Haywood v. National Basketball Association

Haywood v. N.B.A.
Decided March 1, 1971
Full case nameIn re Spencer Haywood v. National Basketball Association
Citations401 U.S. 1204 (more)
91 S. Ct. 672; 28 L. Ed. 2d 206
Holding
Haywood was granted an injunction pendente lite which allowed him to play for Seattle and forbade the NBA to impose sanctions on the Seattle team.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · William O. Douglas
John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr.
Potter Stewart · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Case opinion
MajorityDouglas
All other justices took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
Sherman Antitrust Act

Haywood v. National Basketball Association, 401 U.S. 1204 (1971), was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled against the NBA's requirement that a player could not be drafted by an NBA team until four years after graduating from high school. Justice Douglas, in an in-chambers opinion, allowed Spencer Haywood to play in the NBA temporarily until the litigation could proceed further. The case was settled out of court, Haywood continued playing, and the NBA modified its four-year rule to allow players to enter the league early in cases of "hardship".