Alex Hannum: Born on This Date in 1923

Alex Hannum instructing his Philadelphia 76ers. Hannum coached the 76ers to the 1967 NBA Championship and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. Photo credit: Getty Images.

Cover photo: Alex Hannum instructing his team. Photo credit: Getty Images.

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A legendary coaching figure in NBA history was born on this date, July 19, in 1923. 

Before acquiring his Hall of Fame coaching chops, Alex Hannum was the High School Player of the Year for the city of Los Angeles, at Hamilton High School. Later on, the school would produce distinguished athletic alumni Laila Ali, Warren Moon, and Sidney Wicks, as well as announcer Al Michaels and sports agent Leigh Steinberg. 

Hannum, a big guy for his time at 6 feet 7 inches and 225 pounds, went on to play at the University of Southern California. From 1943-1945, he served in the United States military as a marine, before he returned to the Trojans for two more years. In his final two seasons at USC, Hannum put up 10.5 and 11.4 points per game. 

It was in the National Basketball League that Hannum began his professional playing career, for the Oshkosh All-Stars, from 1948-49. Hannum’s NBA career spanned from 1949-1957, where he suited up for the Syracuse Nationals, Baltimore Bullets, Rochester Royals, Milwaukee and St. Louis Hawks, and the Fort Wayne Pistons. The forward’s career averages were 6.0 points and 4.5 rebounds. 

Hannum’s coaching career began in 1956-57 with the Hawks. In his first 31 games at the helm, the team went 15-16. In 1957-58, the Hawks finished with a 41-31 record and beat the Boston Celtics in six games in the NBA Finals. Hall of Fame forward Bob Pettit (24.6 points, 17.4 rebounds) was the star of the team and fellow future Hall of Famers Cliff Hagan (19.9 points, 10.1 rebounds), “Easy” Ed McCauley (14.2 points, 6.6 rebounds), and Slater Martin (12.0 points) followed his lead. The Hawks’ 107.5 points per game was the third best in the Association that year. 

From 1960-63, Hannum head-coached the Syracuse Nationals to a 127-112 record. 

Following the 1961-62 season, the Philadelphia Warriors moved to the west coast. It was in San Francisco that Hannum got his first opportunity to coach Wilt Chamberlain, for the 1963-64 season. Also on that team was a rookie Nate Thurmond. The Warriors defeated Hannum’s former team the Hawks in the Western Division Finals (4-3) but lost in five games in the ‘64 Finals to the Celtics. The Warriors went 48-32 during the regular season and had the league’s stingiest defense, allowing 102.6 points per game. Hannum was named the 1964 NBA Coach of the Year. 

In ‘64-‘65, the Warriors won just 17 games. Thirty-eight games into that campaign, the organization shipped Chamberlain off to Philadelphia. At the end of the 1965-66 season, Hannum was fired by the Warriors, who had gone 35-45 in the regular season.

It was in the city of brotherly love where Hannum and Chamberlain reunited in 1966. 

By this time, the 76ers had been in Philadelphia for three years after moving from Syracuse. The franchise had replaced Dolph Schayes, who did not get along with Chamberlain, with Hannum. 

The ‘66-‘67 Sixers, with a core of Chamberlain, Hal Greer, and Chet Walker and star role players Luke Jackson, Wali Jones and Billy Cunningham, went 68-13, setting a then-record for wins in a season. Chamberlain was named league Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row. He would win the award again in 1968 for his third in a row.

In Philadelphia, Walker served as the Sixers’ late game closer, in order to keep Chamberlain, a poor shooter from the stripe, off the free-throw line late in games. 

Chamberlain, in his 1997 autobiography Who’s Running the Asylum: Inside the Insane World of Sports Today says of Hannum - “The Sarge” as the team called him: 

“Hannum had proven himself a great coach by winning the world championship with the St. Louis Hawks. He was tough and he knew his stuff. We had our off moments, to be sure, but for the most part we got along splendidly because we had so much in common both on and off the court.” 

Wayne Lynch, in his 2002 book Season of the 76ers, writes:

“Hannum had convinced Chamberlain that he could win more championships playing a complete game rather than a totally individual one.”

In the championship season, Chamberlain averaged 24.1 points (with 7.8 assists), Greer 22.1, and Walker 19.3. Balance. In ‘67-‘68, Chamberlain became the only center to lead the NBA in total assists for a season. 

After the ‘67-‘68 campaign, Hannum agreed to a contract to coach the Oakland Oaks of the ABA. The Oaks won 60 games (60-18) with the league's number one offense (126.5 points per game), and won the 1969 ABA title. The 36-year-old Hannum won the Coach of the Year award. Rick Barry, who Hannum coached as a rookie with the Warriors in '65-'66, was the star of the Oaks. Barry averaged 30.4 points per game, which led the ABA that season.

Back in the NBA for the ‘69-‘70 season, Hannum manned the sideline for the San Diego Rockets. He coached the team to a 58-80 record in two seasons there, and wound up back in the ABA for ‘71-‘72. Leading the Denver Rockets for three seasons, Hannum coached the franchise to 34, 47, and 37 wins (84 games per season).  His coaching career concluded after the 1973-74 season.

Hannum finished his NBA coaching career with an overall record of 471-412, with the two championships in ‘58 and ‘67. In 330 ABA games, his clubs sported a record of 178-152, with one championship. From 1966-69, his teams (Sixers, Oaks) compiled a 160-51 record, winning 60 games (68, 62, 60) in each of those seasons. His greatest success overall was with the Syracuse/Philadelphia franchise, which he led to a 257-145 regular season record and 26-20 playoff record. 

Throughout his career, Hannum coached 12 Hall of Famers. They are:  

Bob Pettit (St. Louis Hawks)

Slater Martin (St. Louis Hawks)

Ed McCauley (St. Louis Hawks)

Cliff Hagan (St. Louis Hawks)

Nate Thurmond (San Francisco Warriors)

Wilt Chamberlain (San Francisco Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers)

Hal Greer (Philadelphia 76ers)

Chet Walker (Philadelphia 76ers)

Billy Cunningham (Philadelphia 76ers)

Rick Barry (San Francisco Warriors, Oakland Oaks)

Elvin Hayes (San Diego Rockets)

Calvin Murphy (San Diego Rockets)

Hannum was the first NBA coach to lead two different franchises to a championship. He was also the first head coach to guide teams to both an NBA and ABA title. In 1998, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Chamberlain was one of his presenters.

On this date, we remember the legendary coach.