team.

Professional career

Hannum played in the NBA between 1949 and 1957. After a season with the

Oshkosh All-Stars The Oshkosh All-Stars were an American professional basketball team based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Founded in 1929 by Lonnie Darling, the team was a member of the National Basketball League, a forerunner to the NBA, from 1937 until 1949. Histor ...

, followed by the formation of the

, he played for several NBA teams and scored more than 3,000 points. Hannum is one of only three NBA players to receive more than six personal fouls in a single game ( Don Otten and Cal Bowdler are the others). On December 26, 1950, Hannum received seven personal fouls in a game against the Boston Celtics.

Coaching career

Midway through the 1956–57 season, Hannum was named player-coach of the

St. Louis Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

. He was actually the Hawks' third head coach that year.

Red Holzman William "Red" Holzman (August 10, 1920 – November 13, 1998) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is best known as the head coach of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1967 to ...

had been fired midway through the season in favor of Hannum's teammate, Slater Martin. However, Martin didn't want to be a coach and a player, and gave up the reins after only eight games. Hannum led the team to a 15–16 record for the rest of the season. Despite a losing overall record, the West was so weak that year (no team finished with a winning record) that the Hawks actually won the division title. They advanced all the way to the NBA Finals and lost to the Boston Celtics in seven games. Hannum retired as a player after that season. A year later, led by Bob Pettit and Martin, the Hawks won their only NBA Championship over the Celtics in the NBA Finals. It is one of the only two seasons in

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most Va ...

's 13-year career in which the Celtics' center did not win an NBA championship. Hannum coached the Wichita Vickers of the AAU

National Industrial Basketball League The National Industrial Basketball League was founded in 1947 to enable U.S. mill workers a chance to compete in basketball. The league was founded by the industrial teams (teams sponsored by the large companies and made up of their employees) be ...

in the 1958–59 and 1959–60 season. He returned to the NBA in 1960 with the

Syracuse Nationals The Philadelphia 76ers are an American basketball team currently playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 76ers are third in NBA history in wins and playoff appearances. 1946– ...

, advancing to the Eastern finals in his first season and losing in the first round two years in a row. In 1964, Hannum was named NBA Coach of the Year while with the

San Francisco Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 1 ...

after leading them to the Finals against the Celtics. In 1966, Hannum was named the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. That team had moved from Syracuse three years earlier. He succeeded

Dolph Schayes Adolph Schayes (May 19, 1928 – December 10, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A top scorer and rebounder, he was a 12-time NBA All-Star and a 12-time All-NBA selection. ...

, who had been named coach after the move from Central New York. During his first season as coach, the 76ers had a record setting season as they started 46–4,nba.com/history
Top 10 Teams in NBA History
, accessed January 16, 2007 en route to a record of 68–13, the best record in league history at the time. After a 129–103 win over the Pistons on March 3, 1967, he joined Red Auerbach as the only coaches to have won 60 games in a season at that period. Hannum led the Sixers towards the 63rd victory, breaking the NBA-record for most wins in a single season, in an OT win over the Boston Celtics. On March 14, 1967, he became the first coach to have won 65 games in a season. Hannum then coached the

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely reg ...

-led Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA championship, ending the eight-year title streak of the Boston Celtics. The 1967 Championship made him the first of only three head coaches in NBA history to win championships with two different teams (the other two are Phil Jackson and

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

). In 1968 Hannum was named head coach and executive vice president of the Oakland Oaks of the American Basketball Association. Hannum coached the

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 ...

-led Oaks to the 1969 ABA Championship, becoming the first of two coaches to win championships in both the NBA and ABA. Hannum won the ABA Coach of the Year honors the same season. Hannum left his position as head coach of 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 ...

of the NBA to become president, general manager and head coach of the ABA's

Denver Rockets Denver () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States#State capital, capital, and List of municipalities in Colorado#, most populous city of th ...

on April 8, 1971. In his first season the Rockets lost their opening playoff match to the Texas Chaparrals. On June 13, 1972, Hannum bought control of the Rockets with A.G. "Bud" Fischer and Frank M. Goldberg. In the 1972–73 season Hannum coached the Rockets to the

1973 ABA Playoffs The 1973 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association's 1972-1973 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Division champion Indiana Pacers defeating the Eastern Division champion Kentucky Colonels, fou ...

where they lost in the first round of the Western Division playoffs to the Indiana Pacers, 4 games to 1. Hannum returned the Rockets to the

1974 ABA Playoffs The 1974 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association's 1973-1974 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion New York Nets defeating the Western Division champion Utah Stars, four gam ...

where they lost to the San Diego Conquistadors. On April 30, 1974, Hannum was dismissed as president, general manager and head coach of the Rockets. Hannum's combined record (NBA and ABA), was 649–564 (.535) with a 61–46 record (.570) in the playoffs on 11 trips in 16 seasons.

Honors

Hannum was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. Thirteen Hall-of-Famers played for Hannum. In addition to Pettit, Chamberlain and Barry, he had also coached

Cliff Hagan Clifford Oldham Hagan (born December 9, 1931) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6-4 forward who excelled with the hook shot, Hagan, nicknamed "Li'l Abner", played his entire 10-year NBA career (1956–1966) with the St. ...

Ed Macauley Charles Edward Macauley (March 22, 1928 – November 8, 2011) was a professional basketball player and coach. His playing nickname was "Easy Ed". Early life Macauley spent his prep school days at St. Louis University High School, then went on to ...

, Slater Martin,

, Nate Thurmond,

Billy Cunningham William John Cunningham (born June 3, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the ''Kangaroo Kid'' for his leaping and record-setting rebounding abilities. He spent a total of 17 seasons with the ...

Hal Greer Harold Everett Greer (June 26, 1936 – April 14, 2018) was an American professional basketball player. He played for the Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1958 through 1973. A guard, Greer ...

Elvin Hayes Elvin Ernest Hayes (born November 17, 1945), nicknamed "the Big E", is an American former professional basketball player and radio analyst for his alma-mater Houston Cougars. He is a member of the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams, and a ...

Calvin Murphy Calvin Jerome Murphy (born May 9, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player who after a prolific collegiate career at Niagara, where he averaged 33.1 points per game over his three years, played in the National Basketball Assoc ...

and

Chet Walker Chester Walker (born February 22, 1940) is an American former professional basketball player. Born in Bethlehem, Mississippi, Walker played high school basketball for the Benton Harbor High School boys basketball team. He graduated from Bradley ...

Personal life

Hannum, a native of Los Angeles, and graduate of the

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, died at the age of 78 in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

Head coaching record

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St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

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Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

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References

External links

Basketball Reference statistics (as a coach)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hannum, Alex 1923 births 2002 deaths Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) players Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from Los Angeles Centers (basketball) Denver Rockets head coaches Fort Wayne Pistons players Indianapolis Jets draft picks Milwaukee Hawks players Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Basketball Association championship-winning head coaches Oakland Oaks executives Oakland Oaks head coaches Oshkosh All-Stars players Philadelphia 76ers head coaches Player-coaches Power forwards (basketball) Rochester Royals players San Diego Rockets head coaches San Francisco Warriors head coaches St. Louis Hawks head coaches St. Louis Hawks players Syracuse Nationals head coaches Syracuse Nationals players USC Trojans men's basketball players