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Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 7:43 pm EDTNBA legend. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Gail Goodrich
Career at a glance
Gail Goodrich played 14 NBA regular seasons between 1965 and 1979, appearing in 1,031 games and averaging 18.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. He played for 3 teams: L.A. Lakers (9 seasons between 1965 and 1976, 687 games), Phoenix (1968–70, 162 games), New Orleans (1976–79, 182 games). His best scoring season was 1971–72 with L.A. Lakers: 25.9 points per game over 82 games.
Championship season: 1971–72 (L.A. Lakers). In the playoffs he appeared in 8 postseason runs (80 games, 18.1 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 19,200 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total).
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Gail Goodrich
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. Goodrich is the leader in highest average minutes per game played in Suns franchise history with 39.9.
- Born
- April 23, 1943 (age 83) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
- Listed weight
- 170 lb (77 kg)
- Position
- Shooting guard
- High school
- John H. Francis Polytechnic (Los Angeles, California)
- College
- UCLA (1962–1965)
- NBA draft
- 1965: territorial pick
- Playing career
- 1965–1979
Career highlights and awards
- NBA champion (1972)
- 5× NBA All-Star (1969, 1972–1975)
- All-NBA First Team (1974)
- No. 25 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
- 2× NCAA champion (1964, 1965)
- Helms Foundation Player of the Year (1965)
- Consensus first-team All-American (1965)
- 2× First-team All-AAWU (1964, 1965)
- No. 25 retired by UCLA Bruins
- California Mr. Basketball (1961)
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965–66 | L.A. Lakers | 65 | – | 15.5 | .404 | – | .691 | 2.0 | 1.6 | – | – | 7.8 |
| 1966–67 | L.A. Lakers | 77 | – | 23.1 | .454 | – | .751 | 3.3 | 2.7 | – | – | 12.4 |
| 1967–68 | L.A. Lakers | 79 | – | 26.0 | .486 | – | .770 | 2.5 | 2.6 | – | – | 13.8 |
| 1968–69 | Phoenix | 81 | – | 40.0 | .411 | – | .747 | 5.4 | 6.4 | – | – | 23.8 |
| 1969–70 | Phoenix | 81 | – | 39.9 | .454 | – | .808 | 4.2 | 7.5 | – | – | 20.0 |
| 1970–71 | L.A. Lakers | 79 | – | 35.5 | .475 | – | .770 | 3.3 | 4.8 | – | – | 17.5 |
| 1971–72† | L.A. Lakers | 82 | – | 37.1 | .487 | – | .850 | 3.6 | 4.5 | – | – | 25.9 |
| 1972–73 | L.A. Lakers | 76 | – | 35.5 | .464 | – | .840 | 3.5 | 4.4 | – | – | 23.9 |
| 1973–74 | L.A. Lakers | 82 | – | 37.3 | .442 | – | .864 | 3.0 | 5.2 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 25.3 |
| 1974–75 | L.A. Lakers | 72 | – | 37.1 | .459 | – | .841 | 3.0 | 5.8 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 22.6 |
| 1975–76 | L.A. Lakers | 75 | – | 35.3 | .441 | – | .847 | 2.9 | 5.6 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 19.5 |
| 1976–77 | New Orleans | 27 | – | 22.6 | .446 | – | .800 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 12.6 |
| 1977–78 | New Orleans | 81 | – | 31.5 | .495 | – | .795 | 2.2 | 4.8 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 16.1 |
| 1978–79 | New Orleans | 74 | – | 28.8 | .449 | – | .853 | 2.5 | 4.8 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 12.7 |
| Career | 1,031 | – | 32.5 | .456 | – | .807 | 3.2 | 4.7 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 18.6 | |
| All-Star | 5 | 3 | 15.4 | .421 | – | .500 | 1.8 | 2.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 6.6 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | L.A. Lakers | 11 | – | 26.4 | .467 | – | .674 | 3.8 | 3.0 | – | – | 10.5 |
| 1967 | L.A. Lakers | 3 | – | 27.0 | .355 | – | .611 | 3.0 | 3.3 | – | – | 11.0 |
| 1968 | L.A. Lakers | 10 | – | 10.0 | .489 | – | .778 | 1.4 | 1.4 | – | – | 6.0 |
| 1970 | Phoenix | 7 | – | 37.9 | .475 | – | .857 | 4.6 | 5.4 | – | – | 20.3 |
| 1971 | L.A. Lakers | 12 | – | 43.2 | .425 | – | .841 | 3.2 | 7.6 | – | – | 25.4 |
| 1972† | L.A. Lakers | 15 | – | 38.3 | .445 | – | .898 | 2.5 | 3.3 | – | – | 23.8 |
| 1973 | L.A. Lakers | 17 | – | 35.5 | .448 | – | .785 | 3.6 | 3.9 | – | – | 20.0 |
| 1974 | L.A. Lakers | 5 | – | 37.8 | .389 | – | .848 | 3.2 | 6.0 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 19.6 |
| Career | 80 | – | 32.8 | .442 | – | .819 | 3.1 | 4.2 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 18.1 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 1″
- Weight
- 170 lb
- Position
- Shooting guard
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- Not listed
- Draft pick
- Undrafted / not listed
Height, Weight, Position, Country: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
How Gail Goodrich’s role changed
Goodrich’s career shows how opportunity and responsibility can change together. The Phoenix Suns selected him in the 1968 expansion draft, giving him his first NBA starting role. A move from the bench into the starting lineup affects more than minutes: it changes how often a player must organize possessions and create shots against the opponent’s opening unit.
His Phoenix seasons included 6.4 and 7.5 assists per game. Read alongside his scoring, those figures show that his larger role included setting up teammates. They provide useful context for a player often remembered primarily as a shooter.
Sharing the backcourt with Jerry West
After two seasons in Phoenix, Goodrich returned to the Los Angeles Lakers. On the 1971–72 champions, West averaged 9.7 assists while Goodrich supplied 25.9 points per game. Their responsibilities overlapped, but the pairing illustrates how a leading scorer can thrive alongside a guard who directs the offense.
Goodrich could also score by moving into space. The Lakers’ account of the 1972 Finals clincher describes him cutting to receive a Wilt Chamberlain pass early in the fourth quarter. That is an example of a scoring chance created by movement and a teammate’s delivery, rather than by the eventual shooter dribbling into a shot.
His scoring responsibility continued after that title: he led the Lakers in points per game in four consecutive seasons, from 1971–72 through 1974–75.
Roster observations
These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.
No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.
Profile source
Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.
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