Having Lived Through a Dark Time in History, 74 YO NBA Legend’s Gruesome Tale of Basketball Beginnings Moves Kevin Garnett

The current generation of athletes often has no idea about the people who paved the way for them. Even though the 13th Amendment was passed in the United States in 1985, people still faced certain hardships in their lives. An NBA Hall of Famer got the opportunity to sit down and share his life with the Big Ticket, Kevin Garnett.

The conversation discussed an NBA champion and Olympic gold medalist’s life before making it to the big leagues. Surprisingly, the 74-year-old explained how the hardships in his childhood helped him get to where he had to be.

Kevin Garnett was moved by the horrible experiences of an NBA legend

The special guest on the recent episode of the podcast, KG Certified, was 1980 NBA champion, Spencer Haywood. Haywood and Garnett both had a deep conversation as the 74-year-old shared his childhood circumstances with the Boston Celtics legend. Kevin Garnett shared the clip on his page KG Certified on Instagram.

He later posted it as his story and captioned it “Had one those deep convos with Unc about his journey.“

According to Haywood, his life before the NBA hardwood helped him be better than his competition.

Spencer Haywood explained that he was a cotton picker in Mississippi. He started working at the age of 4. As he grew older, he could often find himself carrying around a bag of 100 LBS of cotton.

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Years later, he figured out that he had extremely strong legs. He also realized that his years of working in the field have given him exceptional core strength. Haywood mentions that it was a horrible thing to work in the field. But he also thanked God for molding him and letting him be where he eventually ended up.

He had to leave his state after an incident with the police that led him to come to Ohio eventually. That’s where his talent was discovered when his brother made him practice in a local basketball exhibition game.

How did life change for Spencer Haywood

He quickly became a star and dominated in high school. Following that he was selected for the Olympics team. After returning from the Olympics, Haywood joined the University of Detroit.

Spencer told Garnett that when he reached Detroit, the coaches told him that they would be practicing for 2 and a half hours every day. Haywood said, “That’s all? — This is so much fun, this is not work.“

For Haywood, who had been working in the field from the morning until the sun went down in the evening, this was nothing. Haywood revealed that he would practice 3 hours extra by himself after his coaching in Detroit. Not only did he proceed to join the league, he did so through a historical Supreme Court ruling.

Spencer Haywood was inducted into the HOF in 2015. What do you think of the 5x All-Star’s incredible journey? Let us know in the comments!

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