Earl Lloyd And Others: Pioneering And Integrating The NBA

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Earl Lloyd and others
Pioneering and integrating the NBA

Before October 31, 1950. The 5 year old, newly formed, National basketball Association was only filled with the white race. Shocking the world, Earl Lloyd and two others (Chuck Cooper and Nat Clifton) signed contracts to the National Basketball Association. Pioneering and fighting racial segregation, these individuals change the NBA forever. Now the NBA is filled with 74.4 percent of African Americans. Racism, standing out, paving a way for people to become a legend. Achievements of a championship, hall of fame, first African American player and coach in the NBA all are things of Earl Lloyd. In 1950, 3 African American individuals were drafted into the NBA. Earl Lloyd was drafted on October 31, 150 and was the first “black” man to play in the NBA. This paved a way for many people and created opportunities for other races. Kenny Smith said on Inside the NBA that, “ I think the one thing that, the inclusion they all allowed us to have, the perseverance that they bestowed, allow us to think about any of those things today.(talking about civil rights movement)” Also, “Doesn’t matter what race, creed, or color you are. You can only admire what people have done that are …show more content…

The Civil Rights Movement was just starting to really spur up when Earl Lloyd was drafted into the NBA. Lloyd faced many problems from discrimination, to not being able to eat or sleep in the same place, even just playing basketball focused. Racial slurs were thrown at him on and off the court. Earl Lloyd persevered on and made a social impact on how black and whites could come together. Charles Barkley had many statements about this. “Just playing basketball is stressful. But I can’t imagine the mental stress those guys were under.” Then he goes on to say, “If it wasn’t for basketball, basketball was the first time I ever interacted with white people and felt like we could get