Goodrich’s Talent, Guts Loomed Large

His size--small for his former profession--earned him the nickname “Stumpy,” but Gail Goodrich cast a large shadow over basketball in Los Angeles.

Barely 6 feet, Goodrich never let his physical limitations prevent him from achieving greatness in a sport ruled by giants. Armed with a feathery, left-handed shot that former Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke once described as “fairy-like,” Goodrich was a champion at every level.

He led Poly High in Sun Valley to its only City Section basketball title in 1961, then starred on UCLA’s first two NCAA championship teams in 1964 and 1965. He reached the pinnacle of his 14-year NBA career in the 1971-72 season, when he was the leading scorer on the Lakers’ first championship team.

Goodrich is believed to be the only player to win titles at the city, NCAA and NBA levels.

In the past year, Goodrich was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and had his No. 25 Lakers jersey retired, thus joining former teammates Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and James Worthy as the only Lakers so honored.

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” Goodrich said Nov. 20, during ceremonies at a Lakers game at the Forum.

As a back-court mate of the legendary West, Goodrich helped the 1971-72 team win a record 33 games in a row and set an NBA standard with 69 victories that stood until the Chicago Bulls broke it last season. He averaged 25.9 points that season, one-tenth of a point ahead of West.

“Nobody else could shoot like Gail,” said Bill Sharman, Goodrich’s coach with the Lakers.

Goodrich is also remembered fondly by John Wooden, who coached him at UCLA. Goodrich scored 42 points, then a championship-game record, in the Bruins’ upset over Michigan in the 1965 NCAA final.

“In my opinion, [he] played the very finest championship game that anyone has ever played,” Wooden said.

These days, Goodrich’s game is golf. He’s vice president in charge of golf course acquisition for the American Golf Corp. in Greenwich, Conn.