Hobbs basketball legend Jeff Taylor dies

Hobbs prep basketball legend Jeff Taylor, a New Mexico all-time great who went on to a decorated professional career in Sweden, has died at age 60.

According to an article in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, the former Texas Tech star died in Sweden, his adoptive home country, after a lengthy illness.

“An injury-free Jeff is the best I’ve coached, and (if injured still) in the top ten,” Kelly Grant, Taylor’s coach with the Norkopping Dolphins, told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

“He commanded respect, his attitude spread (to teammates), and he intimidated opponents with his defensive play and physicality.”

At Hobbs, playing from 1975-78 in iconic coach Ralph Tasker’s run-and-press system, Taylor was a three-time all-state selection.

Only a big-school state title eluded him; the Eagles lost in the state tournament final to Las Cruces in 1976 and in the semifinals to archrival Albuquerque High in 1977 and 1978. Taylor missed the 1978 state tournament after breaking his leg that January in a game against Carlsbad.

Taylor, a prodigious leaper at 6-foot-4, got a bit of revenge in the 1978 New Mexico North-South All-Star game - outdueling AHS star Stevie Rogers while earning MVP honors with 32 points and 16 rebounds.

At Texas Tech, Taylor scored 1,424 points during his four years in Lubbock while shooting 50.9 percent from the field. He ranked fifth on the Red Raiders’ career scoring list when he finished his career there in 1982. He ranked 19th on the list entering the current season.

He was the Southwest Conference co-Defensive Player of the Year in 1980 and won that designation outright in 1981.

After college, Taylor was drafted by the NBA’s Houston Rockets and played one year with them. He then returned to school at Texas Tech before signing with Norkopping in 1985. There, he played against fellow Hobbs legend Larry Robinson, a former Texas star who’d paved the way in Scandinavia.

Taylor left Sweden after one season and played in the NBA with the Detroit Pistons, in the Continental Basketball Association and in the Philippines. But, having met his future wife, Pia, in Sweden during his first stint, he returned in 1988 and made his home there.

In 1997, Albuquerque Journal sports writer Chris Tomasson looked up Taylor and other New Mexico-connected players - Robinson (then retired) and former New Mexico State player Johnny Roberson - while on vacation in Sweden.

“When I came back to Sweden,” Taylor told Tomasson, “I figured it was time to settle down and start learning the language. I had realized the dream of playing in the NBA. You have to understand there are a lot of 6-4, 6-5 guys out there. You have to be in the right place at the right time.”

In 1998, at age 37, Taylor helped the Dolphins win the Swedish national title. After retiring as a player, he worked as a coach and fitness trainer while remaining close to the Dolphins franchise.

“(Taylor) was a veteran when I came up,” former Dolphins teammate David Bergstrom told the Aftonbladet.

“Of course, I looked up to Jeff. You did right away.”

Taylor and his wife had six children. Among them was Jeffery Taylor, who, though he was born and grew up in Sweden, came to New Mexico to follow his father at Hobbs. There, he led the Eagles to the 2008 Class 5A state title - and hoisted the blue trophy that eluded his dad.

“I just always wanted to be a Hobbs High School Eagle,” Jeffery Taylor once said. “It’s kind of a thing I always grew up with. I heard stories about their crowds and stuff like that.”

After a brilliant college career at Vanderbilt, the younger Taylor played three years with Charlotte in the NBA before signing with Spanish power Real Madrid. He also has played with distinction for the Swedish national team.