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Spencer Haywood Homepage Famous Number 24s Sonics History Page

1. In the 1971-72 season, Haywood’s first year in Seattle, he averaged 26.2 points per game and became the first Sonics player to be named first-team All-NBA.

2. Number of players in Sonics’ history, including Haywood, who were named first-team All-NBA twice (the other is Gary Payton). Haywood made first-team All-NBA in 1971-72 and 1972-73. He also made the All-NBA second team twice (1973-74, 1974-75).

2. Number of players in Sonics history, including Haywood, to average more than 24.0 points per game during their careers in Seattle. Haywood averaged 24.9 from 1970-75 (only other Sonics player above 24.0 is Ray Allen).

2. Number of players in pro basketball history to score 2,500 or more points as a rookie. The only player aside from Haywood to accomplish the feat: Wilt Chamberlain.

3. Consecutive years (1971-74) that Haywood averaged more than 40 minutes per game. Haywood’s 43.4 minutes per game in 1971-72 is the most in a single season in franchise history.

4. Consecutive seasons that Haywood led the Sonics in scoring (1971-75), making him just one of two players in franchise history (the other is Gary Payton) to accomplish that feat.

5. Individual single-season Sonics records still held by Haywood more than 30 years after he last played for the club. They include scoring average (29.2 in 1972-73), field goals made (889 in 1972-73), field goals attempted (1,868 in 1972-73), rebound average (13.4 in 1973-74), and average minutes played (43.4 in 1971-72).

6. Number of jerseys retired by the Sonics in the team’s 40 seasons. They include No. 1 Gus Williams, No. 10 Nate McMillan, No. 19 Lenny Wilkens, No. 32 Fred Brown, No. 43 Jack Sikma - and now Spencer Haywood’s No. 24.

7. Times during Haywood’s tenure with the Sonics that he scored 40 or more points in a game, including 44 or more points three times.

8. Haywood’s rank on the Sonics’ all-time scoring list. He had 8,131 points in 326 career games.

13. Number of players in Sonics history, including Haywood, who have worn No. 24, including (alphabetically) Bill Cartwright, Tom Chambers, Mateen Cleaves, Marty Conlon, Antonio Harvey, Armond Hill, Dennis Johnson, Don MacLean, Erwin Mueller, Bud Olsen and Fred Vinson.

13.4. Haywood’s rebound average during the 1973-74 season, the highest single-season total in the 40-year history of the franchise.

16. Times in Haywood’s Seattle career that he scored at least 20 points and grabbed at least 20 points in the same game. Haywood’s total number of 20- 20 performances is a franchise record that has lasted for more than 30 years (only one other Sonics player reached double figures in 20-20 games, Jack Sikma with 10).

16.1. Haywood’s scoring average at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, while shooting an amazing 72 percent from the floor. Haywood scored 145 points in nine games. His total points scored and shooting percentage are records that still stand in Olympic basketball.

19. Haywood’s age in 1968 when he helped the United States win a gold medal at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City. 22.4 / 0.3. Haywood’s scoring and rebounding averages in the 1975-75 season when he led the Sonics to the first playoff berth in the eight-year history of the franchise.

29.2. Haywood’s scoring average during the 1972-93 season, the highest single-season average ever by a Sonics player.

30.0 / 19.5. Haywood’s scoring and rebounding averages as a 20-year-old rookie in 1969-70, figures that led the American Basketball Association and earned him MVP and Rookie of the Year honors.

50. Number of times Haywood estimates he quit basketball as a high school freshman. "That season was a nightmare." He would begin dominating on the court the following season.

51. Haywood’s ranking on ESPN.com’s listing of the 100 greatest basketball players of all time, making Haywood the greatest player not yet in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

889. Number of field goals that Haywood made for the Sonics in 1972-73, the most in a season in franchise history.

1971. Year that Haywood won a landmark Supreme Court case which allowed college players to leave school early to play in the NBA. Without that ruling, and subsequent amendments to it, stars such as Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Shawn Kemp, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James and many others would not have been permitted to leave school early to play professionally.

1992. Year that Haywood published The Rise, The Fall, The Recovery, a remarkable book about his life both on and off the basketball court.

14,592. Points scored by Haywood during a 760-game NBA career with the Sonics, Knicks, Jazz, Lakers and Bullets.

$2 million: Price the New York Knicks paid to the Sonics to acquire Haywood in 1975. The Knicks also included rookie forward Eugene Short.