Cliff Hagan, Hall of Fame basketball legend, dies at 94

Basketball Hall of Fame forward Cliff Hagan has died at the age of 94. Hagan achieved championship success at both the collegiate and professional levels.

At the University of Kentucky, Hagan helped lead the Wildcats to the 1951 NCAA championship. He later served as the university’s athletic director from 1975 to 1988. In the NBA, Hagan spent his entire ten-year career with the St. Louis Hawks, where he was a five-time All-Star. He played a pivotal role in the Hawks’ 1958 NBA championship victory, which famously ended the dominance of the Boston Celtics dynasty.

Hagan was a central figure in one of the most significant trades in basketball history, having been traded from the Celtics to the Hawks in exchange for the rights to Bill Russell. He was also the first player to be selected for an All-Star Game in both the NBA and the ABA. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978.