Rod Hundley, one of the greatest players in West Virginia Mountaineers history and a fixture in the NBA for nearly 50 years, has died at 80 years old. The first-overall pick in the 1957 NBA Draft, known by his nickname "Hot Rod," made two All-Star teams as a member of the Minneapolis and Los Angeles Lakers before moving to the broadcast booth, where he served as the longtime television and radio play-by-play man of the New Orleans and Utah Jazz.
Current West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins tweeted the news on Friday night:
The Jazz began a long social media tribute to the franchise legend with this tweet:
More comments have come from many former colleagues, players, friends, and fans, many under the hashtag #RIPHotRod.
The exact cause of death was not immediately made available, but it was announced in January 2014 that Hundley had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Doug Robinson of the Desert News reported on Hundley's worsening condition in December 2014, stating that he had trouble stringing together completely sentences.
Hundley contributed to basketball in so many ways that he will be remembered by various fan bases and generations for different reasons. The Charleston native was named a first-team All-American in both his junior and senior seasons at West Virginia, becoming just the fourth player in NCAA history to score 2,000 points in his career. Hundley returned to the school to complete his undergraduate degree in 2000 and had his No. 33 jersey retired in 2010, joining Jerry West as the only players in school history to receive the honor.
The Cincinatti Royals selected the 6-4 Hundley with the first pick in the 1957 draft but traded his rights to the Lakers. He split his six NBA seasons between Minneapolis and Los Angeles and made All-Star teams in 1960 and 1961. Despite those accolades, Hundley's pro career was regarded as something of a disappointment, which he explained in 2003 as a result of his party-filled off-court lifestyle.
However, Hundley made a massive mark on the NBA during his post-playing career as an announcer, especially with the New Orleans and Utah Jazz. He served as the franchise's first play-by-play man in their 1974 expansion season and followed the team to Salt Lake City. Hundley announced Jazz games on TV and radio for 35 years until his retirement after the 2008-09 season. He was also the last NBA announcer to have his broadcasts consistently simulcast on both TV and radio before shifting to the latter only in 2006.
Hundley originally learned his broadcasting craft next to Chick Hearn with the Lakers and created his own unique style and catchphrases, including "leapin' leaner," “With a gentle push and a mild arc the old cowhide globe hit home!”and "You gotta love it, baby!"
Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune spoke to several of Hundley's colleagues on Friday:
"He was absolutely the best," [longtime Suns radio play-by-play announcer Al] McCoy said Friday. "It's amazing. I still have tapes of our broadcast and he was really the ideal analyst. … He knew when to come in and when to make his points. He was really an exceptional analyst, but he wanted to do play-by-play." [...]
"Rod was such an outgoing personality, going back to his playing days and everything, that I think that just normally came out in his broadcasts," McCoy said.
But Hundley's smooth stylings belied the work he put into his craft.
"I think that's what people didn't realize," said David Locke, who took over as the Jazz's radio voice in 2009. "He was such a carefree, loose player, I think people assumed the same of his broadcasts. But what he did was difficult to do."
Locke recalled working with Hundley during a playoff series late in his career and "how upset he was he couldn't be great every night. That really stuck with me. … He was furious if he made a mistake."
Hundley received the Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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