Houston Rockets To Retire Elvin Hayes No. 44 Jersey

In addition to his many career achievements as a 12-time All-Star, a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team, and a Hall of Famer, Elvin Hayes will have his No. 44 jersey retired by the Houston Rockets during the 2022–2023 season.

When one considers the greatest players that have ever played for the Houston Rockets, names like Yao Ming, James Harden, Moses Malone, and Hakeem Olajuwon immediately spring to mind.

But Elvin Hayes was the first true legend to play for the Rockets.

After being selected first overall by the San Diego Rockets in 1968 from the University of Houston, Hayes made an instant impression and went on to become one of the early 1970s era’s most underappreciated luminaries.

The Houston Rockets declared on Wednesday that Elvin Hayes’ No. 44 jersey will be retired in the 2022–2023 campaign. Along with Yao Ming, Clyde Drexler, Calvin Murphy, Moses Malone, Rudy Tomjanovich, and Hakeem Olajuwon, he will be the seventh player in Rockets history to have their number retired. It will also be the eighth number retired in the team’s history overall, as Bill Russell’s No. 6 jersey was just retired this offseason league-wide.Over his 16-year playing career, Elvin Hayes

averaged at least 20.0 points per game ten times. In his rookie season in the NBA, he led the league in scoring at 28.4 points per game. He was a member of the Rockets organization for seven seasons in total.During the first twelve years of his career, Hayes was selected to the All-Star team six times, twice led the league in rebounds, and won an NBA championship with the Washington Bullets in 1978.

In a press release on Wednesday, Tilman J. Fertitta, the owner of the Houston Rockets, said, “We are thrilled to celebrate Elvin Hayes’ stellar career by retiring his jersey.” “Elvin, who left a lasting legacy with the NBA, the Rockets, and the University of Houston, was the first basketball superstar in the City of Houston.” This November, we’re thrilled to commemorate Elvin and his family and see his jersey hang in the right place with the other legendary figures from our franchise’s illustrious past.

Elvin Hayes is just one of four players in NBA history to average at least 21.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per game for their career. The other three are Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Pettit, and Elgin Baylor, all of whom are inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Hayes averaged 21.0 points and 12.5 rebounds per game during his career.

During his remarkable career, Hayes never missed more than 80 games in a season. At the time of his retirement in 1984, he held the NBA record for both games played (1,303) and minutes played (50,000). When his career came to an end, he also placed third in terms of scoring (27,313) and rebounding (16,279). Today, he is rated fourth in terms of scoring and rebounding.

Elvin Hayes, one of the best players in the league, will always have his name and number hanging in the Toyota Center’s rafters.