NBA star Haywood finally gets his call

The wait is over for Spencer Haywood.

The former NBA star who took the league to court in 1970 over the right to play before his college eligibility expired will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He will be part of a 2013 class that includes fellow Las Vegas residents Jerry Tarkanian and Gary Payton.

Al Ross, who represented Haywood during the landmark case which went all the way to the United States Supreme Court in 1971 and resulted in Haywood winning, confirmed the news to Fox Sports Florida. The official announcement will be made Monday at the Final Four in Atlanta.

Haywood, like Tarkanian and Payton, received a minimum of 18 votes from the 24-member Honors Committee needed to gain induction. He, Tarkanian and Payton will be honored at the hall’s induction ceremony on Sept. 8 in Springfield, Mass.

The 63-year-old Haywood was in Atlanta on Friday and could not be reached for comment. But Ross told Fox Sports Florida his longtime friend and client was thrilled by the news.

“They couldn’t keep him out anymore,” Ross said. “He’s really excited.”

On the court, Haywood put up eye-popping numbers, averaging a double-double of 20.3 points and 10.3 rebounds during 13 professional seasons, including one year in the American Basketball Association where he averaged 30 points and 19.5 rebounds for the 1969-70 Denver Rockets.

In the NBA, Haywood played for the Seattle SuperSonics, New York Knicks, New Orleans Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Bullets. He was a four-time NBA All-Star and a member of the 1980 NBA champion Lakers.

Haywood also was a member of the 1968 gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic basketball team.

But it was his actions off the court where Haywood made his biggest contribution to basketball. His willingness to fight the NBA over the right to play before his college class had graduated changed the sport forever. His “hardship case” evolved into the league’s current “early entry” policy and allowed a generation of players that followed to earn a professional living earlier.

“I’m a national treasure,” Haywood said during an interview last week. “But people don’t look at me that way because they don’t like it when you fight the system.”

Ross said: “It’s one of the most important things ever. It opened the door for all these superstars like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson to enter the NBA.”

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.