Player profile · CIN / DET / LAL

Happy Hairston

Happy Hairston stats, teams and career impact

#289 all-timeCareer averages · 14.8 PPG · 10.3 RPG · 1.6 APGPeak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded

Position: Power forward
Final NBA team: Los Angeles Lakers
Height / weight: 6 ft 7 in (201 cm) · 225 lb (102 kg)
Born: May 31, 1942
Died: May 1, 2001 (58 yrs old)
College: NYU
NBA seasons: 11 seasons · 1964–65 to 1974–75

Career or season view

Career summaryHappy Hairston was a power forward who played 11 NBA seasons, from 1964–65 through 1974–75.

Career PPG: 14.8
Career RPG: 10.3
Career APG: 1.6; #25 in 1973–74; #289 all-time

Peak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded

Career overview

Why Happy Hairston ranks #289 all time

Happy Hairston ranks #289 all time. Across his three best seasons, his average league finish was #30.7. His full-career value ranks #450, so this placement is driven more by dominance than longevity.

Peak#25 in 1973–74

Best league finish

Sustained excellence11 ranked seasons

450+ minutes required per season

Career breadth11 seasons

776 games · Career Value Rank #450

Head to head

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Full player detailsTeam history, career shooting and sources

Full team history

Teams: Cincinnati Royals, Detroit Pistons, and Los Angeles Lakers
Greatest Kings →Greatest Pistons →Greatest Lakers →

Career shooting

NBA regular season

Field goal: 47.8%FG%
Three-point: —3P%
Free throw: 74.1%FT%

776 career games · 24,330 minutes

Sources and updateConventional stats and measurements: Basketball Reference, accessed Sep 13, 2026. hussEyquation ranking data through 2025–26. Life dates: Wikidata; conflicting dates checked against Basketball Reference, accessed Sep 17, 2026.

Traditional box score

Happy Hairston stats by season

Start with scoring and impact, then switch views for shooting or the full advanced picture. Career percentages use total makes and attempts.

Swipe for PPG · RPG · APG · Impact · Team · G · GS · MPG →


1974–75	10.3	12.8	2.3	+1.45	LAL	74	0	30.9	50.6%	—	80.1%	#33	174.8
1973–74	14.5	13.5	2.7	+1.61	LAL	77	0	34.2	50.7%	—	77.1%	#25	221.5
1972–73	16.3	13.2	2.4	+1.10	LAL	28	0	33.5	48.2%	—	78.7%	#34	67.8
1971–72	13.1	13.1	2.4	+0.40	LAL	80	0	34.4	46.1%	—	77.9%	#49	160.9
1970–71	18.6	10.0	2.1	-0.93	LAL	80	0	36.5	46.6%	—	78.2%	#99	75.1
1969–70	18.5	11.1	1.7	+0.69	DET/LAL	70	0	34.7	49.6%	—	78.9%	#34	154.7
1968–69	18.1	11.8	1.3	-0.54	DET	81	0	35.7	46.9%	—	73.1%	#69	102.5
1967–68	17.9	8.3	1.3	-1.19	CIN/DET	74	0	34.0	48.7%	—	69.9%	#76	50.0
1966–67	14.9	8.0	0.8	-1.64	CIN	79	0	30.9	47.9%	—	66.0%	#69	21.6
1965–66	14.1	7.6	0.6	-1.32	CIN	72	0	24.9	48.9%	—	68.5%	#60	30.5
1964–65	6.1	4.8	0.4	-4.50	CIN	61	0	12.1	37.3%	—	66.7%	#88	-44.4
Career	14.8	10.3	1.6	—	CIN/DET/LAL	776	—	31.4	47.8%	—	74.1%	—	—

Source: Basketball Reference regular-season totals, accessed Sep 13, 2026.

What these measures mean

Era-centered box impact: Estimated points per 100 possessions above that season's league average.
Impact Rate Rank: The player's place among qualified players in one season.
Value contribution / Season Value: Completed seasons use a fixed-baseline contribution to Career Value. The live season instead uses Season Value, combining that season's impact with workload.
Career Impact Rank: An all-time rank weighted toward the player's best three, five, and ten seasons.

Career Impact Rank#289

36.6 composite · lower is better

Best 5#300

35.0 average league finish

Career Value Rank#450

1,015 total value

Career standing

How Happy Hairston ranks all time

These are league placements, not raw scores. Each season is judged against that season's qualified player pool.

Number-one seasons0

Best in the league

Top-five seasons0

Elite finishes

Top-ten seasons0

Upper-tier finishes

Top-10 Impact Margin0.0

Tie-breaker across top-ten seasons

Career Composite Score36.6

Best 3, Best 5, and Best 10 average league finishes receive 50%, 30%, and 20% window weights. Missing seasons receive a replacement finish just below the player's typical qualified field. Lower is better.

Best 3 effective weight: 74%
Missing-season finish: 143.0
Qualified seasons: 11
All-time rank: #289

Strongest seasons

Every season

Happy Hairston advanced stats by season

Era-centered box impact supports comparisons through time. Impact Rate and its rank compare players only within that season.

More advanced statsAge, minutes, impact, rank, value and data coverage


1974–75Historical Defense Estimate	LAL	32	74	2,283	+1.45	82.9	#33	174.8	85th	Broad
1973–74Historical Defense Estimate	LAL	31	77	2,634	+1.61	86.4	#25	221.5	88th	Broad
1972–73Historical Defense Estimate	LAL	30	28	939	+1.10	80.8	#34	67.8	53rd	Modeled
1971–72Historical Defense Estimate	LAL	29	80	2,748	+0.40	70.7	#49	160.9	73rd	Modeled
1970–71Historical Defense Estimate	LAL	28	80	2,921	-0.93	41.3	#99	75.1	57th	Modeled
1969–70Historical Defense Estimate	DET/LAL	27	70	2,427	+0.69	76.6	#34	154.7	74th	Modeled
1968–69Historical Defense Estimate	DET	26	81	2,889	-0.54	48.9	#69	102.5	62nd	Modeled
1967–68Historical Defense Estimate	CIN/DET	25	74	2,517	-1.19	37.5	#76	50.0	41st	Modeled
1966–67Historical Defense Estimate	CIN	24	79	2,442	-1.64	32.0	#69	21.6	41st	Modeled
1965–66Historical Defense Estimate	CIN	23	72	1,794	-1.32	36.6	#60	30.5	38th	Modeled
1964–65Historical Defense Estimate	CIN	22	61	736	-4.50	2.2	#88	-44.4	6th	Modeled

Career movement

Happy Hairston's career impact by season

Peak +1.61 in 1973–74 · 11 seasons · 24,330 minutes

The same historical box-score model is used for every season, making the career shape comparable through time. The vertical scale adapts to this player's range and always includes zero.

Era-centered box impactMinutesModeled estimate

Player-specific impact scaleWorkload

Career comparison

Compare the shape, not the calendar

Align by NBA experience to compare season one with season one, or by age to compare players at the same stage of life.

Compare with a similar careerOpen full comparison →

Happy HairstonGar Heard

Era-centered box impactEstimated points per 100 possessions above that season's league average · dashed marker means the player did not play

Happy Hairston and Gar Heard era-centered impact values by NBA season number
NBA season	Happy Hairston	Gar Heard
1	-4.5	-1.7
2	-1.3	-0.8
3	-1.6	0.3
4	-1.2	0.6
5	-0.5	-0.4
6	0.7	-0.0
7	-0.9	-0.8
8	0.4	1.3
9	1.1	-0.4
10	1.6	-0.6
11	1.5	0.4

NBA season number

Similar career arcs

Players with careers similar to Happy Hairston

The career-similarity score compares era-centered box impact, peak, prime, workload, career length, position, and experience-aligned trajectory. It describes career shape, not playing style, equal ability, or probability.

PF · All-Time Career #544

Gar Heard

career similarity score

90/100 closest-season score · 1973–74 ↔ 1977–78 PF · All-Time Career #1154

Jerami Grant

career similarity score

88/100 closest-season score · 1973–74 ↔ 2022–23 PF · All-Time Career #1283

Bobby Portis

career similarity score

84/100 closest-season score · 1973–74 ↔ 2025–26

How to read this page

Impact Rate shows how strong a player was compared with everyone else that season. Season Value adds how much he played; completed player-profile rows instead show each season's fixed-baseline contribution to Career Value. Career Impact Rank rewards a high peak, a long prime, and repeated seasons near the top. Older seasons use clearly labeled estimates where the NBA did not record today's full set of statistics. Read how every ranking works →