African Americans' contribution to NBA - Admission/Application Essay Example

Known as Chuck Cooper, Earl Lloyd became the first African- American to play in an NBA. On October 31, 1950, he played for Washington Capitol against Rochester Royals. He was followed by Bill Russell who was the first African American to be taken into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and who was the fist African American head coach in NBA1. Similarly, Jackie White too deserves attention for being the first African American NB referee. He refereed a game between Chicago Bulls and Cincinnati Royals in 1968.

Similarly, Wayne Franky was the first African American manager of an NBA team. In 1978, he functioned as the general manager of Milwaukee Bucks. The year 1977 saw the coming of women into NBA. Lucy Harris was drafted by the New Orleans Jazz in 1977. By 1997, there were two African American women referees for NBA. They were De Kantner and Violet Palmer2. The influence of blacks on basketball Professional basketball had its birth nearly 120 years ago. Admittedly, the growth of the game is linked inextricably to the African Americans, and hence, all the cultural, political, and social changes in America had an impact on the story.

The game had its birth in 1891, and by the mid twentieth century, African-Americans joined the rank of professional players. If it has become a billion dollar industry today, the credit almost entirely goes to the Africa Americans who made the game so exciting and popular. A look into the history proves that for years, American sports were split along racial lines, and hence, the elegance and power of black basketball did not get the admiration of the world in the beginning. A scrutiny of the composition of early clubs proves the same.

Most clubs were either fully white or fully black. Some all black clubs that took birth I the early years were the Smart Set Athletic Club of Brooklyn, St. Christopher Club of New Jersey, and Loendi Club of Pittsburg3. However, the most popular African-American Club of that time were the Harlem Renaissance Big Five and the Savoy Big Five. These clubs enthralled the audience with action packed games which were high scoring. The success of these clubs is evident from the fact that between 1923 and 1939, the Harlem Renaissance Big Five won nearly 1500 games with nearly 240 failures.

The first African-American who played in the NBA was Chuck Cooper who joined the Boston Celtics in 1950. Thereafter, there was no stopping. Now, the game is a way of self expression for the African-Americans. Admittedly, the African-Americans made the game action-filled with high scores. For example, Bill Russell led the University of California to two national titles in his career. Also, as a professional, he led Boston Celtics to nine NBA titles in his career. Similar was the performance of Wilt Chamberlain.

He played basketball for 14 years, and set the record of 100 points in a game. Thus, it becomes evident that the African-Americans had an important role in giving the game some excitement by making it a game of power and action. Along with new records set by African Americans, the game was gaining agility and speed. For example, people like Kareem Abdul Jabbar were coming to join basketball from urban environments. Such players played what is called ‘street basketball’. Thus, there was faster pace and higher scoring.

Evidently, the game was getting more exciting4. Kareem Abdul Jabbar has contributed as a writer too. He wrote the autobiography Giant Steps in 1983 and Kareem in 1990. his works indicate the legacies of his teams, coaches and co-players. Thus, his works