When the Los Angeles Lakers rose to power in the 1980s, they changed the game of basketball. HBO Max’s ‘Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty’ is a fictional look at this. People learn more about prodigious basketball player and antitrust lawsuit winner Spencer Haywood in the fifth episode. Haywood was also known as a lawyer who sued the NBA in the early 1970s. Spencer was only 20 years old when he stood up for what he thought. The court sided with him. As for what the lawsuit was about, we’ve got the answer.
Spencer Haywood: Why Did He Sue the NBA?
When Spencer was born, he was the 10th child in a family of 10. He was born in Mississippi. Because he was five years old when his mother picked cotton, he helped her. By the age of 13, he was the main source of income for his family. Spencer knew how important it was to make money to get out of poverty when he was very young. For the rest of his time in college, he focused on basketball. He had a record-breaking freshman season. Spencer was chosen to play for the United States at the 1968 Olympics because of this. He was an important part of the team that won the gold medal, scoring 16.1 points per game.
Spencer then moved to the University of Detroit in Michigan. After his sophomore year, he decided to go pro. Keeping alive and making money were important to him. He had to make sure that he and his family were taken care of. Then Spencer said, “If you’re coming out of the ghetto, that doesn’t matter what you do to get it or how. Only that your did get it.” It doesn’t matter what your friends think. To your brothers and sisters. But to basketball? Some team? Forget about it. In fact, when Spencer was younger, the NBA didn’t let players start playing until they finished their high school class. This meant that Spencer couldn’t join an NBA team.
Because the Denver Rockets are a basketball team in the American Basketball Association, he didn’t go with them. Spencer was a real star in his first season, but he didn’t like the contract he got after that. He also broke NBA rules and signed Spencer. Sam Schulman, who owned now-defunct basketball team the Seattle Sonics, did this as well, even though he didn’t have to. The league took action right away to stop the signing, which led to a major antitrust case.
Spencer said at the time that the four-year rule made it hard for him to work and make money. During the case, Spencer had a hard time on the court. He was booed, called an illegal player, and other players didn’t want to shake his hand. While he was only twenty years old, he did all this. Finally, in 1971, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favour of Spencer, making it one of the most important decisions in history. It changed the futures of almost every player who came into the league after that.
If a player can show that he can’t play in the NBA because of money, then he can join the league early. When it came to that rule, it was scrapped in 1976. There aren’t many players who go to college for four years before they go to the NBA draught. Several big names, like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, went to the draught right after high school. Several younger players who played in college didn’t play for four years, like Zion Williamson and Ja Morant.
They could make those decisions because Spencer set the stage. As long as people remember him for what he did on and off the court, he’ll always be known for that. Spencer said, “These players [today] understand one thing. It’s important.” Whenever I say something like, “LeBron and those other guys made $100 million more when I gave them four years to come into the league,” they understand. That extra $75 million was Durant’s, and when I told him I got him it, he told me: “Oh! I get it now.”