Chuck Hayes

Chuck Hayes
Player information
Full name	Charles Edward Hayes Jr.
birthday	June 11, 1983
place of birth	San Leandro , California , USA
size	198 cm
Weight	108 kg
position	Center / Power Forward
college	Kentucky
NBA draft	2005 , undrafted
Clubs as active
2005–2006 Albuquerque Thunderbirds ( D-League ) 2006–2011 Houston Rockets 2011–2013 Sacramento Kings 2013–2015 Toronto Raptors 2015 Houston Rockets 00000
National team
000 0 2003	United States	5 games
Clubs as coaches
2016–2018 Denver Nuggets (Assistant Trainer)

Charles Edward "Chuck" Hayes Jr. (born June 11, 1983 in San Leandro , California ) is a retired American basketball player who served ten years in the NBA . Despite his comparatively small height of 1.98 meters, he was mainly used in the traditional "big men" positions of power forward and center .

Career

Hayes established himself in his college days at the University of Kentucky as a rebound and defensive specialist and was part of the US team that took part in the 2003 Pan American Games. He made himself available for the 2005 NBA draft but was not selected. One factor was his height of 1.98 meters, which made him ten and more centimeters shorter than his competitors for his regular positions in Power Forward / Center .

At the beginning of the season, Hayes was hired by the Rockets for a minimum wage as a free agent , but did not make it into the 15-man squad and then played for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds from the low-ranking NBDL . In January, Hayes was signed by the Rockets for a second time as a temporary free agent, and this time he was firmly committed. His main task was to relieve the "Big Men" Yao Ming and Juwan Howard and to do the "dirty work" for top scorer Tracy McGrady .

In the following 2005/06 season, Hayes played his way into the starting lineup, scored 5.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and was part of the team that reached the first playoff round and failed in seven games at the Utah Jazz . When the Rockets signed Luis Scola to Hayes' position the next year , he appeared to be benching again. But when Yao was injured, Scola / Hayes played in the Rockets front court, won 22 games in a row, but lost again in the first playoff round against Jazz.

For the 2011/12 season , Hayes wanted to move to the Sacramento Kings , where he signed a four-year contract for $ 21.3 million. However, his contract was canceled after a health problem was diagnosed at the entrance examination. After another thorough investigation, he was given clearance to play and he signed a new contract in Sacramento. After two seasons with the Kings, he moved to the Toronto Raptors in the summer of 2013 . After his contract expired in summer 2015, he played two more games for the Houston Rockets in November 2015 , but they did not keep him busy.

Hayes retired in 2016 to work as a player development coach with the Denver Nuggets . In this role he worked for two years until 2018.

Free throw technique

Hayes is known for his strange free throw technique. Instead of a normal flowing standing movement, he stops his hand movement in the throw, makes a clearly visible pause and practically throws from the finger joints. This stop ensured, among other things, in a playoff game against the Utah Jazz that the Utah players ran into the throwing cone too early and the throw had to be repeated.

If Hayes hit a normal 74% in college and 65% of his free throws in his first year in the NBA, he managed a hit rate of just 45% in 2007/08 . His 2008-09 record (36.8%) is one of the worst in NBA history. In the years that followed, Hayes' hit rate increased to 67% ( 2011/12 season ).

Private life

Hayes' girlfriend gave birth to a boy named Dorian Titus Hayes in 2007, hours before the first playoff match against Utah Jazz.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ usabasketball.com - All-Time USA Basketball Men's Roster // H ( Memento from August 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ http://www.nba.com/2011/news/12/19/kings-hayes.ap/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt2
3. ↑ http://www.nba.com/2011/news/12/23/kings-chuck-hayes-new-contract.ap/index.html

Web links

Commons : Chuck Hayes  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Chuck Hayes - player profile on NBA.com
• Chuck Hayes - player profile on basketball-reference.com