THEY CALL ME THE BIG ""E"": The Elvin, Hayes Story

One of basketball's more controversial big guys--Elvin Hayes of the Washington Bullets--discusses his fast-breaking performance on the court, his growing-up years in the cotton community of Rayville, N.C., and his commitment to God whose love has helped Elvin deal with the many contradictions of his poorboy to superstar life. Some of those contradictions are still showing. Despite the reputation of malcontent and troublemaker bestowed on him in his early NBA years by San Diego sportswriters (he's still very thin-skinned about what writers say), Hayes' opinions on sports, God, and country are anything but flamboyant. He believes big-name athletes, himself included, are getting too much money; he's too devout to drink, smoke, or cuss and is generally known as a loner; he's very patriotic and once read the invocation at a Presidential Prayer Breakfast; he'll tell you that he's not even bitter about the racism and abuse he endured in Louisiana, though he was determined to get out at all costs. Convincing on the enormous pressures of being a sports hero, he seems nonetheless to have his mind elsewhere. Perhaps on that post-basketball career as a minister?