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First African-American coach in the National Basketball Association: Bill Russell (Boston Celtics) First African-American Major League Baseball umpire: Emmett Ashford; First African-American NFL broadcaster: Lowell Perry (CBS, on Pittsburgh Steelers games) [41] [42] (See also: 1957)
The Celtics were the first [NBA basketball] team to draft a black player, period: a guy named Chuck Cooper from Duquesne. The first team to start five black players was the Boston Celtics. The first [NBA organization] to hire a black [head] coach was the Boston Celtics, and they've had at least five [black head-coaches] over the years.
The white-based design featured dark green letters and brown trim in reference to traditional maker's marks from Boston's history of furniture makers, along with wood grain accents to reference the peach baskets first used in the game. [243] In another first, the Celtics unveiled an alternate court specific to the 2023 NBA in-season tournament ...
In 1950, the Celtics became the first franchise to draft an African American player, signing Chuck Cooper. [citation needed] The Celtics had struggled during their early years, but the hiring of Coach Red Auerbach would change their fortunes. One of the first major players to join the Celtics was Bob Cousy, whom Auerbach initially refused to ...
* Major League Baseball recognizes Curt Roberts as the Pirates' first Black player; however, Carlos Bernier of Puerto Rico, also a Black man, debuted on April 22, 1953. [5] ‡ Thompson and Irvin broke in with the Giants during the same game on July 8, 1949. Thompson was the starting third baseman, and Irvin pinch hit in the eighth. [1]
Cooper was also the first African-American to be drafted by an NBA team; he was chosen by the Boston Celtics with the first pick of the second round of the 1950 NBA Draft. [1] In a six-season NBA career, Cooper played for the Celtics, the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks, and the Fort Wayne Pistons, averaging 6.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
In 1964, these five players became the first African-American starting five in the NBA. When Auerbach gave up coaching to become the Celtics general manager in 1966, he appointed Bill Russell as his successor. Russell became the first black NBA coach and was the first black coach of a professional sports organization since Fritz Pollard in 1925 ...
Kevin Joseph Aloysius Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have played in both Major League Baseball (Brooklyn Dodgers 1949, Chicago Cubs, 1951) and the National Basketball Association (Boston Celtics 1946–48).