Viva Lloyd, Cooper, Clifton

[Eggcentric@xxxxxxx]

When Earl Lloyd was elected to the Hall of Fame as the first black player 
to play in an NBA game, the name Chuck Cooper sprang to mind.  Must have 
been a Boston thing, for I had all these years erroneously thought that the 
Celt's Cooper was the first black player to play in the NBA.  

Subtle distinctions - drafted, played, signed - among the three players 
who broke the professional Bball color barrier in 1950.  I can only 
wonder now why it took so long for the powers to be to include black
players on their rosters.

"I don't [care] if he's striped, plaid, or polka dot! Boston takes Charles 
Cooper of Duquesne." - Walter Brown, Boston Celtics owner

But it turns out that while Cooper was the first black player to be 
DRAFTED in the NBA in April,1950 (three years after Jackie Robinson 
had broken the MLB color barrier in April,1947),  Lloyd was actually 
the first black to PLAY in an NBA game, and Sweetwater Clifton was the 
first to SIGN an NBA contract when he signed with the New York Knicks 
after a short career with the Globetrotters.  
-----
The success of black players in the National Basketball League soon paved 
the way for the integration of the National Basketball Association. In 
1949-50, the Basketball Association of American and the National 
Basketball League merged to form the National Basketball Association. 
A year later, the league integrated with black players joining four teams.

On April 25, 1950, the Boston Celtics selected 6-foot-6-inch Chuck 
Cooper of Duquesne University in the second round, making Cooper the 
first black player to be drafted in the NBA. During his first season, 
Cooper averaged 9.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in 66 games. "I had good 
support from the Celtics. There was never any racial problems with 
the team.  I felt a strong relationship with them all," Chuck Cooper 
remembered. 

''I don't think my situation was anything like Jackie Robinson's-a guy 
who played in a hostile environment, where some of his teammates 
didn't want him around. In basketball, folks were used to seeing 
integrated college teams. There was a different mentality." 
b Earl Lloyd, Syracuse Nationals 

In the same 1950 NBA draft, Washington Capitols coach Horace McKinney, 
emboldened by Boston's move, drafted Earl Lloyd from West Virginia 
State, along with Harold Hunter of North Carolina College. Later that 
summer, Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton was the first black player to sign 
a contract when he signed with the New York Knicks after a short career 
with the Globetrotters. In addition to those players drafted for the 
1950-51 NBA season, former New York Rens Hank DeZonie played five 
games with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks.

Due to a scheduling quirk, Earl Lloyd became the first black player to 
play in an NBA game when the Rochester Royals defeated the Washington 
Capitols 78-70 on Oct. 31, 1950. Lloyd scored six points that game. 
Lloyd's stay with Washington was short lived. After seven games, 
Lloyd was drafted into the U.S. Army. The Capitols disbanded on 
January 9, 1951 after compiling a 10-25 record. Earl Lloyd went to the 
Syracuse Nationals beginning in 1952-53 where he was a solid defensive 
player for many years and helped lead the Nats to the 1955 NBA 
Championship.