- Haywood v. National Basketball Association
Infobox SCOTUS case
Litigants=Haywood v. N.B.A.
ArgueDate=
ArgueYear=
DecideDate=March 1
DecideYear=1971
FullName=In re Spencer Haywood v. National Basketball Association
USVol=401
USPage=1204
Citation=91 S.Ct. 672; 28 L.Ed.2d 206
Prior=
Subsequent=
Holding=Haywood was granted an injunction pendente lite which allowed him to play for Seattle and forbade NBA to take sanctions against the Seattle team.
SCOTUS=1970-1971
Majority=
JoinMajority=
Dissent=
JoinDissent=
LawsApplied=Sherman Antitrust Act "Haywood v. National Basketball Association", 401 U.S. 1204 (
1971 ), was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled, 7-2, against theNational Basketball Association ’s old requirement that a player must complete four years of college eligibility before turning pro. The rule did not expressly state that a player had to attend college or place an age restriction on players entering the NBA, although clearly those were the intentions behind the rule. What the rule did in fact state was that "a player could not make himself available" to be drafted by a NBA team unless he waited fours years following his graduation from high school.Spencer Haywood turned pro after his sophomore season at theUniversity of Detroit , joining theAmerican Basketball Association ’sDenver Rockets and leading the league in scoring (30.0 per game) and rebounding (19.5 per game) in 1969-70 before jumping to the NBA the following season.Seattle SuperSonics owner Sam Schulman signed Haywood to a six-year, $1.5 million contract, ignoring the rule that a player cannot join the league until he is four years out of high school. As a result, the NBA threatened to disallow the contract and implement various punitive sanctions against the SuperSonics.Haywood challenged this decision by commencing an antitrust action against the NBA that eventually went to the United States Supreme Court in 1971. As part of his claim against the NBA, Haywood argued that the conduct of the NBA was a "group boycott" and a violation of the
Sherman Antitrust Act . The central issue that had to be determined was whether the NBA draft policy was a restraint on trade and therefore was illegal in accordance with the Sherman Act.The District Court ruled:
The decision allowed a significant number of high school graduates and college attendees to make themselves eligible for the
NBA Draft before completing four years in college.ee also
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 401
*"Toolson v. New York Yankees ", ussc|346|356|1953
*"Silver v. New York Stock Exchange ", ussc|373|341|1963
*"Brown v. Pro Football, Inc. ", ussc|518|231|1996
*"Clarett v. National Football League ", 369 F.3d 124 (2d Cir. 2004)Further reading
*cite journal |last=Allison |first=John R. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1973 |month= |title=Professional Sports and the Antitrust Laws: Status of the Reserve System |journal=Baylor Law Review |volume=XXV |issue=1 |pages= |id= |url= |accessdate= |quote=
*cite book |title=International Sports Law and Business |last=Wise |first=Aaron N. |authorlink= |coauthors=Meyer, Bruce S. |year=1997 |publisher=Kluwer Law International |location=New York |isbn=9041109773 |pages=47–48
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