alamo50
03-04-2005, 09:17 AM
Closer look at path that led Earl Lloyd from West Virginia State to NBA
As Black History Month comes to a close, NBA.com editor Martin Sumners talked to basketball pioneer Earl Lloyd, the first African-American to play in an NBA game. Sumners' late uncle ( Earl Sumners) roomed with Lloyd at West Virginia State. "He was a great guy and we bonded back then," says Lloyd of Sumners' uncle. Here, Lloyd recalls his long basketball journey and what his college years meant to his development as a player and, more importantly, as a person.
http://www.nba.com/history/images/earl_lloyd.jpg
In 1950, Earl Lloyd was the first African-American to play in an NBA game.
When Earl Lloyd was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003, his introduction speech was entitled "An Incredible Journey."
That journey began in Alexandria, Va., where he was born in 1928. Coincidentally, Alexandria is just eight miles from Washington, D.C., the erstwhile home of the Capitols, the team with whom, in 1950, Lloyd would make history as the first African-American to play in the NBA.
Prior to the 1950 season, the 6-6 forward out of West Virginia State was drafted in the ninth round. In that same draft, the Boston Celtics selected Chuck Cooper in the second round, the first African-American player to be drafted in the NBA. Before the season, another African-American player, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, was also signed by the New York Knicks. But Lloyd made his debut first, on October 31 against the Rochester Royals.
Lloyd, who now lives in Crossville, Tenn., is the last remaining member of that ultra-select fraternity, as Cooper passed away in 1984 and Clifton in 1990. He is now 76 years old and enjoying retirement. “I wake up and the day is done,” says a laughing Lloyd on the telephone from his home.
Lloyd's basketball journey started at West Virginia State, where he lived with a number of students and athletes in barracks-type housing. "We [had to bond] just to survive that first year away from home," recalls Lloyd.
In fact, the relationships he developed at West Virginia State, one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, kept him going while he was facing the harsh realities of being a pioneer in the sports world. As one of the few blacks playing professional sports in the early 50's, there were times when it was a lonely profession.
“From kindergarten through college, I had not one white classmate or peer,” said Lloyd. “And in the NBA, I was kind of traveling by myself, but at every stop somebody from West Virginia State was there to meet me. You don’t know how much it meant for me to see a friendly face. I owe a lot to West Virginia State.”
He’s also fond of the nickname he received there as a freshman. As one of the taller guys around, he was tagged “Moon Fixer.”
“I can be anywhere and I’ll hear someone call me that and I know where they are from,” says Lloyd.
His rookie year was cut short after just seven games as he was drafted again -- this time by the U.S. Army. He returned to the NBA the next season, but since the Capitols had folded while he was away, he was part of a dispersal draft and was selected by the Syracuse Nationals.
Lloyd was known for his quick reflexes and solid defensive presence, which led to him being given a second nickname: The Big Cat. He was usually assigned to guard his opponent’s best offensive threat and lists Elgin Baylor and Paul Arizin as the most difficult players to guard. He also tried to guard the 6-10 George Mikan, but laughs as he recalls what that was like. “I say ‘tried’ loosely," he confesses.
Thanks in no small part to Lloyd's defense, rebounding (7.7 rpg) and scoring (10.2 ppg), the Nats won the NBA championship in 1955. That was another historical footnote as he, along with teammate Jim Tucker, were the first African-American players to win an NBA championship.
http://www.nba.com/media/history/lloyd_050228.jpg
Lloyd talks about his "Incredible Journey" during the Hall of Fame induction in 2003.
(Jesse D. Garrabrant
NBAE/Getty Images)
“We didn’t get rings back in those days,” recalls Lloyd. “But later I got a jeweler to make me a simply designed ring honoring that championship.”
Lloyd has no ill will about any animosity he faced early on while playing in the NBA. He also has no regrets as far as not getting all the attention of today’s modern athlete, or the recognition of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
“I took some verbal abuse back then, but it was nothing compared to what I faced growing up in segregated Virginia," recalls Lloyd. "In fact, I felt bad for Chuck [Cooper]. He was from Pittsburgh and did not see some of the stuff I had seen and I really think that took a toll on him."
Lloyd still enjoys watching the NBA and connects to today’s hip-hop-oriented players. The man who is consumed with the be-bop jazz of Charlie Parker -- as well as anything that Miles Davis and John Coltrane collaborated on -- loves watching Allen Iverson.
“He’s 170 pounds soaking wet, but he is physically and emotionally the toughest of anyone in the league,” says Lloyd.
Lloyd also stays connected to the NBA through participating in the Rookie Transitional Program, an orientation program for all incoming players that prepares them for life in the NBA.
“I love to do that," says Lloyd. "The young guys see me there, but don’t know who I am. But when I am introduced, you can see the change in their eyes. A whole different look comes across their faces. They realize they are right next to real history."
His life has slowed down since he moved to Tennessee after residing for 42 years in his "adopted" hometown of Detroit. He played the final two seasons of his career with the Pistons, continued to work with the team as a scout, and even served as the head coach of the team for a short stint. He was an early-season replacement, but he says he was not cut out for coaching and did not enjoy that as much. Still, he was the first African-American bench coach in the NBA after Bill Russell took the reigns as a player-coach for the Boston Celtics.
Nowadays, Lloyd spends his days listening to his jazz records or going out with his wife and neighbors in their resort-like community. He also enjoys visits from his three sons and their families and friends from Detroit. And while he doesn't travel as much as he used to, Memphis is "just a long drive" for Lloyd, so he promises that if the All-Star Game were to come to the FedEx Forum, he would be there. A long drive that would be yet another chapter in his impressive hoops odyssey.
"Yes, it has been an incredible journey,” says Lloyd.
As Black History Month comes to a close, NBA.com editor Martin Sumners talked to basketball pioneer Earl Lloyd, the first African-American to play in an NBA game. Sumners' late uncle ( Earl Sumners) roomed with Lloyd at West Virginia State. "He was a great guy and we bonded back then," says Lloyd of Sumners' uncle. Here, Lloyd recalls his long basketball journey and what his college years meant to his development as a player and, more importantly, as a person.
http://www.nba.com/history/images/earl_lloyd.jpg
In 1950, Earl Lloyd was the first African-American to play in an NBA game.
When Earl Lloyd was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003, his introduction speech was entitled "An Incredible Journey."
That journey began in Alexandria, Va., where he was born in 1928. Coincidentally, Alexandria is just eight miles from Washington, D.C., the erstwhile home of the Capitols, the team with whom, in 1950, Lloyd would make history as the first African-American to play in the NBA.
Prior to the 1950 season, the 6-6 forward out of West Virginia State was drafted in the ninth round. In that same draft, the Boston Celtics selected Chuck Cooper in the second round, the first African-American player to be drafted in the NBA. Before the season, another African-American player, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, was also signed by the New York Knicks. But Lloyd made his debut first, on October 31 against the Rochester Royals.
Lloyd, who now lives in Crossville, Tenn., is the last remaining member of that ultra-select fraternity, as Cooper passed away in 1984 and Clifton in 1990. He is now 76 years old and enjoying retirement. “I wake up and the day is done,” says a laughing Lloyd on the telephone from his home.
Lloyd's basketball journey started at West Virginia State, where he lived with a number of students and athletes in barracks-type housing. "We [had to bond] just to survive that first year away from home," recalls Lloyd.
In fact, the relationships he developed at West Virginia State, one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, kept him going while he was facing the harsh realities of being a pioneer in the sports world. As one of the few blacks playing professional sports in the early 50's, there were times when it was a lonely profession.
“From kindergarten through college, I had not one white classmate or peer,” said Lloyd. “And in the NBA, I was kind of traveling by myself, but at every stop somebody from West Virginia State was there to meet me. You don’t know how much it meant for me to see a friendly face. I owe a lot to West Virginia State.”
He’s also fond of the nickname he received there as a freshman. As one of the taller guys around, he was tagged “Moon Fixer.”
“I can be anywhere and I’ll hear someone call me that and I know where they are from,” says Lloyd.
His rookie year was cut short after just seven games as he was drafted again -- this time by the U.S. Army. He returned to the NBA the next season, but since the Capitols had folded while he was away, he was part of a dispersal draft and was selected by the Syracuse Nationals.
Lloyd was known for his quick reflexes and solid defensive presence, which led to him being given a second nickname: The Big Cat. He was usually assigned to guard his opponent’s best offensive threat and lists Elgin Baylor and Paul Arizin as the most difficult players to guard. He also tried to guard the 6-10 George Mikan, but laughs as he recalls what that was like. “I say ‘tried’ loosely," he confesses.
Thanks in no small part to Lloyd's defense, rebounding (7.7 rpg) and scoring (10.2 ppg), the Nats won the NBA championship in 1955. That was another historical footnote as he, along with teammate Jim Tucker, were the first African-American players to win an NBA championship.
http://www.nba.com/media/history/lloyd_050228.jpg
Lloyd talks about his "Incredible Journey" during the Hall of Fame induction in 2003.
(Jesse D. Garrabrant
NBAE/Getty Images)
“We didn’t get rings back in those days,” recalls Lloyd. “But later I got a jeweler to make me a simply designed ring honoring that championship.”
Lloyd has no ill will about any animosity he faced early on while playing in the NBA. He also has no regrets as far as not getting all the attention of today’s modern athlete, or the recognition of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
“I took some verbal abuse back then, but it was nothing compared to what I faced growing up in segregated Virginia," recalls Lloyd. "In fact, I felt bad for Chuck [Cooper]. He was from Pittsburgh and did not see some of the stuff I had seen and I really think that took a toll on him."
Lloyd still enjoys watching the NBA and connects to today’s hip-hop-oriented players. The man who is consumed with the be-bop jazz of Charlie Parker -- as well as anything that Miles Davis and John Coltrane collaborated on -- loves watching Allen Iverson.
“He’s 170 pounds soaking wet, but he is physically and emotionally the toughest of anyone in the league,” says Lloyd.
Lloyd also stays connected to the NBA through participating in the Rookie Transitional Program, an orientation program for all incoming players that prepares them for life in the NBA.
“I love to do that," says Lloyd. "The young guys see me there, but don’t know who I am. But when I am introduced, you can see the change in their eyes. A whole different look comes across their faces. They realize they are right next to real history."
His life has slowed down since he moved to Tennessee after residing for 42 years in his "adopted" hometown of Detroit. He played the final two seasons of his career with the Pistons, continued to work with the team as a scout, and even served as the head coach of the team for a short stint. He was an early-season replacement, but he says he was not cut out for coaching and did not enjoy that as much. Still, he was the first African-American bench coach in the NBA after Bill Russell took the reigns as a player-coach for the Boston Celtics.
Nowadays, Lloyd spends his days listening to his jazz records or going out with his wife and neighbors in their resort-like community. He also enjoys visits from his three sons and their families and friends from Detroit. And while he doesn't travel as much as he used to, Memphis is "just a long drive" for Lloyd, so he promises that if the All-Star Game were to come to the FedEx Forum, he would be there. A long drive that would be yet another chapter in his impressive hoops odyssey.
"Yes, it has been an incredible journey,” says Lloyd.