Fred Slaughter

Fred Leon Slaughter (March 13, 1942 – October 6, 2016) was an American college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins. He won a national championship with the Bruins in 1964, and was later one of the early African Americans to become a sports agent. He was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.

Growing up in Kansas, Slaughter was a dual-sport athlete in basketball and track before leaving home to attend University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He continued in both sports in college, and he helped UCLA basketball coach John Wooden win the first of his 10 national championships in 12 seasons. In addition to his undergraduate degree, Slaughter also earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a law degree before becoming a sports agent in 1969. He spent almost a decade as an administrator at the UCLA School of Law before leaving in 1980 to become a full-time agent. Slaughter represented professional basketball and American football players. He was also the labor union leader for referees in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Early life Slaughter grew up in Topeka, Kansas. He attended Topeka High School, where he was the leading scorer on their basketball team, as well as the top player in Kansas. Despite a weight problem, he was also a state-champion sprinter in the 100-yard dash.

Slaughter was heavily recruited by universities, and received 104 athletic scholarship offers. Instead of staying in-state and attending college at the University of Kansas or Kansas State University, Slaughter wanted to attend UCLA.

College career Slaughter chose to attend UCLA, part of a trend their basketball team developed to build a strong nucleus of native California athletes along with a few African Americans from out of state. The school developed a reputation for fair treatment of blacks. In his first year, Slaughter led the freshman basketball team in scoring, a feat he also matched on the freshman track team. This included their championship game against the Duke Blue Devils, who had two starters (Hack Tison and Jay Buckley), but the Bruins outrebounded them 51–44 and forced 29 turnovers in a 98–83 victory. and the beginning of a UCLA dynasty that would win nine of the next 11 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles. The New York Times in 1995 called Slaughter the "dean of black sports attorneys."

Slaughter was also leader of the National Basketball Referees Association (NBRA), the labor union for referees in the NBA. In 1990, he sent a memo to referees advising them "not to try to get cute with your receipts"; however, multiple referees were later found guilty of tax evasion by the Internal Revenue Service for falsifying expense reports on their airline tickets. He also represented the NBRA during their lockout from the league in 1995.

Personal life Slaughter married his wife, Kay, who earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from UCLA and became a hospital nurse. They had two children, including Fred W. Slaughter, who became a judge.

Slaughter died on October 6, 2016, at the age of 74 in Santa Monica, California.