Spencer Haywood's Historic Supreme Court Ruling Paved The Way For 2024 Team USA

Zachary Draves | Aug 12, 2024

Feb 27, 1973; Atlanta, GA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Seattle Supersonics center Spencer Haywood (24) in action against the Atlanta Hawks at the Omni. Mandatory Credit: Many Rubio-USA TODAY Sports / Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports

Frederick Douglas once said "if there is no struggle, there is no progress." NBA legend and 1968 Olympics gold medalist Spencer Haywood's struggle paved the way for today's progress.

Over the weekend, he posted on Instagram his congratulations to the United States team after it won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. He posted a picture of him wearing his Team USA jersey from the 1968 Mexico City games and about him owning the scoring record that was broken by Kevin Durant this summer.

He then offered a historical gem.

"CONGRATULATIONS TO USA BASKETBALL TEAM ON WINNING THE GOLD MEDAL 🥇 2024❤️🏀🇺🇸

THIS IS MY 1968 GOLD MEDAL JERSEY AND RECORD SETTING FOR 44 YEARS..

OH BY THE WAY THE WHOLE USA BASKETBALL TEAM 2024 IS UNDER MY SUPREME COURT RULING (HAYWOOD VS NBA) WHICH ALLOWED PLAYERS TO LEAVE COLLEGE EARLY. JUST HISTORY"

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Spencer Haywood (@spencerhaywood24)

Haywood was referring to the landmark 1971 Supreme Court decision Haywood v. National Basketball Association, which ruled against the NBA's rule where a player could not be drafted until after they graduated from high school. It also opened doors for college players to go into the league early.

The current U.S. team is comprised of players who either went into the league straight out of high school or left college early.

LeBron James arrived from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio in 2003. Kevin Durant entered the 2007 NBA Draft after one year at Texas. Steph Curry was drafted in 2009 after his junior season at Davidson.

It is without question the success of the U.S. team in Paris wouldn't be possible without the heroics of Haywood.

Zachary Draves is a contributor to Back In the Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at zdraves1013@gmail.com and on Instagram @zdraves0633.

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