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Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 5:36 pm EDTNBA legend. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Spencer Haywood
Career at a glance
Spencer Haywood played 13 professional regular seasons (1 in the ABA, 12 in the NBA) between 1969 and 1983, appearing in 844 games and averaging 20.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He played for 7 teams: Denver (ABA) (1969–70, 84 games), Seattle (NBA) (1970–75, 326 games), New York (NBA) (1975–76, 78 games), New York (1976–79, 132 games), New Orleans (1978–79, 34 games), L.A. Lakers (1979–80, 76 games), Washington (1981–83, 114 games). His best scoring season was 1969–70 with Denver (ABA): 30.0 points per game over 84 games.
He rebounded best in 1969–70 at 19.5 per game. The season table marks him as the league leader in scoring once, rebounding once. Championship season: 1979–80 (L.A. Lakers).
In the playoffs he appeared in 5 postseason runs (45 games, 19.6 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 17,100 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total).
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Spencer Haywood
Spencer Haywood (born April 22, 1949) is an American former professional basketball player and Olympic gold medalist. Haywood is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, being inducted in 2015.
- Born
- April 22, 1949 (age 77) Silver City, Mississippi, U.S.
- Listed height
- 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
- Listed weight
- 225 lb (102 kg)
- Position
- Power forward
- High school
- Pershing (Detroit, Michigan)
- College
- Trinidad State (1967–1968) Detroit Mercy (1968–1969)
- NBA draft
- 1971: 2nd round, 30th overall pick
- Playing career
- 1969–1983
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 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)
- Third-team Parade All-American (1967)
Career statistics
| 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 |
| 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 |
Per-game averages. † won an ABA or NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ league record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 6′ 8″
- Weight
- 225 lb
- Position
- Power forward
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1971
- Draft pick
- Round 2 · Pick 30
Height, Weight, Position, Country, Draft year, Draft pick: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
Roster observations
These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.
No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.
Profile source
Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.
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