44 Facts About Reggie Harding

Reginald Hezeriah Harding was an American professional basketball player.

Reggie Harding starred while playing at Eastern High School in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan, and entered the 1962 NBA draft without playing college basketball due to eligibility issues.

Reggie Harding was selected by the Detroit Pistons as the first player drafted into the National Basketball Association without having played in college.

Reggie Harding played his first professional season in the Midwest Professional Basketball League before he joined the Pistons in 1964.

Reggie Harding spent parts of four seasons in the NBA with the Pistons and the Chicago Bulls during which he was the subject of team misconduct, criminal activity and a season-long league suspension.

Reggie Harding's career came to a premature end when he was imprisoned from 1969 to 1971 for a concealed weapons charge.

Reggie Harding attempted to pursue a professional comeback after his release but he was murdered in Detroit in 1972.

Reggie Harding was born to 17-year-old Lillie Mae Thomas on May 4,1942.

Thomas' parents forced her to put her baby up for adoption and he was adopted by local couple Hezekiah and Fannie Reggie Harding, who were friends of the Thomas family and looked after unwanted children.

Thomas told relatives that Reggie Harding's father was a married man living in Detroit but never disclosed his identity.

Reggie Harding harbored aspirations of becoming a basketball player by the time he was 10 but was too shy to play with the children at his school.

Reggie Harding was mentored by neighbor Bill Ervin, who introduced him to the players of a local court where Harding would hone his skills.

Reggie Harding attended Eastern High School in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan.

Reggie Harding led Eastern to three straight city championships from 1959 to 1961.

When his playing eligibility finished in March 1961, Reggie Harding was not expected to graduate until January 1962.

Reggie Harding estimated that he had received "135 college offers" but wanted to play for the Niagara Purple Eagles.

Reggie Harding was selected by his hometown Detroit Pistons in the 1962 NBA draft as the 29th overall pick and became the first NBA player to be drafted without playing in college.

Reggie Harding was selected by the Detroit Pistons again in the 1963 NBA draft as the 48th overall pick.

Reggie Harding was signed by the Pistons, but was kept off the roster for disciplinary reasons as he was involved in a police investigation.

In 1963, Harding was assigned by the Pistons to a five-day clinic with Dr W M Hardy, a chiropractor in Waynesville, North Carolina, who served as an advisor to the Pistons, and was taught how to shoot a basketball.

Reggie Harding began the clinic with only the use of a right-handed hook shot but left with the ability to "shoot every shot in the book".

On January 18,1964, the NBA authorized the Pistons to allow Reggie Harding, who had been touring with the exhibitional Harlem Road Kings, to join their roster.

Reggie Harding became the Pistons' starting center four games into his NBA career and stayed in that position for the rest of the season.

Reggie Harding slept through practice sessions and missed a flight for a game against the Baltimore Bullets.

Reggie Harding was suspended indefinitely by the NBA for "conduct detrimental to professional basketball" in September 1965.

Reggie Harding was found guilty of the assault and battery charge in October 1965 and fined $2,000 by the Pistons, which was the highest fine in professional basketball history at the time.

Reggie Harding's suspension was lifted by the NBA in September 1966, who were aware that Reggie Harding threatened to sue if he was not allowed to return.

Reggie Harding signed a one-year contract with the Pistons that totalled $15,000, where his return was heralded as being that of the "world's tallest reformed delinquent".

Reggie Harding was traded to the Chicago Bulls on October 2,1967, for a third round pick in the 1968 NBA draft.

Reggie Harding was waived by the Bulls in December 1967 after he was suspended for overstaying a leave granted to him to attend his adoptive mother's funeral.

In January 1968, Reggie Harding signed with the Indiana Pacers of the American Basketball Association.

Reggie Harding was regarded for his physical play and was once chased off the court during a game by Denver Nuggets player Byron Beck after he elbowed Beck in the mouth.

Reggie Harding was fined by the Pacers on multiple occasions for misconduct and was ultimately suspended throughout the playoffs after he stopped attending practice.

Pacers player Jerry Harkness believed that the team had a "good chance" to be ABA champions if Reggie Harding was not suspended.

Reggie Harding was waived by the Pacers at the end of the season.

Reggie Harding was arrested 11 times, often struggled with drug addictions, and was rumored to carry a pistol in his gym bag.

Reggie Harding developed a heroin addiction during his NBA suspension in 1966 that he overcame in 1969.

DeBusschere remarked that Reggie Harding was often isolated from his teammates as they felt "extremely uneasy" around him.

Reggie Harding reportedly threatened to shoot teammate Jimmy Rayl while the two were rooming together.

In June 1968, Reggie Harding was a police prisoner at Detroit General Hospital for an investigation of armed robbery; he returned to the hospital the following week with gunshot wounds to both legs in a separate incident.

At her funeral, Reggie Harding stood over her coffin for 15 minutes and instructed the funeral director on how he would want his own funeral.

On September 1,1972, Reggie Harding was shot twice in the head by Carl Scott, who had been involved in an argument with Reggie Harding 20 minutes earlier.

Reggie Harding was taken to Detroit General Hospital where he died at 1:30pm EST the following day.

Reggie Harding was survived by his wife and two children.