Spencer Haywood: Origins of an Icon 

Spencer Haywood: Origins of an Icon 

Basketball legend Spencer Haywood joins the show to talk about his new book.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

This week we talk to NBA Hall of Famer Spencer Haywood on the occasion of the new book, The Spencer Haywood Rule: Battles, Basketball, and the Making of an American Iconoclast. Spencer’s story is an important part of the history of sports and resistance and we talk to him about his career, his famous court battle, as well as his legacy.

We also have Choice Words about Major League Baseball’s efforts to aid the Black Lives Matter struggle. In addition, we have Just Stand Up and Just Sit Down awards to the San Diego Loyals/Landon Donovan for standing up to homophobia and Charles Barkley for ignorant comments made about the killing of Breonna Taylor recently. All this and more on this week’s show!

Spencer Haywood
Twitter: @SpencerHaywood
The Spencer Haywood Rule: Battles, Basketball, and the Making of an American Iconoclast

Zirin
Making Black Lives Matter On and Off the Diamond

Time is running out to have your gift matched 

In this time of unrelenting, often unprecedented cruelty and lawlessness, I’m grateful for Nation readers like you. 

So many of you have taken to the streets, organized in your neighborhood and with your union, and showed up at the ballot box to vote for progressive candidates. You’re proving that it is possible—to paraphrase the legendary Patti Smith—to redeem the work of the fools running our government.

And as we head into 2026, I promise that The Nation will fight like never before for justice, humanity, and dignity in these United States. 

At a time when most news organizations are either cutting budgets or cozying up to Trump by bringing in right-wing propagandists, The Nation’s writers, editors, copy editors, fact-checkers, and illustrators confront head-on the administration’s deadly abuses of power, blatant corruption, and deconstruction of both government and civil society. 

We couldn’t do this crucial work without you.

Through the end of the year, a generous donor is matching all donations to The Nation’s independent journalism up to $75,000. But the end of the year is now only days away. 

Time is running out to have your gift doubled. Don’t wait—donate now to ensure that our newsroom has the full $150,000 to start the new year. 

Another world really is possible. Together, we can and will win it!

Love and Solidarity,

John Nichols 

Executive Editor, The Nation

Ad Policy
x