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Looking forany autographJames Hardy
One collector is trying to find a single signature from every man who ever played for the Jazz — all 370 of them, from the 1974 New Orleans team to today. For many of them, this page is the only one on the internet. Here is James Hardy: what he did on the floor, a few things most people never knew, and every card that carries his name. If you own something he signed — or you know who might — there is a note at the foot of this page.
Eleventh overall in the 1978 draft, Hardy went from the University of San Francisco to the New Orleans Jazz and never wore another NBA uniform — four seasons with the franchise, moving with it to Salt Lake City in 1979 and averaging 5.7 points and 5.3 rebounds a game as a 6-foot-9 power forward.
Born in Knoxville, Alabama in 1956, he died of a heart attack in Long Beach, California on December 29, 2020, four weeks past his 64th birthday.
HOW HE CAME & WENTNew Orleans took him 11th overall in 1978 with the pick Golden State had sent as compensation for EC Coleman. Utah waived him in December 1980 and signed him back the following August.
- Full name
- James Percivell Hardy
- Jazz tenure — New Orleans & Utah
- 1978–82
- Position
- Forward
- Born
- 1956, Knoxville, Alabama
- Died
- 2020
- Height
- 6′8″ (203 cm)
- Weight
- 220 lb (100 kg)
- College
- San Francisco
- Drafted
- 1978, 1st round (No. 11), New Orleans
A card. A photo. A program. A page from an old autograph book. Anything he put his name on.
You do not need to know what it is. Take a photo with your phone and send it to me. I will tell you what you have, for free, whether or not anything comes of it. I pay the postage both ways. I answer every message myself, usually the same day.
With the Jazz
JAMES HARDY · 1978–82 · PER GAME| SEASON | TEAM | G | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978–79 | NOJ | 68 | 21.4 | 6.7 | 4.6 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.9 | .460 | — | .693 |
| 1979–80 | UTA | 76 | 21.1 | 5.5 | 5.3 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 1.1 | .507 | .500 | .773 |
| 1980–81 | UTA | 23 | 22.1 | 5.0 | 5.8 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.9 | .468 | — | .550 |
| 1981–82 | UTA | 82 | 22.1 | 5.1 | 5.7 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.8 | .485 | .000 | .688 |
| JAZZ TOTAL | 4 SEASONS | 249 | 21.6 | 5.7 | 5.3 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.9 | .481 | .333 | .700 |
Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗ · Wikipedia ↗
Did you know
JAMES HARDY · 7 NOTES- He arrived at San Francisco in 1975 with Winford Boynes and Bill Cartwright, a recruiting haul that remade the program.
- As sophomores that trio won the first 29 games of 1976-77 and carried the Dons to a number one national ranking.
- Bill Cartwright called him one of the best athletes he had ever seen and remembered dunks that stopped games cold.
- The University of San Francisco inducted him into its Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017.
- The day after Utah waived him and Brett Vroman on December 1, 1980, the Jazz signed Rickey Green and Jeff Wilkins out of the CBA.
- Cut in mid-season, he played in the CBA for the Anchorage Northern Knights and in the Philippines for the Crispa Redmanizers, then returned to play all 82 games in 1981-82.
- Basketball-Reference records neither the release nor the re-signing, so the books make it look as though he never left.