The Spencer Haywood Rule

"One of the most dominant big men of his era, Haywood burst onto the international scene with a revelatory performance as only a 19-year old at the infamous and divisive 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Yet, while his basketball career was just beginning back in that summer of '68, it was just one notable moment in the extraordinary and fateful life of the big man from Silver City, Mississippi. Marc Spears of ESPN's The Undefeated and Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe tell the remarkable story of a man who was born into indentured servitude in rural Mississippi, and all of the unbelievable trials, tribulations, successes, failures, and redemptions that followed. Haywood's triumphs on the court are only part of the legend, as his winding journey off the court saw him challenge the NBA Draft entry rules and win at the Supreme Court level, run in New York City high-fashion circles in the mid-1970s with his then-wife supermodel Iman, and bottom out with alcohol and drug addiction during the infancy of the Showtime Lakers dynasty. Spears and Washburn explore how Haywood's impact was felt throughout the NBA and in society at large, culminating in Haywood's inspiring second act as an advocate for current and retired NBA players alike"--