This is a passage about one of the first basketball players to ever set foot on a basketball court. He was a great hero during the Civil Rights Movement. His name was a great inspiration to African Americans all over the U.S. during the movement. He was born on March 31, 1923 in a town that most of you are probably familiar with, Oakland, California. Through his childhood and teenage years he faced a hard time dealing with racism. You’re probably asking yourself right now, why is this important. Well, this is important because this is a great thing that has happened in your nation’s history. This broke the the split of blacks’ and whites’. We will talk about that another time. This is about a player who loved the game so much, and he wouldn’t let anyone get in his way, no matter how many times he would get turned down by someone, he would always get back up on his feet. Born and raised in Oakland, Don Barksdale attended Berkeley High. The basketball coach cut him from the team for three straight years because he only wanted one black player on his team. You are probably wondering how he got a scholarship in basketball. He started going to the local basketball park and played basketball with UCLA players. He outdone …show more content…
He went to AAU basketball for a while then went on to the NBA. The games were about the same everywhere. He didn’t get passed the ball much but when he did he made something special happen. He made history everywhere during this Civil Rights Movement. Stepping on the court in college and in the pros’ made history. He played with the Bullets then he got traded to the Celtics in 1952 and became the first african-american player ever to play for the Celtics. He played there for three more years then retired in 1955. 38 years later he died of cancer in 1993. His spirit of courage and bravery in those times of the movement is something that everyone will truly