Celebrating key Black players, coaches and referees who helped ... First Black female referee: Violet Palmer made history as the NBA’s first female referee on Oct. 31, 1997, when she officiated ...

Cooper was the first Black player ever drafted by an NBA team. Clifton was the first to sign an NBA contract. Lloyd was the first to play in a regular-season game. Carrying the weight of history ...

In February for Black History Month, USA TODAY Sports is ... Hall of Fame in 2003 and died in 2015. Two other Black players entered the NBA in 1950, the same year as Lloyd. One was Nat Clifton ...

The NBA has recently celebrated and acknowledged the 75th anniversary of the first three Black players to take the ... during Black History Month. "I am excited about the fact that we are going ...

Runstedtler is a professor at American University and a scholar of African American history whose ... be apolitical. Black players also leveraged the existence of the NBA’s competing league ...

“Black Ball” reconsiders that period of NBA history, placing it in a more positive light. The book revisits the struggles of players including Connie Hawkins and Haywood, both of whom sued to ...

“I want people to understand that there are plenty of other owners of NFL teams and NBA teams, and especially teams that have majority Black players ... s just the history of our country ...

Carrying the weight of history, these first Black NBA players entered arenas where many didn’t want them and still played at a high level. In a time of segregation, they proved that their ...