Mahdi Abdul-Rahman (born Walter Raphael Hazzard Jr.; April 15, 1942 – November 18, 2011) 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

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 ...

coach. He played in college for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

and was a member of their first national championship team in 1964. He also won a gold medal that year with the US national team at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

. Hazzard began his pro career in 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) with 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 ...

, who selected him a territorial pick in the 1964 NBA draft. He was named an

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Traditionally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...

with the Seattle SuperSonics in 1968. After his playing career ended, he was the head coach at UCLA during the 1980s.

College career

Hazzard attended Overbrook High School in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where his teams went 89–3 and he was named the city's player of the year when he was a senior. Hazzard went on to the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, where he became a key player on the Bruins varsity basketball team. In Hazzard's first season on the varsity squad, UCLA made their first

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

appearance in the 1962 NCAA tournament. They lost 72–70 to eventual champion

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

in the semi-finals. UCLA's first undefeated season in 1963–64 was in no small part due to Hazzard, his backcourt partner Gail Goodrich, and coach

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, nati ...

. The team won its first NCAA Championship, and Hazzard was selected by the

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as the tournament's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

. Following UCLA's victory in the 1964 tournament, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' featured a cover photograph of Walt Hazzard dribbling the basketball up court and the headline, "UCLA Is The Champ. Walt Hazzard Drives Through Duke." Hazzard was chosen as an All-American and also selected as College Player of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). His number 42 jersey was retired by UCLA in 1996 in Pauley Pavilion, but Hazzard gave his permission for stand-out recruit Kevin Love to wear the number. Hazzard and

Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was a United States Senate, United States senator from New ...

earned a spot on the 1964 Olympic basketball team for the U.S., which unsurprisingly won the gold medal. He was pre-draft territorial pick in 1964 by the

NBA career

Hazzard later played in the

NBA 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 ...

, first with the

from 1964 to 1967, then the Seattle SuperSonics, the

Atlanta 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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

, the

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference ...

, and briefly for the

Golden State 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 Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

. He returned to the SuperSonics for the 1973–74 season, after which he retired from professional basketball. While playing for the SuperSonics in their inaugural 1967–68 season, Hazzard scored a career high 24.0 points per game, averaged 6.2 assists per game, and was selected to play in the 1968 NBA All-Star Game. Seattle traded him to the Hawks during the off-season for

Lenny Wilkens Leonard Randolph Wilkens (born October 28, 1937) is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, fi ...

. Hazzard's career-high average in assists came during the 1969–70 season, when he averaged 6.8 assists per game while playing for the Hawks.

Coaching career

In 1980, Hazzard took a part-time position paying $1,500 annually to be the head coach at Compton Community College. He compiled a 53–9 record in his two seasons, but 21 wins from the first season were later forfeited because he used an ineligible player. According to Hazzard, poor records from the season before his arrival failed to note that the ineligible player had played that season. He went on to Division II school Chapman College, where he coach two seasons with a 44–14 record. In 1984, he returned to UCLA as its men's basketball coach, twenty years after winning the national championship as a player. That same year, he was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame. He coached for four seasons, winning 77 out of 125 games. The 1984–85 UCLA Bruins basketball team won the NIT championship. The 1986–87 Bruins won both the Pac-10 regular season championship as well as the inaugural Pac-10 tournament. However, after the 1987–88 Bruins finished only two games above .500—the closest they had come to a losing record in 40 years—Hazzard was fired. He later spent a number of years working for the Los Angeles Lakers, first as an advance

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

on the west coast and later as a special consultant.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Regular season

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Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, 66 , , – , , 13.9 , , .382 , , – , , .648 , , 1.7 , , 2.1 , , – , , – , , 4.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , – , , 27.5 , , .457 , , – , , .708 , , 2.7 , , 4.9 , , – , , – , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , – , , 20.8 , , .426 , , – , , .729 , , 2.9 , , 4.1 , , – , , – , , 9.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, 79 , , – , , 33.7 , , .441 , , – , , .774 , , 4.2 , , 6.2 , , – , , – , , 24.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, 80 , , – , , 30.3 , , .397 , , – , , .707 , , 3.3 , , 5.9 , , – , , – , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , – , , 33.6 , , .467 , , – , , .809 , , 4.0 , , 6.8 , , – , , – , , 15.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , – , , 35.1 , , .459 , , – , , .759 , , 3.7 , , 6.3 , , – , , – , , 16.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 72 , , – , , 33.2 , , .451 , , – , , .782 , , 3.0 , , 5.6 , , – , , – , , 15.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 9 , , – , , 14.9 , , .417 , , – , , .500 , , 1.1 , , 1.9 , , – , , – , , 5.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 46 , , – , , 13.7 , , .418 , , – , , .863 , , 1.7 , , 2.4 , , – , , – , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 49 , , – , , 11.7 , , .422 , , – , , .756 , , 1.2 , , 2.5 , , .5 , , .1 , , 3.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 724 , , – , , 26.5 , , .441 , , – , , .757 , , 3.0 , , 4.9 , , .5 , , .1 , , 12.6

Playoffs

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1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

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, 7 , , – , , 16.9 , , .333 , , – , , .750 , , 2.6 , , 4.3 , , – , , – , , 7.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 14 , , – , , 24.3 , , .493 , , – , , .619 , , 2.9 , , 3.1 , , – , , – , , 11.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , – , , 28.7 , , .240 , , – , , .800 , , 2.7 , , 5.3 , , – , , – , , 6.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1969 , style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , – , , 32.7 , , .393 , , – , , .787 , , 3.0 , , 3.9 , , – , , – , , 14.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 7 , , – , , 36.4 , , .500 , , – , , .625 , , 3.4 , , 7.7 , , – , , – , , 21.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , – , , 40.4 , , .329 , , – , , .800 , , 5.0 , , 5.4 , , – , , – , , 14.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 11 , , – , , 19.5 , , .357 , , – , , 1.000 , , 1.8 , , 2.5 , , – , , – , , 6.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 58 , , – , , 27.2 , , .413 , , – , , .738 , , 2.9 , , 4.2 , , – , , – , , 11.8

Coaching statistics

Personal life and death

In the summer of 1972, Hazzard embraced

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, and started going by the name "Mahdi Abdul-Rahman" in 1972–73, his eighth season in the NBA. In 1976–77, he returned to study at UCLA, completing his degree in

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...

at age 35. By 1980 when he joined Compton, he changed his name to Abdul-Rahman Hazzard. One of the reasons he cited was the recognition of the name ''Hazzard''. He felt that the name change was poorly received in basketball circles, believing that it cost him opportunities, both during and after his playing career. Although he remained a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, he chose to return to using his original name professionally. In 1984, UCLA introduced him as Walt Hazzard when they hired him as their coach. Hazzard and his wife Jaleesa had four children: Yakub, Jalal, Rasheed, and Khalil, the latter being a

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

, well known in

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

circles by the stage name

DJ Khalil Khalil Abdul-Rahman Hazzard (born October 16, 1974), professionally known as DJ Khalil, is an American music producer and disc jockey, DJ from Los Angeles. The son of National Basketball Association, NBA player Walt Hazzard, he signed with rapp ...

. Hazzard's grandsons, Jacob and Max Hazzard, also play basketball. Jacob is a former walk-on basketball player at

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, and Max played basketball for

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Education In the United States * University of California system * University of Charleston, West Virginia * University of Chicago, Illinois * University of Cincinnati, Ohio * Upsala College, East Orange, New Jersey (''defunct ...

and Arizona. On March 22, 1996, Hazzard was hospitalized following a stroke. Although he made a substantial recovery over the ensuing years, his health never returned in full and subsequent to his illness he was much less active in the public sphere. Shortly after the stroke, Lakers owner Jerry Buss promised Hazzard's family that he would remain on the team's payroll as long as Buss owned the team; Hazzard remained a Lakers employee for the rest of his life. By the middle of 2011, his health had deteriorated significantly and he was hospitalized in

intensive care Intensive care medicine, usually called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes p ...

. On November 18 of that year, Hazzard died at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center due to complications following heart surgery. He was 69. Walt Hazzard is interred in the Muslim section at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

References

www.uclabruins.com UCLA Men's Basketball Media Guide

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazzard, Walt 1942 births 2011 deaths African-American basketball coaches African-American Muslims All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Basketball coaches from Delaware Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Wilmington, Delaware Basketball players from Philadelphia Burials at Rose Hills Memorial Park Buffalo Braves players Chapman Panthers men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Converts to Islam Golden State Warriors players Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics NBA All-Stars Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Point guards Seattle SuperSonics expansion draft picks Seattle SuperSonics players Shooting guards UCLA Bruins men's basketball coaches UCLA Bruins men's basketball players United States men's national basketball team players 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen Muslims from Delaware Muslims from Pennsylvania