Jack Haley (basketball)

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Jack Kevin Haley (born January 27, 1964 in Long Beach, California) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'10" forward/center from UCLA, Haley spent nine seasons (1988–1992; 1993–1998) in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Chicago Bulls, New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, and San Antonio Spurs.

Haley is perhaps best remembered for his unusual contributions to the 1995-96 Bulls team which won a league-record 72 games and the NBA Championship. Haley only played in one game during the regular season and did not participate in the playoffs, but he was kept on the roster for the entire year because of his friendship with the enigmatic Dennis Rodman, who rarely spoke to anyone else on the team. Team management felt that someone had to keep the unpredictable forward out of trouble, and Haley quickly earned a reputation as Rodman's "babysitter" [1] [2].

Following his playing career, Haley became a television broadcaster for the Lakers. During the 2004-05 NBA season, he prematurely reported that the Lakers had completed a trade for Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer. After the deal failed to occur, Haley was roundly criticized in the local press, with Los Angeles Times columnist T.J. Simers writing, "It's pretty well accepted around here that Haley knows nothing" [3].

[edit] Trivia

Haley has appeared in the films Eddie and Rebound, as well as the music video for Aerosmith's "Love in an Elevator."
His father and uncle were both United States surfing champions in 1959 and 1960, respectively.
Haley's name has become a slang phrase used in several quizbowl circles to refer to "a player who is perceived as being on a team mainly so he can be a mouthpiece for the extremely talented but introverted or strange person also on the team" [4].

[edit] External links

1995-1996 Chicago Bulls - 72 wins - National Basketball Association regular season record
Randy Brown \| Jud Buechler \| Jason Caffey \| James Edwards \| Jack Haley \| Ron Harper \| Michael Jordan \| Steve Kerr \| Toni Kukoč \| Luc Longley \| Scottie Pippen \| Dennis Rodman \| John Salley \| Dickey Simpkins \| Bill Wennington \| Coach Phil Jackson