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Los Angeles Lakers: 10 best power forwards in team history

By Ed Schrenzel

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 9: Pau Gasol #16 of the Los Angeles Lakers stands in observance of the national anthem before a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at STAPLES Center on March 9, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 9: Pau Gasol #16 of the Los Angeles Lakers stands in observance of the national anthem before a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at STAPLES Center on March 9, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2014 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers: 10 best power forwards in team history
Happy Hairston, basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers. /

No. 5: Happy Hairston

Unfortunately, Happy is not well-remembered. On a recent television show, Shaquille O’Neal confessed he didn’t know who Hairston was.

For those readers who don’t recognize his name either, Hairston was the starting power forward for six seasons in the early 1970’s. For much of that time, he played alongside Wilt Chamberlain and was also a teammate of Jerry West and Gail Goodrich.

Happy wasn’t particularly big, standing only 6’7″ and weighing just 225. Yet he was an important cog on the 1971-72 Lakers team that set the standard of 33 straight wins and captured the franchise’s first Los Angeles championship.

Happy was an excellent rebounder. Despite playing with Wilt, who averaged 19 rebounds a game with the Lakers (No. 1 all-time), Hairston still chipped in with 12.4 boards, which ranks 4th in team history- more than Shaq or Kareem or anybody else other than Wilt, Elgin Baylor and George Mikan.

But even playing on a team with scorers like West, Goodrich and Chamberlain, Happy also averaged an impressive 15.2 points per game. He was also known as a hard-nosed defender.

Separating Hairston from the three players ranked ahead of him was difficult. He actually has better stats than any of the three. The deciding factor was that each of the next three played more seasons with the Lakers than Happy did.

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