Haywood attended the University of Detroit for just one season before turning pro. In his one season there he lead the NCAA in rebounding with 22 per game and averaged 32 points per game. His decision to turn pro was a controversial one because the NBA did not allow players who had not graduated to join. Haywood sued and eventually won after it had gone to the Supreme Court of the United States.

The court cases took a long time to get settled so Haywood was forced to join the Denver Rockets of the ABA. He would play only one season with the Rockets while averaging spectacular numbers of 30 points, and 19 rebounds. He also was able to capture the leagues all-star game MVP, league MVP and rookie of the year honors.

After just one season with the Rockets Haywood signed with the Seattle Sonics despite his court case pending. The NBA eventually backed down and amended it’s rules which allowed the influx of young players to enter the league 20 years later in the 1990s. Haywood was booed at many arena’s he attended and one public address announcer said “we have an illegal player on the court”.

Despite all the negativity Haywood went on to have a solid season with the Sonics averaging 21 points and 12 rebounds in just 33 games. His second year with the Sonics was equally productive but included 73 games and his first NBA all-star appearance.

Haywood averaged an NBA career high 29 points a game in 1974, the following season he helped the Sonics make the playoffs for the first time in five season. Though he was a good player Haywood had some major attitude problems which often caused problems between teammates and coaches and because of this the Sonics traded him to the New York Knicks in 1975.

Haywood would never reach the same level of success with the Knicks as he had done with the Sonics. He played three and a half seasons in New York but his scoring and rebounding dropped. His attitude worsened and the Knicks began looking for a place to trade Haywood.

The Knicks eventually found a trade partner in the New Orleans Jazz who traded center Joe Meriweather for Haywood. Haywood would only play half a season with the Jazz averaging 24 points a game. In 1979 the Jazz relocated to Utah and reports at the time where that Haywood was unhappy above the potential move, though Haywood has denied this a couple of times. The Jazz traded Haywood to the Los Angeles Lakers for Adrian Dantley in the off-season.

Haywood teamed up with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson to help the Lakers win the 1980 NBA title, but it was not all peachy for Haywood. Haywood was suspended during the NBA finals by coach Paul Westhead. Haywood was so furious that he hired a Detroit mobster to kill Westhead but later reconsidered. The Lakers would release Haywood that summer.

Haywood would miss a season because no one would sign him but in 1981 the Bullets signed him. He’d play his last two years with the Bullets as a role player before retiring. In total Haywood appeared in 844 total career games averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds.

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