Brendan Haywood
From Hoopedia
Brendan Todd Haywood (born November 27, 1979, in New York City, United States) is an American professional basketball player. The 7' 0", 263-lb. center currently plays for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association.
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Amateur Career
As a senior at Dudley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, Haywood won the Gatorade North Carolina Basketball Player of the Year. He was named to the 1997 McDonald's All-American Team.
After graduation, Haywood enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the 1997-1998 season. Haywood was recruited by legendary Tar Heel basketball coach Dean Smith, but the coach retired shortly after Haywood's arrival on campus and turned the job over to his assistant, Bill Guthridge. Haywood backed up Makhtar N'diaye at the center position his freshman season, and was the most-used bench player after the six rotating starters (Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Shammond Williams, Ed Cota, Ademola Okulaja and N'diaye). That season, the Tar Heels advanced to the National Semifinals of the 1998 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.
Haywood moved into the starting lineup during his sophomore season, and the Tar Heels earned a #3 seed in the 1999 NCAA tournament, but were eliminated in the very first round. The Tar Heels struggled again during the 1999-2000 season, but experienced a resurgence during the 2000 NCAA tournament, reaching the Final Four. The 2000-2001 season was Haywood's last at UNC, and the first for new head coach Matt Doherty. That season the Tar Heels earned a #2 seed in the 2001 NCAA tournament, but were eliminated in the second round.
At UNC, Haywood recorded the first triple-double in school history against the University of Miami on December 4, 2000 with 18 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks (which was also a UNC record). He also finished his college baketball career as the Atlantic Coast Conference's all-time leader in field goal percentage (63.7%). During his senior year, Haywood was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference 2nd Team, and also was named 2nd Team All-America by the Sporting News. Haywood went by the nickname "Baby Huey" in high school and college, but decided to leave that behind when he moved on to the NBA.
Professional Career
Haywood graduated from the North Carolina in 2001. He was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 20th overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft. Cleveland traded Haywood to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Michael Doleac, who in turn traded him to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Laron Profit and a first-round draft pick. Haywood has continued to play for the Wizards throughout his professional career, averaging 6.9 points per game. After playing as the Wizards' starting center for five-plus seasons, Haywood lost his starting position to Etan Thomas in 2006, but regained it by the spring of 2007, only to lose it again because of poor production.
"Brenda"
While at UNC, rivals would sometimes refer to Haywood disparagingly as "Brenda". The nickname has stuck and often, when upset with his play on the court, Wizards fans refer to him as "Brenda." Mike Wise wrote of this in the Washington Post: "Haywood has become the scapegoat for every nonaggressive behavior trait associated with Washington. He's been called "Brenda" and worse, which kind of crosses the misogyny line, no? Some have even deigned to say that calling Haywood "Brenda" is disrespectful to every hardworking American woman named Brenda."
