Did Spencer Haywood really put a hit on/try to kill the Lakers? Winning Time episode 9 suggests he did – let’s separate the fact from the fiction.
HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty returned this week for episode 9 of the ten-part series. In the episode we see the Los Angeles Lakers and Magic Johnson make it to the NBA playoffs, which will round of the point guard’s legendary rookie season.
However, a lot of the episode focuses on Spencer Haywood’s relationship with the Lakers. As ever in the series, there’s a few bits to clear up – did Spencer Haywood really put a hit on the Lakers?
Spencer Haywood and his issues with drugs
In episode 8 of the series we see Spencer Haywood (Wood Harris) turning to drugs. Episode 9 follows this story on with Haywood developing a cocaine addiction that his teammates – particularly Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – are growing increasingly concerned about.
In the show, the Lakers have a team meeting and vote to waive Spencer Haywood before the NBA Finals. However, this isn’t exactly what went down in real life.
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In reality, it was then-coach Paul Westhead’s decision, not the team’s, and Haywood was suspended, not cut, from the team after Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Westhead opted to suspend Haywood indefinitely after multiple disruptions and the fact he fell asleep during a workout with the team due to his addiction.
Did Spencer Haywood put a hit on/try to kill the Lakers?
In the episode, Abdul-Jabbar breaks the news to Haywood that he won’t be playing in the Finals. Haywood feels betrayed and we see him meeting up with a drug dealer/friend to set up an attack on his teammates.
But did Spencer Haywood really put a hit on/try to kill his Lakers teammates?
Well, there is some truth to the show’s claim but it is not entirely accurate. In reality, Haywood hired a Detroit mobster to assassinate Paul Westhead because he suspended him, but he did not put a hit on the entire Los Angeles Lakers team.
In a People Magazine feature at the time (via Washington Post), Haywood wrote in a letter, “I left the Forum and drove off in my Rolls that night thinking one thought — that Westhead must die.”
“In the heat of anger and the daze of coke, I phoned an old friend of mine, a genuine certified gangster . . . We sat down and figured it out. Westhead lived in Palos Verdes, and we got his street address. We would sabotage his car, mess with his brake lining,” Haywood added.
However, the former Lakers star clarified that he later called off the hit. According to the People feature, “the mother of the former Olympic basketball star [Haywood] persuaded him not to go through with the plot, threatening to turn him in.”
So no, Spencer Haywood did not put a hit out on the entire Lakers team, but he did (however briefly) want to get revenge on Westhead.
Did Spencer Haywood win a ring with the Lakers?
Haywood was cut after Game 3 of the 1980 NBA Finals. The Lakers would go on to win the championship, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4-2, and Haywood was awarded a ring despite not playing in the finals.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism