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.

[edit] External links

• Career statistics at http://www.basketball-reference.com/
• Jack Haley at the Internet Movie Database