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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.
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 1950, the Celtics played a game in the then-segregated city of Charlotte, North Carolina, and teammate Chuck Cooper—the first African-American in NBA history to be drafted—would have been denied a hotel room. Instead of taking the hotel room, Cousy insisted on travelling with Cooper on an uncomfortable overnight train.
Bill Russell was a dominant center in the NBA in the 1960s. Russell played 13 championships with the Boston Celtics and won 11 titles. He was the first Black coach of an NBA team and the second ...
Dad would remind them that the Celtics were the first team in the NBA to draft a Black player — Chuck Cooper in 1950.They were the first NBA team to have an all-Black starting five.
First African American NBA basketball players: Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton (New York Knicks), Chuck Cooper (Boston Celtics), and Earl Lloyd (Washington Capitols). [29] Harold Hunter was the first to sign an NBA contract, with the Washington Capitols on April 26, 1950.
On this day in 1964, the Boston Celtics fielded the first all-Black starting 5 in league history when Willie Naulls replaced Tommy Heinsohn in the lineup.
* 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]