Gail Goodrich
Encyclopedia
Gail Charles Goodrich Jr. (born April 23, 1943 in Los Angeles, California
) is a retired American
professional basketball
player in the National Basketball Association
(NBA). He is best-known for scoring a then record 42 points in the 1965 NCAA championship game vs. Michigan, and his part in the Los Angeles Lakers
' 1971–72 season
. During that season the team won a still-record 33 games consecutively, posted what was at the time the best regular season record in NBA history, and also won the franchise's first NBA championship since relocating to Los Angeles. Goodrich was the leading scorer on that team. He is also acclaimed for leading UCLA to its first two National Championships under the legendary coach John Wooden, the first in 1963-64 being a perfect 30-0 season. In 1996, 17 years after his retirement from professional basketball, Goodrich was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
basketball team that dominated the 1961 Los Angeles City high school basketball championship.
(UCLA), where he finished as the school's all-time leading scorer and played on the school's first two national championship teams in 1964 and 1965. He was a two-time All-America and the Helms Foundation’s “Co-Player of the Year
” (along with Princeton’s Bill Bradley) in 1965.
In the 1965 NCAA championship game, he scored a record 42 points as UCLA beat favored Michigan. This record stood until 1973 when Bill Walton scored 44 in the finals vs. Memphis State, and through 2007 it is still the 2nd highest total scored by a player in the championship game. While at UCLA, Goodrich was also a member of the Beta Theta Pi
Fraternity.
Goodrich has said that he had originally wanted to attend the University of Southern California
(USC), where his father had once been a star player, but that coach John Wooden
of UCLA ultimately showed a great deal more interest in Goodrich than did USC. Like many Division I colleges, USC was wary of Goodrich's short stature. He was only 5 inch his junior year in high school and even at his ultimate height of 6 inch, he was short by college basketball standards. He was called Stumpy by his teammates.
A tenacious and fiery competitor, Gail Goodrich used intelligent ball-handling skills and excellent court vision to lead two of the most successful teams in basketball history. The left-handed Junior guard was the team’s main scorer. He finished with an average of 21.5 points per game and guided the 1963-64 UCLA Bruins to a 30-0 record. For the first time ever, a UCLA team won all 30 of its games en route to the school’s first NCAA title. Goodrich and Keith Erickson were the only returning starters from the team that won UCLA's first national title in 1964. As a senior the Bruins repeated as NCAA champions as Goodrich scored 24.6 points a game. At UCLA Goodrich helped compile a 78-11 three-year record. In both of those championship seasons, Goodrich was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team and he finished as UCLA's all-time leading scorer (1,690 points).
Reggie Miller
, G, 1984-87
Gail Goodrich, G, 1963-65
Lew Alcindor
, C, 1967-69
Sidney Wicks
, F, 1969-71
Marques Johnson
, F, 1974-77
John Wooden
, Coach
, because of Goodrich's height.
In 1968, the Lakers lost Goodrich to the Phoenix Suns in the expansion draft, and he quickly became the star of the new franchise and a favorite among Suns fans. A full-time starter for the first time in his NBA career in 1968-69, Goodrich scored 23.8 points per game—sixth in the league and tops on his team. He surprised critics who had labeled him a gunner by ranking seventh in assists with 6.4 per game and was also selected to play in the 1969 NBA All-Star Game
. In 1969-70 Goodrich scored 20.0 ppg and 7.5 apg (both tops on the team). After the season he was traded back to the Lakers in exchange for Mel Counts
.
With the Lakers, Goodrich guided the 1971-72 team to a 69-13 record and the NBA title as well as an NBA record 33 consecutive wins while playing with fellow Hall of Famers Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain. Goodrich led the Lakers in scoring in 1971-72, 1972-73, 1973-74, and 1974-75 said Los Angeles Coach Bill Sharman
, "Gail Goodrich is just a great offensive player". From the 1968-69 season through the 1975-76 season Goodrich scored an average of 22.4 points a game, among the best in the NBA during that period, while also averaging well over five assists per game.
The 1973-74 season was the best all-around season in his career. He was First-team All-NBA and again an All-star. he scored over 2,000 points and averaged 25.3 points a game—4th in the league in scoring, while leading the NBA in free throws made and free throw attempts as he drove the basket perhaps more than at any point in his career. In 1973-74 he was in the second year of earning $180,000 per season.
Goodrich, then 31, dropped about 10 pounds (4.5 kg) for the 1974-75 season stating, "I decided prior to this season that I would lose about 10 pounds to get down to my college playing weight of 172 ... I'm sure it helps with my quickness and my stamina." Goodrich led the Lakers in scoring with a 22.6 per game average.
Goodrich held out in the Fall of 1975 and missed the first four games while playing out his option allowing to be a free agent the following season. In the 1975-76 season Goodrich switched roles, becoming the "playmaking" guard rather than the "shooting guard", switching spots with Lucius Allen. Goodrich had played a similar role in Phoenix but during his time with Jerry West, Goodrich was the shooting guard. Ironically, Allen was the shooting guard when he played with Oscar Robertson on the champion Milwaukee Buck team. So, both were familiar with the roles. According to a Long Beach paper the switch worked and "did wonders for a slumping Laker team". That same season the Laker had acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to upgrade the center position from Elmore Smith.
On August 6, 1976, Gail signed a three-year contract reportedly worth $1.4 million with the New Orleans Jazz
where he teamed in the backcourt with Pete Maravich
. Early in the 1976-77 season Goodrich sustained an Achilles heel injury that required surgery. In January, 1977, Goodrich filed a lawsuit against the Lakers alleging that he was shorted over $150,000 of his $275,000 1975-76 season salary due to fines for missing training camp and for pre-season and some regular season games. The lawsuit also asked for $75,000 punitive damages stating that the fines were a "breach of contract". He rehabilitated the leg and prepared hard for the 1977-78 season and it seemingly paid off as he averaged 16.1 points a game and shot a career-best .495 from the field as a 34-year old guard.
He played one final campaign in 1978-79, the 14th of his career. After averaging 12.7 ppg in 74 games, Goodrich retired, having scored 19,181 career points.
His impact upon the Laker franchise extended far beyond his playing years. When he signed with the New Orleans Jazz in 1976, per league rules, the Lakers were to receive compensation for losing a veteran free agent. The Lakers and Jazz agreed to send New Orleans' highest pick from the 1979 draft to Los Angeles (along with a 1977 and 1978 number one pick and an additional second round pick). When the Jazz finished the 1978-79 season with the worst record in the NBA, the Lakers were eligible for one of the top two picks of that draft. Until 1985, the two teams with the worst records flipped a coin to determine which team would receive the top pick. The Lakers won the coin flip against the Chicago Bulls
, who selected David Greenwood 2nd. The Lakers selected Magic Johnson
. They used the other top pick in 1977 for Kenny Carr
and they traded the 1978 #1 selection to Boston - who took Freeman Williams
.
For his career, Goodrich was a 5-time All-Star and was All-NBA in 1973-74. He is still the third all-time scorer among lefties in NBA history. At the time of his retirement in 1979, Goodrich was 11th all-time in scoring and 10th all-time in assists.
Goodrich ranks among all-time Laker leaders in several categories, including total points (6th, 13,044), assists (7th, 2,863), free throws made (7th, 2,830) and games played (9th, 687).
He was considered, along with Paul Silas
and Bob Weiss for the Clippers head coach job in 1980.
After his basketball career, Goodrich and his family eventually settled in Greenwich, Connecticut
. Goodrich became an executive with a golf course management company, and he serves as a studio analyst for NBA TV
.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
) is a retired American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professional basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player in the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
(NBA). He is best-known for scoring a then record 42 points in the 1965 NCAA championship game vs. Michigan, and his part in the Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
' 1971–72 season
1971–72 NBA season
The 1971–72 NBA season was the 26th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals....
. During that season the team won a still-record 33 games consecutively, posted what was at the time the best regular season record in NBA history, and also won the franchise's first NBA championship since relocating to Los Angeles. Goodrich was the leading scorer on that team. He is also acclaimed for leading UCLA to its first two National Championships under the legendary coach John Wooden, the first in 1963-64 being a perfect 30-0 season. In 1996, 17 years after his retirement from professional basketball, Goodrich was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
High school career
A native of the Los Angeles area, Goodrich was the captain of the John H. Francis Polytechnic High SchoolJohn H. Francis Polytechnic High School
John H. Francis Polytechnic High School is a secondary school located in the Sun Valley area of Los Angeles, California. It serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District...
basketball team that dominated the 1961 Los Angeles City high school basketball championship.
College career
He attended college at the University of California, Los AngelesUniversity of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
(UCLA), where he finished as the school's all-time leading scorer and played on the school's first two national championship teams in 1964 and 1965. He was a two-time All-America and the Helms Foundation’s “Co-Player of the Year
Helms Foundation Player of the Year
The Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year was an annual basketball award given to the most outstanding intercollegiate men's basketball player in the United States. The award was first given following the 1904–05 season and ceased being awarded after the 1978–79 season...
” (along with Princeton’s Bill Bradley) in 1965.
In the 1965 NCAA championship game, he scored a record 42 points as UCLA beat favored Michigan. This record stood until 1973 when Bill Walton scored 44 in the finals vs. Memphis State, and through 2007 it is still the 2nd highest total scored by a player in the championship game. While at UCLA, Goodrich was also a member of the Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi , often just called Beta, is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. It has over 138 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada...
Fraternity.
Goodrich has said that he had originally wanted to attend the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
(USC), where his father had once been a star player, but that coach John Wooden
John Wooden
John Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
of UCLA ultimately showed a great deal more interest in Goodrich than did USC. Like many Division I colleges, USC was wary of Goodrich's short stature. He was only 5 inch his junior year in high school and even at his ultimate height of 6 inch, he was short by college basketball standards. He was called Stumpy by his teammates.
A tenacious and fiery competitor, Gail Goodrich used intelligent ball-handling skills and excellent court vision to lead two of the most successful teams in basketball history. The left-handed Junior guard was the team’s main scorer. He finished with an average of 21.5 points per game and guided the 1963-64 UCLA Bruins to a 30-0 record. For the first time ever, a UCLA team won all 30 of its games en route to the school’s first NCAA title. Goodrich and Keith Erickson were the only returning starters from the team that won UCLA's first national title in 1964. As a senior the Bruins repeated as NCAA champions as Goodrich scored 24.6 points a game. At UCLA Goodrich helped compile a 78-11 three-year record. In both of those championship seasons, Goodrich was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team and he finished as UCLA's all-time leading scorer (1,690 points).
The Sporting News All-time UCLA squad
As determined by fan voteReggie Miller
Reggie Miller
Reginald Wayne "Reggie" Miller is a retired American professional basketball player who played his entire 18-year National Basketball Association career with the Indiana Pacers...
, G, 1984-87
Gail Goodrich, G, 1963-65
Lew Alcindor
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season...
, C, 1967-69
Sidney Wicks
Sidney Wicks
Sidney Wicks is a retired American basketball player. A native of California, he played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and played professionally in the National Basketball Association from 1971 to 1981...
, F, 1969-71
Marques Johnson
Marques Johnson
Marques Kevin Johnson is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA, playing for the Milwaukee Bucks , Los Angeles Clippers , and Golden State Warriors ....
, F, 1974-77
John Wooden
John Wooden
John Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
, Coach
NBA career
Although many believed Goodrich was too small for the college game and too frail for the pros, Goodrich, through perseverance and discipline, proved his doubters wrong. Goodrich was nicknamed "Stumpy", a moniker bestowed upon him by teammate Elgin BaylorElgin Baylor
Elgin Gay Baylor is a retired Hall of Fame American basketball player and former NBA general manager who played 13 seasons as a forward for the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers/Los Angeles Lakers....
, because of Goodrich's height.
In 1968, the Lakers lost Goodrich to the Phoenix Suns in the expansion draft, and he quickly became the star of the new franchise and a favorite among Suns fans. A full-time starter for the first time in his NBA career in 1968-69, Goodrich scored 23.8 points per game—sixth in the league and tops on his team. He surprised critics who had labeled him a gunner by ranking seventh in assists with 6.4 per game and was also selected to play in the 1969 NBA All-Star Game
1969 NBA All-Star Game
GAME 19: at Baltimore, Jan. 14, 1969MVP: Oscar RobertsonCoaches: East: Gene Shue, West: Richie Guerin.Network: ABC-Eastern Conference: -Western Conference: -Score by Periods: *Halftime— East, 60-53*Third Quarter— East, 86-83...
. In 1969-70 Goodrich scored 20.0 ppg and 7.5 apg (both tops on the team). After the season he was traded back to the Lakers in exchange for Mel Counts
Mel Counts
Mel Grant Counts is a retired American basketball player who was in the NBA from 1964 to 1976. He was on the United States Olympic basketball team that won the gold at the 1964 Summer Olympics. He played in college for Oregon State University and was selected by the Boston Celtics in the 1964...
.
With the Lakers, Goodrich guided the 1971-72 team to a 69-13 record and the NBA title as well as an NBA record 33 consecutive wins while playing with fellow Hall of Famers Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain. Goodrich led the Lakers in scoring in 1971-72, 1972-73, 1973-74, and 1974-75 said Los Angeles Coach Bill Sharman
Bill Sharman
William Walton "Bill" Sharman is a former professional basketball player and coach. Sharman completed high school in the rural city of Porterville, California and is mostly known for his time with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s, partnering with Bob Cousy in what some consider the greatest...
, "Gail Goodrich is just a great offensive player". From the 1968-69 season through the 1975-76 season Goodrich scored an average of 22.4 points a game, among the best in the NBA during that period, while also averaging well over five assists per game.
The 1973-74 season was the best all-around season in his career. He was First-team All-NBA and again an All-star. he scored over 2,000 points and averaged 25.3 points a game—4th in the league in scoring, while leading the NBA in free throws made and free throw attempts as he drove the basket perhaps more than at any point in his career. In 1973-74 he was in the second year of earning $180,000 per season.
Goodrich, then 31, dropped about 10 pounds (4.5 kg) for the 1974-75 season stating, "I decided prior to this season that I would lose about 10 pounds to get down to my college playing weight of 172 ... I'm sure it helps with my quickness and my stamina." Goodrich led the Lakers in scoring with a 22.6 per game average.
Goodrich held out in the Fall of 1975 and missed the first four games while playing out his option allowing to be a free agent the following season. In the 1975-76 season Goodrich switched roles, becoming the "playmaking" guard rather than the "shooting guard", switching spots with Lucius Allen. Goodrich had played a similar role in Phoenix but during his time with Jerry West, Goodrich was the shooting guard. Ironically, Allen was the shooting guard when he played with Oscar Robertson on the champion Milwaukee Buck team. So, both were familiar with the roles. According to a Long Beach paper the switch worked and "did wonders for a slumping Laker team". That same season the Laker had acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to upgrade the center position from Elmore Smith.
On August 6, 1976, Gail signed a three-year contract reportedly worth $1.4 million with the New Orleans Jazz
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
where he teamed in the backcourt with Pete Maravich
Pete Maravich
Peter "Pistol Pete" Press Maravich was an American professional basketball player. Born and raised in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Maravich starred in college at Louisiana State University and played for three NBA teams until injuries induced him to retire in 1980...
. Early in the 1976-77 season Goodrich sustained an Achilles heel injury that required surgery. In January, 1977, Goodrich filed a lawsuit against the Lakers alleging that he was shorted over $150,000 of his $275,000 1975-76 season salary due to fines for missing training camp and for pre-season and some regular season games. The lawsuit also asked for $75,000 punitive damages stating that the fines were a "breach of contract". He rehabilitated the leg and prepared hard for the 1977-78 season and it seemingly paid off as he averaged 16.1 points a game and shot a career-best .495 from the field as a 34-year old guard.
He played one final campaign in 1978-79, the 14th of his career. After averaging 12.7 ppg in 74 games, Goodrich retired, having scored 19,181 career points.
His impact upon the Laker franchise extended far beyond his playing years. When he signed with the New Orleans Jazz in 1976, per league rules, the Lakers were to receive compensation for losing a veteran free agent. The Lakers and Jazz agreed to send New Orleans' highest pick from the 1979 draft to Los Angeles (along with a 1977 and 1978 number one pick and an additional second round pick). When the Jazz finished the 1978-79 season with the worst record in the NBA, the Lakers were eligible for one of the top two picks of that draft. Until 1985, the two teams with the worst records flipped a coin to determine which team would receive the top pick. The Lakers won the coin flip against the Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
, who selected David Greenwood 2nd. The Lakers selected Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...
. They used the other top pick in 1977 for Kenny Carr
Kenny Carr
Kenneth Alan Carr is a retired American basketball player.A 6'7" forward from North Carolina State University, Carr won a gold medal with the United States national basketball team at the 1976 Summer Olympics...
and they traded the 1978 #1 selection to Boston - who took Freeman Williams
Freeman Williams
Freeman Williams is a retired American college and professional basketball player. He was the 1978 NCAA men's basketball Division I scoring champion, and the Portland State University all-time scoring leader. Williams was the NCAA Division I national men's basketball individual scoring leader in...
.
For his career, Goodrich was a 5-time All-Star and was All-NBA in 1973-74. He is still the third all-time scorer among lefties in NBA history. At the time of his retirement in 1979, Goodrich was 11th all-time in scoring and 10th all-time in assists.
Goodrich ranks among all-time Laker leaders in several categories, including total points (6th, 13,044), assists (7th, 2,863), free throws made (7th, 2,830) and games played (9th, 687).
Post-NBA career
On November 20, 1996, the Lakers retired his #25 jersey. On December 18, 2004, UCLA did likewise. In high school he wore #12 and that number was retired by Poly High as well.He was considered, along with Paul Silas
Paul Silas
Paul Theron Silas is a retired American professional basketball player and current head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats. He attended Creighton University, where he set an NCAA record for the most rebounds in three seasons and averaged 20.6 rebounds per game in 1963...
and Bob Weiss for the Clippers head coach job in 1980.
After his basketball career, Goodrich and his family eventually settled in Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
. Goodrich became an executive with a golf course management company, and he serves as a studio analyst for NBA TV
NBA TV
NBA TV is a television specialty channel that is dedicated to showcasing the sport of basketball in the United States. The network is financially backed by the National Basketball Association , which also uses NBA TV as a way of advertising their out of market package NBA League Pass, and partner...
.
See also
- List of National Basketball Association players with 1000 games played
- List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders