Keith was part of the USA’s first Olympic Men’s Volleyball Team in 1964 in Tokyo, around being a starting forward and one of the leading scorers on John Wooden’s first two NCAA Basketball Championship teams in 1964 and 1965. He was considered as Wooden’s best athlete, keying the dominating Bruin full-court press and was called the “finest all-around team defensive star” he coached at UCLA. Before the Bruins, he was first a standout multisport high school athlete at El Segundo HS and then went to El Camino College before transferring as a baseball/basketball scholarship player.

He was a 1965 College All-American. He was drafted by the Warriors in the third round and started a 12-year NBA career, which was highlighted by winning the 1972 NBA title as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. He also played for Phoenix and Chicago. After retiring in 1977, he became an NBA broadcaster, including with the Lakers working with Chick Hearn, the Clippers, and Phoenix. He also worked the NBA as a television commentator for CBS. He has been inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Pac-12 Hall of Fame in 2016.