Jack Haley obit

Seal Beach’s Jack Haley, who played for UCLA, Chicago Bulls, Lakers, dead at 51 

He was not on the list.

Surfing was in Jack Haley’s blood, not basketball.

The son of an Orange County surfing icon spent nearly a decade in the NBA and was part of one of its greatest all-time teams, but the longtime Seal Beach resident did not even take up basketball until his second year at Golden West College.

Haley had the height to get noticed, but it was his attitude and eagerness to do whatever his teams needed that helped him last and stuck with many who remembered him fondly when they learned of his Monday death after a long illness.

Haley was 51, and his family said in a statement that an autopsy revealed heart disease as the cause of his death at Los Alamitos Medical Center.

“It is with great sadness that the Haley family announces the passing of our beloved father, son and brother,” Haley’s family said in the statement released by the Lakers. “Jack was honored and grateful for the opportunity to play in the NBA for nine years, alongside world-class athletes with the Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs and New Jersey Nets.”

Haley was part of the Bulls’ NBA championship team that went 72-10 in the 1995-96 regular season. He played in only one regular-season game that season.

He also played one season with the Lakers, in 1991-92.

Haley grew up in Seal Beach and attended Huntington Beach High before taking up basketball at Golden West College. He moved on to UCLA, where he was on the Bruins’ 1985 NIT championship team and was a starter for two seasons.

“He had a great story,” said Mater Dei girls basketball coach Kevin Kiernan, who knew Haley because he coached with him at a local camp and had heard Haley was in poor health. “He didn’t start playing basketball till he was a bit older, walked on at UCLA and then played in the NBA.

“He was proof that if you work hard, anything can happen. It’s just unfortunate. He was too young."

He was selected in the fourth round of the 1988 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls and managed to stick around the NBA through 1998, even though he played in only 341 games and started only 54.

When Haley broke into the NBA with the Bulls, he played only one minute and was scoreless in his first game. One of his slightly more famous teammates, however, had a big game.

“I’ll always remember it as the night Michael Jordan and I combined for 52 points,” he said.

Haley averaged only 1.6 points and 1.9 rebounds in his season with the Lakers, but he played in 49 games.

“Jack was a hard worker and always very professional,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said in a statement. “He was proud to wear the Lakers uniform, and he was always a credit to our organization and the Lakers family.

“Our condolences go out to his family and friends at this time.”

After his career, he served as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Nets and as a co-host of the Lakers’ pregame show.

News of Haley’s death started to spread Tuesday when his former coach and teammate, Phil Jackson and Scottie Pippen, mentioned him on Twitter.

“Jack Haley – member of Bulls 95-96 team of ages. RIP.” Jackson wrote on Twitter.

Tweeted Pippen: “Very sorry to hear my old teammate, Jack Haley, has passed away. Great guy who I stayed in touch with over the years. RIP”

Haley was a role player in the NBA and was known for his odd-couple friendship with Dennis Rodman, though he told the Chicago Tribune he was “not Dennis’ babysitter. I never have been. I’ve been a basketball player from Day One.”

His family said in its statement that Haley cherished every moment “on or off the court.”

“And more than anything, Jack dearly loved his family,” the family said in the statement. “We are humbled and grateful for the outpouring of love, support, and prayers form around the country.”

Haley’s father, Jack, was a noted surfer from Seal Beach who in 1959 won the first U.S. Open of Surfing at the Huntington Beach Pier. He opened a surfboard shop in Seal Beach in 1960 and the Sunset Beach restaurant Captain Jack’s in 1965. The elder Haley died in 2000, shortly after he was inducted into the Seal Beach Surfing Hall of Fame.

Haley and his former wife, Stacey Lidstrom, have two sons, Jack Jr., 23, and Jeffrey, 19. The younger Jack Haley played basketball at Los Alamitos High and then for one season at UCLA, where he continues as a student. He also is survived by his mother Jenette, sister Sondra and brother Tim.

Following his playing career, Haley served as an assistant coach for the New Jersey Nets and as a television broadcaster for the Lakers, co-hosting the Lakers Live pre-game show with Bill Macdonald for Fox Sports Net West/Prime Ticket. Haley also acted, appearing in the films Eddie and Rebound, as well as the music video for Aerosmith's "Love in an Elevator.

 

Career history

1987–1988            RCD Espanyol

1988–1989            Chicago Bulls

1989–1991            New Jersey Nets

1991–1992            Los Angeles Lakers

1993    AEK Athens

1993–1995            San Antonio Spurs

1995–1996            Chicago Bulls

1996–1997            La Crosse Bobcats

1997–1998            New Jersey Nets

 

Career highlights and awards

NBA champion (1996)

Career NBA statistics

Points   1,180 (3.5 ppg)

Rebounds            922 (2.7 rpg)

Assists  82 (0.2 apg)