33 Facts About Spencer Haywood

Spencer Haywood was born on April 22,1949 and is an American former professional basketball player and Olympic gold medalist.

Spencer Haywood was born on April 22,1949, in Silver City, Mississippi.

Spencer Haywood was born three months after his father died, and had 10 brothers and sisters.

Spencer Haywood grew up in poverty and his family worked as sharecroppers on the Mississippi delta.

Spencer Haywood was born at home with a midwife, and never received a birth certificate, his name being written in a family bible to record his birth.

Spencer Haywood worked from sunup to sundown, under the eyes of the landowner's overseer.

Spencer Haywood spent a night in jail at age 14, after being falsely charged with threatening to kill a white man.

In 1964, Spencer Haywood moved to Detroit, Michigan where he lived with his brother, residing in the Krainz Woods neighborhood.

Spencer Haywood attended Pershing High School, playing under coach Will Robinson.

Spencer Haywood was originally planning to go to the University of Tennessee, but with the help of coach Robinson, instead attended Trinidad State Junior College in Trinidad, Colorado.

Prominent college players like Pete Maravich and Calvin Murphy were cut before making the Olympic team, while Spencer Haywood, known as "the kid", was the first player chosen by coach Hank Iba.

In 1993, Spencer Haywood was inducted into the Detroit Mercy Titans Hall of Fame.

Spencer Haywood decided to turn pro after his sophomore year, but National Basketball Association rules, which then required a player to wait until four years after his high school class graduated, prohibited him from entering the league.

Spencer Haywood joined the Denver Rockets after they selected him in the ABA draft.

Spencer Haywood was named both the ABA Rookie of the Year and ABA MVP during the season, and became the youngest ever recipient of the MVP at the age of 21.

Spencer Haywood 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.

In 1970, despite the NBA's eligibility rules, Haywood joined the Seattle SuperSonics, and with SuperSonics owner Sam Schulman launched an antitrust suit against the league.

Spencer Haywood was named to the All-NBA First Team in 1972 and 1973 and the All-NBA Second Team in 1974 and 1975.

Spencer Haywood played in four NBA All-Star Games while with Seattle, including a strong 23-point, 11-rebound performance in 1974.

Spencer Haywood was in the top-10 NBA MVP voting twice and top-20 two other times.

McAdoo led the team in scoring and rebounding, while Spencer Haywood averaged 16.5 points and 9 rebounds a game.

Spencer Haywood played another full year for the Knicks, making the playoffs, but he was only averaging 26.3 minutes per game and had then career lows in scoring and rebounding.

Spencer Haywood finished the season averaging 24 points and 9.6 rebounds per game for the Jazz, but he would never approach those numbers again.

Spencer Haywood was dismissed from the Lakers by then-coach Paul Westhead during the 1980 NBA Finals for falling asleep during practice due to his addiction.

Spencer Haywood subsequently fought to overcome drug and alcohol abuse, and has worked to maintain his sobriety over the following decades.

The next season Spencer Haywood played in Italy for Reyer Venezia Mestre along with Drazen Dalipagic, before returning to the NBA to play two seasons with the Washington Bullets.

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

Spencer Haywood remarried in 1990 and with his wife, Linda, he has three daughters; Courtney Nikkiah, Shaakira and Isis Chanel.

Spencer Haywood has 3 grandchildren ; 2 grandsons from 2 of his younger daughters and a granddaughter from Zulekha named Lavina.

Spencer Haywood was lifelong friends with Lonnie Lynn, his teammate on the Denver Rockets.

Spencer Haywood is the godfather of Lynn's son, rapper Common.

Spencer Haywood is a huge fan of jazz and has hosted weekly two-hour weekend jazz shows in Seattle and New York.

Spencer Haywood was featured in the first season of the HBO show, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, where he was portrayed by actor Wood Harris.