Hal Lear

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Hal Lear

| image =

| width =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1935|01|31}}

| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2016|06|25|1935|01|31}}

| death_place = White Plains, New York, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 0

| weight_lb = 163

| high_school = Overbrook (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

| college = Temple (1953–1956)

| draft_year = 1956

| draft_round = 1

| draft_pick = 7

| draft_team = Philadelphia Warriors

| career_start = 1956

| career_end = 1967

| career_number = 16

| career_position = Point guard

| years1 = {{nbay|1956|start}}

| team1 = Philadelphia Warriors

| years2 = 1956–1961

| team2 = Easton Madisons

| years3 = 1961–1962

| team3 = Los Angeles Jets

| years4 = 1962–1965

| team4 = Camden Bullets

| years5 = 1965–1966

| team5 = Johnstown C-J's

| years6 = 1966–1967

| team6 = New Haven Elms

| highlights =

2× EPBL champion (1960, 1964)
EPBL Most Valuable Player (1957)
4× All-EPBL First Team (1957, 1959–1961)
2× All-EPBL Second Team (1958, 1965)
Third-team All-American – Collier's (1956)
NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (1956)
No. 6 retired by Temple Owls

}}

Harold C. Lear Jr. (January 31, 1935 – June 25, 2016) was an American professional basketball player.

Biography

A {{convert|6|ft|0|in|abbr=on}} guard born in Philadelphia, Lear starred at Temple University in his hometown during the 1950s. He earned the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player in 1956 after leading Temple to the Final Four, where they lost to the University of Iowa.[http://members.aol.com/bradleyrd/final4.html NCAA Postseason History] at BradleyRD Member Page, AOL.com

After college, Lear was selected by the Philadelphia Warriors with the seventh pick of the 1956 NBA draft. His NBA career was brief, however: he appeared in just three games during the 1956–57 NBA season and scored four points.{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/learha01.html|title=Hal Lear NBA sats|website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference, LLC|accessdate=12 November 2023}} He played for the Easton Madisons of the Eastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL) and was named the league's Most Valuable Player in 1957.{{cite web |last1=Bradley |first1=Robert |title=History of the Eastern League |url=http://www.apbr.org/ebl4678.html |website=The Association for Professional Basketball Research |access-date=June 16, 2020}}

Lear won EPBL championships with the Madisons in 1960{{cite web |title=1959-60 Easton Madisons Statistics |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/t-EBAEAM/y-1959 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=March 5, 2025}} and the Camden Bullets in 1964.{{cite web |title=1963-64 Camden Bullets Statistics |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/t-EBACAB/y-1963 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=March 5, 2025}} He was a four-time selection to the All-EPBL First Team and two-time selection to the Second Team.{{cite web |title=Harold Lear minor league basketball statistics |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/p-learhal001 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=May 1, 2022}}

In 2013, Temple retired his No. 6 jersey.{{cite news| url=http://www.phillytrib.com/sportsarticles/item/7518-lear-jersey-retirement-brings-sweet-memories.html| title= Temple's Lear joins select few with retired jersey| website= phillytrib.com | date= January 25, 2013 | first= Donald |last= Hunt}}

Death

Lear died on June 25, 2016, at his home in White Plains, New York, after an illness.{{cite news| url=http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/sixers/Philly-hoops-legend-Hal-Lear-passes-away.html| title= Philly hoops legend Hal Lear passes away| website= philly.com | date= June 26, 2016 | first= Keith |last= Pompey}}

Career statistics

=NBA=

Source

==Regular season==

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! PPG
style="text-align:left;"\| {{nbay\|1956}} \|style="text-align:left;"\| Philadelphia \| 3	4.7	.333	–	.3	.3	1.3

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"

Year

! Team

! GP

! MPG

! FG%

! FT%

! RPG

! APG

! PPG

style="text-align:left;"| {{nbay|1956}}

|style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia