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The National Basketball League (NBL) was a professional basketball league in the United States established in 1937. After the 1948–49 season, its twelfth, it merged with the Basketball Association of America (BAA) to create the National Basketball Association (NBA). Five current NBA teams trace their history back to the NBL: the Atlanta Hawks, the Detroit Pistons, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Sacramento Kings.
The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 countries and territories, mostly against deliberately ineffective opponents, such as the Washington Generals and the New York Nationals (1995–2015). The team's signature song is Brother Bones' whistled version of "Sweet Georgia Brown", and their mascot is an anthropomorphized globe named "Globie". The team is owned by Herschend Family Entertainment.
Abraham Michael Saperstein was the founder, owner and earliest coach of the Harlem Globetrotters. Saperstein was a leading figure in black basketball and baseball from the 1920s through the 1950s, primarily before those sports were racially integrated.
Raymond Joseph Meyer was an American men's collegiate basketball coach from Chicago, Illinois. He was well known for coaching at DePaul University from 1942 to 1984, compiling a 724–354 record. Meyer coached DePaul to 21 post-season appearances. In total, Meyer recorded 37 winning seasons and twelve 20-win seasons, including seven straight from 1978 to 1984. Two Meyer-coached teams reached the Final Four, and in 1945, Meyer led DePaul past Bowling Green to capture the National Invitation Tournament, the school's only post-season title.
The Birmingham Black Barons were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1920 until 1960. They shared their home field of Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, with the white Birmingham Barons, usually drawing larger crowds and equal press.
Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton was an American professional basketball and baseball player. He is best known as one of the first African Americans to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Marques Haynes was an American professional basketball player and member of the Harlem Globetrotters, notable for his ability to dribble the ball and keep it away from defenders. According to the 1988 film Harlem Globetrotters: Six Decades of Magic, Haynes could dribble the ball as many as 348 times a minute.
Black Fives is a trademarked term, federally registered in the United States Patent & Trademark Office, that refers to the all-Black basketball teams that existed in the United States between 1904, when the game was first introduced to African Americans on a wide-scale organized basis, and 1950, when the NBA signed its first Black players. The period is known as the "Black Fives Era" or "Early Black Basketball" or simply "Black Basketball."
The Dayton Rens were a member of the National Basketball League (NBL) for the 1948-49 season and were the only all-black team to play in a white league. This milestone came just one year after Jackie Robinson, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. For the Rens, however, this milestone would be the only highlight of a season in which they finished in last place with a record of 16-43.
The World Professional Basketball Tournament was an annual invitational tournament held in Chicago from 1939 to 1948 and sponsored by the Chicago Herald American. Many teams came from the National Basketball League, but it also included the best teams from other leagues and the best independent barnstorming teams such as the New York Rens and Harlem Globetrotters. Games were played at various sites including Chicago Coliseum, International Amphitheater and Chicago Stadium.
Basketball began with its invention in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts, by Canadian physical education instructor James Naismith as a less injury-prone sport than football. Naismith was a 31-year old graduate student when he created the indoor sport to keep athletes indoors during the winters. The game became established fairly quickly and grew very popular as the 20th century progressed, first in America and then in other parts of the world. After basketball became established in American colleges, the professional game followed. The American National Basketball Association (NBA), established in 1946, grew to a multibillion-dollar enterprise by the end of the century, and basketball became an integral part of American culture.
Wyatt "Sonny" Boswell was an early African American professional basketball player. He was born in Greenville, Mississippi and grew up in Toledo, Ohio, where he attended Scott High School. He played for the Harlem Globetrotters from 1939 to 1941 and again from 1943 to 1944.
Richard Jacob Evans was an American professional basketball and football player. Evans was born on May 31, 1915 in Chicago, Illinois.
Theodore Reginald Strong, Jr., was an American Negro league baseball player who played from 1936 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1951 for the Chicago American Giants, Indianapolis Athletics, Kansas City Monarchs, Indianapolis ABCs, and Indianapolis Clowns.
Louis "Babe" Pressley (1916-1965) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball League for the Chicago Studebaker Flyers. He was also a long-time player for the Harlem Globetrotters. Pressley signed with the Globetrotters in 1937 until 1958. Pressley was key in double teaming George Mikan, when the Globetrotters beat the Lakers. He was inducted into the Cleveland Hall of Fame in 1976. Pressley was recognized as an athletic great in an article concerning Abe Saperstein.
The 1948 Globetrotters–Lakers game was a dramatic match-up between the Harlem Globetrotters and the Minneapolis Lakers. Played in Chicago Stadium, the game took place two years before professional basketball was desegregated. The Globetrotters' 61–59 victory – by two points at the buzzer – challenged prevailing racial stereotypes about the abilities of black athletes.
Bernard Burnice Price was an American professional basketball player. He played for the Harlem Globetrotters for many years. He also played for the Chicago Studebaker Flyers in the National Basketball League (NBL) during the 1942–43 season and averaged 9.0 points per game.
Fred Thomas was a Canadian multi-sport professional athlete. He played on semi-professional or professional teams in basketball, baseball, and Canadian football. He was a standout on his college basketball team and is known as one of Canada's finest basketball players. A 2019 profile by TVOntario described Thomas as "the greatest Canadian athlete you've never heard of". He would likely have been more well-known had blacks not been denied opportunities to compete in major professional sports leagues in the 1940s and 1950s.
Charles Anthony Peyton was an American professional basketball player. He played for the Chicago Studebaker Flyers in the National Basketball League during the 1942–43 season and averaged 2.4 points per game. He also played for barnstorming teams such as the Harlem Globetrotters and New York Renaissance.
The 1943 World Professional Basketball Tournament was the 5th edition of the World Professional Basketball Tournament. It was held in Chicago, Illinois, during the days of 15–18 March 1943 and featured 14 teams. It was won by the Washington Bears, which consisted of may former New York Rens players, who defeated the Oshkosh All-Stars 43–31 in the championship game. The Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons came in third after beating the Dayton Dive Bombers 58–52 in the third-place game. Curly Armstrong of Fort Wayne was named the tournaments Most Valuable Player.
References
- ↑ Charley Rosen. The First Tip-Off . McGraw-Hill, 2008. 105.
- 1 2 Douglas Stark. "Paving the Way - history of integration of African Americans into professional basketball league". Basketball Digest . February 2001. Retrieved on October 2, 2008.
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