Ex-NBA star Spencer Haywood believes his famous lawsuit helped LeBron James achieve his scoring record

Hall of Famer Spencer Haywood become famous not only because of his talents on the basketball court back in the 70s, but also due an antitrust lawsuit with the NBA that permitted underclassmen and high school athletes to turn professional earlier in their careers.

This is why his impact is so important on today’s game, as it has allowed players to have 20-year-long careers as NBA players, which was something thought impossible before his time in the league.

The former Thunder star recently went on an interview with Brandon ‘Scoot B’ Robinson and shared why he believes his actions played a key role in LeBron James breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s top-scoring record this year.

“Oh he’s going to add to the record but, you also have to think, he would not have broken that record if he didn’t have four extra years that Spencer Haywood provided for him,” Haywood said this week.

Spencer Haywood knows that he gave Lakers superstar LeBron James a four-year advantage over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.https://t.co/G4UhDGAwDu

— LakeShow (@LakeShowCP) July 19, 2023

The former star gave further detail on the importance of the antitrust lawsuit on the Lakers foward’s career.

“Because before I came along, you had to wait four years before you got into the pros,” he explained. “So LeBron was able to come in from high school, so he’s got 8,000-plus because of what I did. So it’s a beautiful thing to see and to see Kareem is on the acceptance level that says, ‘You know, he broke this record,’ because all of these records are going to be interesting.”

Maybe another reason is because the 38-year-old is youthful and ambitious, just as Austin Reaves said about him this week.

“He acts like a damn kid,” his teammate shared. “He acts like he’s 18. I never really see him in a bad mood. Always joking, laughing, having a good time. And for someone, you know, that you put on a pedestal because he’s done what he’s done, for him to be just so personable–you could talk to him about anything, you can have good conversation with him, you could joke around–[is amazing].

“The best thing about him is he comes to work every day happy.”

Dan Patrick recently mocked ESPN for their coverage on LeBron postponing his retirement from professional basketball

Dan Patrick, who hosts his own podcast show, recently questioned how James and ESPN approached the news of his retirement postponement.

“I wasn’t waiting for an announcement. I got one, and then ESPN’s treating it like it’s breaking news,” the former ESPN anchor said last week. “And I went, ‘You know what’s breaking news? If he retired. Not that he’s coming back.’ Who thought that he might retire?”

“Nobody,” Patrick responded to himself. “It just is needy. And you don’t need it. ‘I want publicity. Don’t forget about me. I don’t want to cheat the game.’ Play. Just play.”

Check out LeBron’s speech as he received the award for breaking Abdul-Jabbar’s record this season:

As he took the microphone, the Lakers superstar admitted that if he ever feels he can’t give his all on the basketball court, he’ll retire right away.

“I don’t care how many more points I score or what I can and cannot do on the floor,” he expressed on stage. “The real question for me is, ‘Can I play without cheating this game?’ The day I can’t give everything on the floor is the day I’ll be done.

“Lucky for you guys, that day is not today.”