A timeline based on history of African Americans in the sport of basketball.
This title goes to Harry Haskell. He was born on January 4th, 1884 in Lowell, MA. He made his way to the Merrimak Valley Championship at the age of 18. He then became the first black professional player when the New England league signed him to their team.
The first black recipent of the MVP award was Clarence Bell. He led the New York Rens for nine seasons. In 1939, he led his team to the World Professional Basketball Tournament Championship.
Marques Haynes is known to be the greatest basketball player ever. Many basketball fans credit Michael Jordan for such a title, but no one matches to Marques. He played in over 12,000 games in 100+ countries. He led his high school team to a National Championship and he led a 59 game win streak. He could dribble the ball up to six times per second. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Nat Clifton was the first African American to sign an NBA contract and play in the NBA. Others signed the contract but we soon cut from the team, He was in the military but soon became a forward positioner for the NY Knicks where he played seven seasons. He averaged ten points and eight rebounds per game.
Donald Barksdale was the first African American Olympic gold medalist and the first NBA all-star. At age 28, he began in the NBA with the Washington Bullets. In 1953, he became the first black player to ever play in an NBA all star game.
John McLendon was the first black coach in professional sports. He also made history as the first African American coach to win an integrated national championship in 1957, followed by two more consecutive championships. He was also the first to be appointed to the U.S. Olympics Committee.
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