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Spencer Haywood

Haywood at Nellis Air Force Base in 2006

Personal information

Born

April 22, 1949 (age 76)
Silver City, Mississippi, U.S.

High school

Pershing (Detroit, Michigan)

Listed height

6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)

Listed weight

225 lb (102 kg)

Career information

College

Trinidad State JC (1967–1968)
Detroit Mercy (1968–1969)

NBA Draft

1971 / Round: 2 / Pick: 30th overall

Selected by the Buffalo Braves

Pro career

1969–1983

Career history

1969–1970

1970–1975

1975–1979

1979

1979–1980

1980–1981

Reyer Venezia

1981–1983

Washington Bullets

Career highlights and awards

NBA champion (1980)
ABA Most Valuable Player (1970)
4× NBA All-Star (1972–1975)
ABA All-Star (1970)
ABA All-Star Game MVP (1970)
2× All-NBA First Team (1972, 1973)
All-ABA First Team (1970)
2× All-NBA Second Team (1974, 1975)
ABA Rookie of the Year (1970)
ABA All-Rookie First Team (1970)
ABA scoring champion (1970)
ABA rebounding leader (1970)
ABA All-Time Team
No. 24 retired by Seattle SuperSonics
Consensus first-team All-American (1969)
No. 45 retired by Detroit Mercy Titans
NCAA rebounding leader (1969)
Mr. Basketball USA (1967)

Career ABA and NBA statistics

Points

17,111 (20.3 ppg)

Rebounds

8,675 (10.3 rpg)

Assists

1,541 (1.8 apg)

Medals

Men's basketball

Representing United States
Olympic Games
Gold	1968 Mexico City	Team competition

Spencer Haywood (born April 22, 1949) is an American former professional basketball player. He won an Olympic gold medal and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. Haywood was a very important player who helped change the rules for young athletes entering professional basketball.

Early Life and Beginnings
College Career and Olympic Gold
Professional Basketball Journey
- Amazing Rookie Season in the ABA
- NBA Career and a Rule Change
Spencer Haywood's Career Statistics
- Regular Season Games
- Playoff Games
Personal Life and Interests
See Also

Early Life and Beginnings

Spencer Haywood was born on April 22, 1949, in Silver City, Mississippi. He grew up in a very poor family. His family worked as sharecroppers, which meant they farmed land owned by someone else and paid rent with a share of their crops.

College Career and Olympic Gold

Haywood playing for Detroit Mercy

Haywood went to Trinidad State Junior College in Colorado for the 1967–68 college season. He was amazing, scoring 28.2 points and getting 22.1 rebounds per game. Because he was so talented, Haywood joined the 1968 U.S. Olympic team when he was just 19. This made him the youngest American basketball player in Olympic history.

Haywood was the top scorer for the U.S. team, which won the gold medal. He averaged 16.1 points per game. He also set a Team USA record for shooting accuracy, making 71.9% of his shots. After the Olympics, Haywood moved to the University of Detroit. In the 1968–69 season, he led all college players in rebounding, with 21.5 rebounds per game. He also scored 32.1 points per game.

After his second year of college, Haywood wanted to become a professional player. However, the rules of the National Basketball Association (NBA) at that time said a player had to wait four years after their high school class graduated. The American Basketball Association (ABA) had a similar rule. But an ABA executive, Mike Storen, created a special "hardship exemption." Since Haywood's mother was raising 10 children and earning only $2 a day picking cotton, he met the requirements. He then joined the Denver Rockets in the ABA.

Professional Basketball Journey

Amazing Rookie Season in the ABA

In his first professional season (1969–70) with the Denver Rockets, Haywood was incredible. He led the entire ABA in scoring, with 30.0 points per game. He also led the league in rebounding, with 19.5 rebounds per game. He helped the Rockets win the ABA's Western Division Title.

In the playoffs, Denver beat the Washington Caps in 7 games. But they lost to the Los Angeles Stars in the division finals. Haywood was named both the ABA Rookie of the Year and the ABA MVP (Most Valuable Player) that season. At 21, he became the youngest MVP ever. He set all-time ABA records for most field goals made (986), most rebounds (1,637), and highest rebound average (19.5) in a single season. Haywood also won the 1970 ABA All-Star Game MVP award. In that game, he had 23 points, 19 rebounds, and 7 blocked shots.

NBA Career and a Rule Change

In 1970, Spencer Haywood joined the Seattle SuperSonics, even though the NBA's eligibility rules usually wouldn't allow it. Haywood and SuperSonics owner Sam Schulman took the league to court. This case, called Haywood v. National Basketball Association, went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court decided in favor of Haywood. This important decision changed the rules, allowing college players to enter the NBA earlier.

Haywood was chosen for the All-NBA First Team in 1972 and 1973. He also made the All-NBA Second Team in 1974 and 1975. His 29.2 points per game in the 1972–73 season and 13.4 rebounds per game in 1973–74 are still the highest single-season averages for the SuperSonics in those categories. Haywood played in four NBA All-Star Games while with Seattle. In the 1974 game, he had a great performance with 23 points and 11 rebounds. In the 1974–75 season, he helped the SuperSonics reach the playoffs for the first time. During his five seasons in Seattle, Haywood averaged 24.9 points and 12.1 rebounds per game.

In 1975, the SuperSonics traded him to the New York Knicks. He later played for the New Orleans Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers, and Washington Bullets. After playing for the Lakers, Haywood played in Italy for Reyer Venezia Mestre (known as "Carrera Reyer Venezia"). He then returned to the NBA for two seasons with the Washington Bullets.

On February 26, 2007, the Seattle SuperSonics honored Haywood by retiring his number 24 jersey. This means no other player on that team can wear that number.

Spencer Haywood's Career Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

†	Denotes seasons in which Haywood's team won an NBA championship
*	Led the league
*	ABA record

Regular Season Games

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1969–70	Denver (ABA)	84*	—	45.3*	.493	.000	.776	19.5*	2.3	—	—	30.0*
1970–71	Seattle (NBA)	33	—	35.2	.449	—	.734	12.0	1.5	—	—	20.6
1971–72	Seattle (NBA)	73	—	43.4	.461	—	.819	12.7	2.0	—	—	26.2
1972–73	Seattle (NBA)	77	—	42.3	.476	—	.839	12.9	2.5	—	—	29.2
1973–74	Seattle (NBA)	75	—	40.5	.457	—	.814	13.4	3.2	0.9	1.4	23.5
1974–75	Seattle (NBA)	68	—	37.2	.459	—	.811	9.3	2.0	0.8	1.6	22.4
1975–76	New York (NBA)	78	—	37.1	.445	—	.757	11.3	1.2	0.7	1.0	19.9
1976–77	New York	31	—	32.9	.450	—	.832	9.0	1.6	0.5	0.9	16.5
1977–78	New York	67	—	26.3	.484	—	.711	6.6	1.9	0.6	1.1	13.7
1978–79	New York	34	—	30.1	.489	—	.733	6.1	1.6	0.3	0.9	17.8
1978–79	New Orleans	34	—	39.4	.497	—	.849	9.6	2.1	0.9	1.6	24.0
1979–80†	L.A. Lakers	76	—	20.3	.487	.250	.772	4.6	1.2	0.5	0.8	9.7
1981–82	Washington	76	63	27.4	.476	.000	.842	5.6	0.8	0.6	0.9	13.3
1982–83	Washington	38	25	20.4	.401	.000	.724	4.8	0.8	0.3	0.7	8.2
Career		844	88	34.8	.469	.051	.796	10.3	1.8	0.6	1.1	20.3
All-Star		5	4	27.2	.462	—	.846	10.0	1.6	0.0	0.4	14.2

Playoff Games

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1970	Denver (ABA)	12	—	47.3	.511	.200	.831	19.8	3.3	—	—	36.7
1975	Seattle (NBA)	9	—	37.4	.359	—	.770	9.0	2.0	0.8	1.2	15.7
1978	New York	6	—	29.5	.506	—	1.000	7.0	2.0	0.3	0.8	16.2
1980†	L.A. Lakers	11	—	13.2	.472	.000	.813	2.4	0.4	0.0	0.5	5.7
1982	Washington	7	—	33.0	.496	—	.743	5.6	1.0	0.6	2.0	20.0
Career		45	—	32.4	.479	.167	.806	9.4	1.8	0.4	1.1	19.6

Personal Life and Interests

Haywood lives in Las Vegas. He was married to fashion model Iman from 1977 to 1987, and they had a daughter named Zulekha. He remarried in 1990 to Linda, and they have three daughters: Courtney Nikkiah, Shaakira, and Isis Chanel. He has three grandchildren. His wife Linda passed away in 2022.

Haywood was a lifelong friend of Lonnie Lynn, who was his teammate on the Denver Rockets. He is also the godfather of Lonnie Lynn's son, the famous rapper Common.

Spencer Haywood was honored by being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2015.

Haywood loves jazz music. He used to host weekly two-hour jazz radio shows in Seattle (1971–1975) and New York (1976–1978).

Haywood was shown in the first season of the HBO show, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. In the show, he was played by actor Wood Harris.