First black player to appear in an NBA game, Earl Lloyd, dead at 86
By Steven J. Gaither Perform Media
The man who helped pave the way for almost every star African-American player from Wilt Chamberlain to LeBron James has passed away.
Earl Lloyd, the first African-American to play in the NBA, died on Thursday according to Tom Leyden of WXYZ-Detroit.
Lloyd became the first black player to play in an NBA game when he suited up with the Washington Capitols on October 31, 1950. It was a difficult and cruel road ahead for other African-American players like Charles Cooper and Nat Clifton, who would join Lloyd the 1950-51 season.
“(Fans) would say stuff like, ‘Go back to Africa,'” Lloyd told NBA.com before his death. “And I’m telling you, you would often hear the N-word. That was commonplace. There were a lot of people who sat close to you who gave you the blues, man.”
But the former West Virginia State star persevered and went on to win a championship in 1955 with the Syracuse Nationals. He would finish up his decade-long playing career with the Detroit Pistons. At the time of his retirement Lloyd ranked 43rd in career scoring with 4,682 points.
He later became one of the NBA’s first African-American coaches, coaching the Pistons from 1971 through 1972. He was selected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 2003.
Link: http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/sto...o-appear-in-an-nba-game-earl-lloyd-dead-at-86
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for being the first pioneer of the game: BLACKEXCELLENCE
