Spencer Haywood (born April 22, 1949) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and Olympic gold medalist. Haywood is a member of the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

, being inducted in 2015.

High school career

In 1964, Haywood moved to

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

residing in the Krainz Woods neighborhood. In 1967, while attending

Pershing High School John J. Pershing High School is a four-year public high school in Detroit, Michigan. It is in Conant Gardens in proximity to the residential areas Spencer Haywood timeline
''Seattle Times''

College career and Olympics

Haywood attended Trinidad State Junior College in

Trinidad, Colorado Trinidad is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 8,329 as of the 2020 census. Trinidad lies north of Raton, New Mexico, and s ...

, during the 1967–68 college season, where he averaged 28.2 points and 22.1 rebounds per game. Due to his exceptional performance and talent, Haywood made the 1968 U.S. Olympic team at age 19, becoming the youngest American basketball player in Olympic history. Haywood was the leading scorer on the gold medal winning team at 16.1 points per game, and he set a Team USA

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the genera ...

record of .719. Haywood transferred to the

University of Detroit The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Roman Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catholic univer ...

in the fall of that year, and led the NCAA in rebounding with a 21.5 average per game while scoring 32.1 points per game during the 1968–69 season. Haywood decided to turn pro after his sophomore year, but

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA) rules, which then required a player to wait until four years after his high school class graduated, prohibited him from entering the league. The

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...

(ABA) had a similar rule, but league executive Mike Storen came up with the idea for a hardship exemption. With his mother raising 10 children while picking cotton at $2 per day in Mississippi, Haywood met the criteria. He joined the

Denver Rockets Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

after they selected him in the ABA draft.

Professional career

ABA rookie season

In his 1969–70

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

season, Haywood led the ABA in both scoring at 30.0 points per game and rebounding at 19.5 rebounds per game, while leading the Rockets to the ABA's Western Division Title. In the playoffs, Denver defeated the

Washington Caps The Washington Caps were an American Basketball Association team from 1969 through 1970. The franchise had previously been the Oakland Oaks. From 1970 through 1976 the team played as the Virginia Squires. Origins With the formation of the ABA i ...

in 7 games in the Western Division Semifinals before falling to the

Los Angeles Stars LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

in the division finals, 4 games to 1. He was named both the

ABA Rookie of the Year The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a professional basketball league that operated from the until it ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976. The ABA presented a variety of annual awards and honors to recognize its players and ...

and ABA MVP during the season, and became the youngest ever recipient of the MVP at the age of 21. His 986 field goals made, 1,637 rebounds, and 19.5 rebound per game average are the all-time ABA records for a season. Haywood also won the ABA's 1970 All-Star Game MVP that year after recording 23 points, 19 rebounds, and 7 blocked shots for the West team.

NBA career and Italy

In 1970, despite the NBA's eligibility rules, Haywood joined the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conf ...

, and with SuperSonics owner Sam Schulman launched an

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

suit against the league (''

Haywood v. National Basketball Association ''Haywood v. National Basketball Association'', 401 U.S. 1204 (1971), was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled against the NBA's requirement that a player could not be drafted by an NBA team until four years after graduating from high school. ...

''). The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court before the NBA agreed to a settlement. The suit and its impact on college basketball and the NBA was the focus of a 2020 book ''The Spencer Haywood Rule: Battles, Basketball, and the Making of an American Iconoclast'' by Marc J. Spears and Gary Washburn. Haywood was named to the

All-NBA First Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sele ...

in 1972 and 1973 and the All-NBA Second Team in 1974 and 1975. Haywood's 29.2 points per game in the 1972–73 season and 13.4 rebounds per game in 1973–74 are the single-season record averages for the SuperSonics for these categories. Haywood played in four

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is a basketball exhibition game hosted every February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's star players. It is the featured event of NBA All-Star Weekend, ...

s while with Seattle, including a strong 23-point, 11-rebound performance in 1974. In the 1974–75 season, he helped lead the SuperSonics to their first playoff berth. Overall, during his five seasons with Seattle, Haywood averaged 24.9 points per game and 12.1 rebounds per game. In 1975, the SuperSonics traded him to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associa ...

where he later teamed with Bob McAdoo. Haywood later played for the

New Orleans Jazz New Orleans Jazz may refer to: * Dixieland, a style of jazz music (New Orleans Jazz) * * New Orleans Jazz (NBA team), professional basketball team that relocated and became the Utah Jazz *New Orleans Jazz football club New is an adjective referri ...

, Los Angeles Lakers, and

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

. During the late 1970s, Haywood became addicted to

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...

. He was dismissed from the Lakers by then-coach Paul Westhead during the

1980 NBA Finals The 1980 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1979–80 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the ...

for falling asleep during practice due to his addiction. The next season Haywood played in Italy for

Reyer Venezia Mestre S.S.P. Reyer Venezia Mestre, commonly known as Reyer Venezia or simply Reyer, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Venice, Veneto. The club currently plays in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the highest tier of basketball in ...

(then under the sponsor name "Carrera Reyer Venezia") along with

Dražen Dalipagić Dražen "Praja" Dalipagić (; born 27 November 1951) is a Serbian former professional basketball player and head coach. He was selected the best athlete of Yugoslavia in the year 1978, and is one of the most decorated athletes in Yugoslavian his ...

before returning to the NBA to play two seasons with the

. Haywood's no. 24 jersey was retired by the SuperSonics during a halftime ceremony on February 26, 2007.

Personal life

Haywood currently resides in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

. He was married to fashion model Iman from 1977 until 1987, and they had a daughter, Zulekha Haywood (born 1978). He remarried in 1990, and he and his wife, Linda, have three daughters. He was inducted into the

in September 2015. Haywood is a huge fan of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

and has hosted weekly two-hour weekend jazz shows in Seattle (1971–1975, KYAC) and New York (1976–1978, WRVR).

References

External links

Spoken Word: Spencer Haywood Interview with Michael Tillery of Blacksportsnetwork.com

“In Black America; Spencer Haywood: Drugs Destroyed My Career,”
1989-10-01, KUT Radio,

American Archive of Public Broadcasting The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) is a collaboration between the Library of Congress and WGBH Educational Foundation, founded through the efforts of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The AAPB is a national effort to digit ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haywood, Spencer 1949 births Living people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Detroit Basketball players from Mississippi Buffalo Braves draft picks Denver Rockets players Detroit Mercy Titans men's basketball players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Los Angeles Lakers players Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Basketball Association All-Stars National Basketball Association players with retired numbers New Orleans Jazz players New York Knicks players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Humphreys County, Mississippi Pershing High School alumni Power forwards (basketball) Reyer Venezia players Seattle SuperSonics players United States men's national basketball team players Washington Bullets players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople