CLIFF HAGAN'S DEATH DRAWS BASKETBALL TRIBUTES

Cliff Hagan died on 15 October 2026, according to Kentucky sports journalist Oscar Combs. Combs announced his death on X and described Hagan as a dear friend. Hagan spent all 10 of his NBA seasons with the St Louis Hawks. He earned five consecutive All-Star selections from 1958 to 1962 and won the 1958 NBA championship when the Hawks beat the Boston Celtics. His former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Bob Pettit died weeks earlier.

Hagan grew up in Owensboro, Kentucky, and led Owensboro Secondary school to the 1949 state championship. He helped the University of Kentucky win the 1951 NCAA title with a 68-58 victory over Kansas State. NCAA sanctions following a point-shaving scandal cancelled Kentucky’s 1952-53 season. The Boston Celtics drafted Hagan in the third round in 1953, but he returned to Kentucky for the 1953-54 season. He scored 51 points in one game that season, a Kentucky record that stood until 1970.

After two years of military service, Boston traded Hagan and Ed Macauley to the Hawks for the draft rights to Bill Russell. In Game 6 of the 1957 NBA Finals, Hagan scored at the buzzer against Boston to force a seventh game. Hagan later entered the Basketball Hall of Fame, and his No. 6 jersey hangs in Kentucky’s Rupp Arena. He also served as the University of Kentucky’s athletic director. Combs said Hagan was “a great influence on my career and a vocal supporter of The Cats’ Pause when it was launched in 1976”.