The first high-school basketball player drafted by the NBA was chosen not so much for his skill than because he had no place else to go. Reggie Harding, a 7-foot tall product of Eastern High School in Detroit, had brief careers in the NBA and ABA and even after death at age 30 suffered one final indignity.
Reggie Harding
Eastern High School
As a youth, Harding was arrested on several petty larcenies and is alleged to have raped Florence Ballard, one of the Supremes, when she was 17 and he was 18. He was chosen by the Detroit Pistons in the fourth round of the 1962 draft and again in the sixth round of the 1963 draft. After high school in Detroit, he attended a prep school in Nashville, then played two seasons in the Midwest Professional Basketball League with the Toledo Tartans and Holland Oilers.
Reggie Harding
Detroit Pistons
Harding made his NBA debut with the Pistons in the 1963-1964 season, joining the team midway through the season because of a suspension on gun charges. He averaged 10.5 rebounds and 11.0 points per game in 39 games (almost 30 minutes per game). The following season, Harding played in 78 games (34.6 minutes per game) and averaged 11.6 rebounds and 12.0 points per game for the 31-49 Pistons. It was pretty much downhill from there. He was suspended for the entire 1965-1966 (reason unknown) and averaged only 18.5 minutes per game during the next season, recording 6.1 rebounds and 5.5 points per game. His next stop with the Chicago Bulls (traded for a third-round draft pick) in the 1967-1968 season lasted only 14 games, after which he signed with the Indiana Pacers of the American Basketball League (ABA).
Harding (right) and Laker Elgin Baylor
Los Angeles, 1964
Despite playing in only 25 games with the Pacers, Harding’s exploits became legend. Harding wanted $15,000 to finish the season but the Pacers only offered $10,000. Convinced by management the team could play 50 games if it went all the way to the ABA championship, he agreed to $300 per game. That the Pacers only played in three post-season games was immaterial; between fines and suspensions for missing practices and being late for flights, Harding ended up owing the team $4,000.
Harding and Wilt Chamberlain
Boston Garden, 1965
Because of a team policy of rotating roommates to avoid cliques, Harding roomed for a short stretch with my friend Jim Dawson, the Big 10 Player of the Year the previous season at Illinois and a college graduate from an all-white Chicago suburb. Jim fared better than teammate Jimmy Rayl, who awoke one night in a New Orleans hotel room to see Harding pointing a gun at him. “I hear you hate niggers,” he said. Rayl coaxed him into emptying the gun, to which Harding then asked, “You don’t think I only had six shells, did you?” Rayl decided to sleep in the lobby that night and shot 1 for 14 in the next game. Despite averaging 13.4 rebounds and 13.4 points per game, Reggie Harding was finished after that season and out of basketball at age 25.
The futility of his later existence is best exemplified by the most famous Reggie Harding story. With no other marketable skills, Harding returned to petty larceny in his native Detroit. He walked into a neighborhood establishment (reports have it as either a liquor store or gas station) with a nylon mask over his head, brandishing a gun and demanding money. The clerk took one look at the 7-footer and reportedly said, “I know that’s you, Reggie,” to which Harding replied, “It ain’t me, man.”
Reggie Harding burial
Sept. 1972
Reggie Harding was shot to death after an argument on a Detroit street corner on September 2, 1972, at age 30. Johnny “Red” Kerr, Harding’s coach on the Bulls, and Mike Storen, the Pacers’ general manager who he’d also threatened to shoot during a television interview, were two of the three white people to attend the funeral. According to a former Bulls executive, Kerr said it became apparent that the grave was not long enough to accommodate Harding’s large casket. The solution: Reggie Harding is buried at an angle. Even in death, the man couldn’t catch a break.
What sad story. $300 per game and look at today all the money and more complaints. Too bad Reggie could not have been around to be celebrated as the first high school player to be drafted in the NBA.
ReplyDeleteIan from London Ontario Canada
Reggie was a rapist. He shouldn't have been celebrated for anything.
ReplyDeleteThis is the alleged rapist of Flo Ballard of the Supremes
ReplyDeleteRH was no 'alleged' rapist. Prior to raping Florence Ballard by knifepoint, he had previously raped a 15 year old but the powers that be 'worked' the judicial system, insuring protection for the prized athletic DPL star. That the young teen was physically, mentally and socially scarred, debilitated and shamed was of no concern to anyone other than her family, is despicable. Swift and correct action could have saved others, including 17 year old Florence Ballard from violation. He got away with it and continued the behavior. He was a serial rapist who terrorized the neighborhood. These aren't his only victims, others feared similar outcomes.
DeleteThe 'Hold-Up Story' was reworked ever so slightly in 'White Men Can't Jump'.
ReplyDeleteThe 'Hold-Up Story' was re-worked in 'White Men can't Jump"
ReplyDeleteAt least Flo lived to see what happened to her rapist!!!
ReplyDeleteYes she did but she died 6 yrs later
Delete4 years later.
DeleteThe brutal rape of Florence Ballard, aka: Blondie, set in motion the spiral that led her to alcoholism. There were no rape counselors and reporting the crime to the police back then usually set the stage for further victimization by the system.
DeleteReggie got what he deserved. A 7-footer back then was gold. I feel no sympathy for the man. A disgusting individual, and there were rumors he knocked around Tami Terrell. Whoever shot him probably saved a few lives.
ReplyDeleteReggie couldn't read and was actually passed in grade school so he could play high school ball. That was probably the greatest injustice he was ever given. They just shuffled him through to get rid of him.
DeleteDamn, Tami got knocked around by David Ruffin too.
DeleteHe was a child rapist, a bully and a punk.
DeleteI don't recall if there was any connection there...but I do know that before she was Motowns Tammi Terrell, she toured with James Brown and was 'chaperoned'as per her mothers wishes. JB began a 'sexual relationship' with the then 17 year old as the tour progressed and also began physically assaulting her. He was 30. She was beaten with fists and objects, once so severely that her parents were called and folks intervened and saw to it that she was returned home to her parents.
DeleteSad story. As I always say KARMA will get you in the end and in the long run. It definitely applies here. What a waste of talent this young man had, and he threw it all away. SAD.
ReplyDeleteWas his killer ever captured?
ReplyDeleteCarl Scott didn't hide. He'd already done 2 bids upstate. The DPD knew where to find him. Given RH's past history, its not difficult to grasp why no charges were forthcoming. Sometimes the universe just brings things into balance.
DeleteI don't think so.
ReplyDeleteThats odd... the killer was named in a number of articles at the time
DeleteBased upon Reggie's history of threatening people with a pistol, I suspect that the circumstances may have been self-defense.
DeleteThe suspect in the murder was named but it was said that he shot Reggie in self defense...I don't think he was ever prosecuted!
DeleteVery sad story,,,,but try to imagine (if you're white folk) trying to make it in any professional sport during the 60's as a black person. I'm white and I cannot imagine the hardships.
ReplyDeleteNo his killer was never fought because it was a set up his mothers husband paid the little jerk to kill him because he had just killed his mother and Reggie new it but you hateful people don't care what really happened just like the police
ReplyDeleteThough Carl Scott left the scene, its not as if he was unknown to the police. He didn't leave town, RH's reputation was widely reported. There was no set up. Mrs Lillie Mae's death was originally reported as resulting from an 'accidental' shooting. Still looking for resolution as I don't recall offhand. Reggie had weeks to retaliate if he actually believed that the killing was intentional. He had a history of making outrageously stupid and spontaneous moves and decisions. AND...apparently, the apple didn't fall far from the tree as Reginald Harding Jr is another who is genetically predisposed to faulty thought processes as he is doing life for the murder of a college student. Seems the kid chosen as a robbery victim only had a grand total of $1, so he was murdered. Puts me in mind of the song: "Bad Luck", that whole line was screwed up.
DeleteIn my opinion he raped no matter if it says allegedly or not. He was a stick up man himself who carried guns. I think it's pretty messed up to uphold and celebrate a person like him. No matter what he went through he caused pain and torture to young Flo Ballard. I'd never wish him death but don't forget he was no saint and none of you who uphold him would have liked to find out he raped your sister or daughter allegedly or not
ReplyDeleteWho cares about your opinion
DeleteI care about his opinion and it’s valid. This was no sympathetic character. He had all the talent in the world but was thrown out of the League by 25 because he was an asshole. He was a rapist and we don’t mourn him, we abhor him.
DeletePerhaps if he were dealt with accordingly when he RAPED THE 1ST 15 YEAR OLD CHILD, there would have been a different outcome. He was a serial rapist who wreaked havoc upon OUR Community, before and after hitting the big league. If someone had insu red that he had tutoring and learned to read and develop social skills, a more favorable outcome might have resulted. He was a menace and a bully, striking out first to hide his shortcomings. He gets no more sympathy than that which he extended to all of those folks he victimized.
DeleteAll of you dumping on the guy, you have no class. He's dead, and nobody's perfect.
ReplyDeleteYou apologists for folks bullshit are sickening. It is cretins such as yourself who suborned his foolishness, criminality and wanton disregard for human decency and allowed his sociopathy to flourish. As his son is doing life in prison for the murder of a college student who dared to have only $1 to rob; I wonder if there is some genetic component afoot? Reminds me of that Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes song: "Bad Luck'---that family seems to be touched by everything BUT an angel. The same held for our Community, until he took his last breath.
ReplyDelete