The “Winning Time” has been showing a never-seen portion of the life of Spencer Haywood. Here is everything you need to know about the American former professional basketball player.
Spencer Haywood is an Olympic gold medalist and former professional basketball player from the United States.
Haywood was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. He became the tournament’s youngest player, thanks to his outstanding performance and talent.
Followingly, he also earned the name of the United States Olympic Basketball squad in 1968. During the 1967–68 college season, Haywood averaged 28.2 points and 22.1 rebounds per game at Trinidad State Junior College.
What Happened To Spencer Haywood?
Spencer Haywood has battled and struggled with drug addiction. The latest episodes of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty gave a real look into the life of Haywood.
After hinting at Haywood’s drug use for weeks, the show has now dived right into his very real and very serious cocaine addiction. Haywood’s season-long battle with cocaine came to a peak right before the Finals.
The episode opens with Haywood dozing off during shootaround, with teammates puzzled and attempting to wake him up. Though the basic premise of the story is accurate it happened just before the Finals in real life.
And Haywood’s teammates were all aware of why he had dozed asleep. Haywood fell asleep several times while driving to the arena but fortunately avoided injury.
Spencer Haywood Health Condition Drugs Use & Recovery
Spener Haywood dealt with his drug use for a long time. In “Winning Time,” Haywood went to the locker room in search of cocaine in his bag.
After storming out of practice in “Winning Time,” Haywood heads to the locker room in search of cocaine in his luggage. A teammate greeted him in the bathroom after putting it on the floor.
The Laker players were well aware of what was going on. Many had previously used cocaine, and some had done so with Haywood.
However, with Haywood, there was a difference between using cocaine and handing oneself over to cocaine.
Where Is Spencer Haywood Now?
Haywood is now a resident of Las Vegas. From 1977 to 1987, he was married to fashion model Iman. Spencer welcomed a daughter Zulekha Haywood (born 1978) with his former wife.
He remarried in 1990 and has three daughters with his new wife, Linda. In September 2015, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.