Ron Matthews, SUPERSONICS.COM | February 9, 2007
Spencer Haywood once described Lenny Wilkens as a man who “was always in my corner.”
On Monday, Feb. 26, the two Sonics Legends will be side-by-side when Haywood’s No. 24 jersey will be retired and placed alongside Wilkens’ No. 19 in the rafters of KeyArena during a special halftime ceremony presented by Key Bank of that night's Sonics game against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Haywood is the sixth player in franchise history to have his jersey number retired. The others are Gus Williams (No. 1), Nate McMillan (10), Wilkens, Fred Brown (32) and Jack Sikma (43). All six players are scheduled to be on the floor as No. 24 is raised to its appropriate place.
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"This is a great honor, long overdue for someone of his caliber."
Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty
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“This is truly a great honor for me,” Haywood said. “My time in Seattle was very memorable, and I had a lot of fun playing on some great teams with some great players. To join the ranks of players like my teammates Lenny Wilkens and Fred Brown means a lot to me. I’m grateful to the Sonics for retiring my jersey. To see the No. 24 hanging in the rafters in Seattle will be a dream come true.”
To Wilkens, the ceremony is long overdue. He made it an early priority when Sonics owner Clay Bennett named Wilkens vice chairman of The Professional Basketball Club, LLC in November.
“When Clay brought me on as Vice Chairman, one of the first things I wanted to do was see Spencer get recognized as one of the legendary players in Seattle’s sports history,” Wilkens said. “This is a great honor, long overdue for someone of his caliber.”
From 1970-75, there was no bigger sports figure in the Pacific Northwest than Haywood. He was a two-time All-NBA First Team selection and twice was named second team. He was named to four All-Star teams, and was a starter in three. His 24.9 career scoring average is the best in franchise history and his 3,934 rebounds rank fifth. Earlier this season, Haywood was voted to the Sonics 40th Anniversary Team.
Wilkens was the team's star player and coach when Haywood arrived in Seattle in a sea of controversy that would forever change professional basketball. Haywood was the first player to challenge the NBA's four-year rule – he left the University of Detroit after his sophomore season, when he averaged 32 points and 21.5 rebounds, and played a season with the ABA's Denver Nuggets, winning league MVP honors as a rookie. Haywood then signed with the Sonics, setting off rounds of litigation. His case went before the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor in March 1971, forever changing the NBA Draft.
“Lenny Wilkens, our coach, handled the hard times beautifully, because that’s the kind of man he is,” Haywood wrote in his book. “He could have been resentful; he was the Sonics star player as well as their coach, and I came to town with that monster contract and big publicity. But Lenny was a jewel. He sat by me on plane trips and gave me advice on how to deal with the controversy and all the bull. He was always in my corner.”
More than three decades later, Wilkens remains in a familiar spot.
