Gail Goodrich

Hall of Fame guard who led UCLA to its first two titles and the Lakers to a record 33-game win streak and 1972 championship.

Gail Charles Goodrich Jr. (born April 23, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is best known for scoring a then record 42 points for UCLA in the 1965 NCAA championship game vs. Michigan, and his part in the Los Angeles Lakers' 1971–72 season. During that season the team won a still-record 33 consecutive games, posted what was at the time the best regular season record in NBA history, and also won the franchise's first NBA championship since relocating to Los Angeles.

Goodrich was the leading scorer on that team. He is also acclaimed for leading UCLA to its first two national championships under the legendary coach John Wooden, the first in 1963–64 being a perfect 30–0 season when he played with teammate Walt Hazzard. In 1996, 17 years after his retirement from professional basketball, Goodrich was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Quick Facts

Born: 23 April 1943
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
High school: John H. Francis Polytechnic (Los Angeles, California)
College: UCLA (1962–1965)
Draft pick: territorial pick
Drafted by: Los Angeles Lakers
Career position: Shooting guard
Career number: 11, 25

Lore & Background

A native of the Los Angeles area, Goodrich was the captain of the John H. Francis Polytechnic High School basketball team that dominated and won the 1961 Los Angeles City high school basketball championship. Goodrich scored 29 points in the championship game despite breaking his ankle in the third quarter. He attended UCLA, where he finished as the school's all-time leading scorer and played on the school's first two national championship teams in 1964 and 1965.

He was a two-time All-American and the Helms Foundation's 'Co-Player of the Year' (along with Princeton's Bill Bradley) in 1965. In the 1965 NCAA championship game, he scored a record 42 points as UCLA beat favored Michigan. This record stood until 1973 when UCLA's Bill Walton scored 44 in the finals vs. Memphis State. While at UCLA, Goodrich was also a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.

Goodrich was a territorial pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1965 NBA draft. He played for the Lakers from 1965 to 1968, then for the Phoenix Suns from 1968 to 1970, and returned to the Lakers from 1970 to 1976. He was a key player on the 1971–72 Lakers championship team, averaging a career-high 25.9 ppg. Goodrich led the Lakers in scoring in 1971–72, 1972–73, and 1973–74.