Dolly King As A Rochester Royal


The Rochester Royals won the 1945-46 National Basketball League Championship in their first season with the league. The following year the Royals defended their title, with a new player named William “Dolly” King, the team’s first African American player.

The Royals, who had signed King under owner Lester Harrison, were a highly talented and tight-knit team of stars that included future Hall of Fame member Bob Davies, team captain Al Cervi, future Hall of Fame member and New York Knicks player and coach William “Red” Holzman, and Andrew “Fuzzy” Levane.

Dolly King with Rochester Royals, 1946

The 1946-47 Rochester Royals. Back: James Quinlan, Arnie Johnson, George Glamack, Dolly King. Front: Dutch Garfinkel, Al Cervi, Red Holzman, Bob Davies, Fuzzy Levane.

Harrison himself would be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980, and the Royals would later join the National Basketball Association and eventually become the Cincinnati Royals, the Kansas City Kings, and then the Sacramento Kings.

When King joined the team in 1946, he seemed to fit in nicely, averaging 5 points a game coming off the bench as the Royals won their first four games.

The team certainly wanted the surrounding community to become enamored of King, as evidenced from the Royals’ official program, which had this to say about the new player:

Dolly King

Dolly King, 1946-47 Rochester Royals

Dolly King, 1946-47 Rochester Royals.

Six feet, four inches, 215 pounds.  That’s Dolly King, one of the latest courtsters to join the ranks of the Royals in their sophomore year in the NBL.

King, powerful, classy ex-Long island cage great, will be a freshman himself in the league, but his experience in the pro game has pitted him against about 75 percent of the talent now in the circuit.

King, who was graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School, Brooklyn, brings a brilliant basketball background to Rochester.  At Long Island University, where he gained nationwide acclaim, under the tutelage of Clair Bee, Dolly captained the team and was a member of the National Collegiate quint, in 1938-’39 and 1930-’40.  He also was a great football star during LIU’s brief whirl in the grid picture.

As captain of the New York Renaissance, long one of the top colored fives of the nation, Dolly sparked the team in its drive to the 1943 world’s professional title.  His presence in the lineup gave the Rens poise and steadiness.  Later, with the Washington Bears, a crack contingent sponsored by a District millionaire, King scintillated in the same Chicago tournament, the Bruins snaring the crown.  His performances, in fact, were so outstanding that he was named to the national pro team four consecutive seasons.

Especially adept in retrieving the ball off the boards, the giant Negro athlete since also has played with the Gruman, L.I., Wildcats [sic].  As a scoring threat Dolly can hold his own with the top courtsters in the National circuit.  His real value to the team, however, is his floor work.  There he is beyond reproach.

One had to be happy King’s accomplishment of this step in his basketball journey.

Recall that it was King who, as a senior, left L.I.U. in the middle of its 1941 undefeated season in order to tour and play professionally with the New York Rens, who at the time were heading to Cleveland to compete  in the Rosenblum Tournament and then to Chicago for the World Pro Basketball Tournament.

L.I.U. went on to win the 1941 National Invitation Tournament (N.I.T.), and this, it must be remembered, was before the N.C.A.A. and March Madness were as big as they are today.

King surely would have finished at L.I.U. and certainly would have been drafted by the N.B.L. or the Basketball Association of America were it not for the whites-only policy employed in those leagues.

By the time the N.B.A. was formed in 1949, King was past his prime.

Keep this story in mind — Dolly King and relative opportunities then vs. now — as you fill in your bracket this week.

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[…] William “Dolly” King It was with Washington that Lester Harrison discovered King, and offered him a contract to play for the Rochester Royals, a team in the National Basketball League. The Royals had won the NBL championship with a roster that featured future hall of fame quarterback Otto Graham, and Chuck Connors. Connors would have a cup of coffee in the major leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers before gaining fame in Hollywood as the star of the TV show The Rifleman. Being the league champion, Rochester could make a loud and emphatic starement. William “Dolly” King joined the Royals the next season after the championship. Connors and Graham were gone, but Red Holzman and Bob Davies were still there. The Royals, with King, finished in first place, but could not retain the championship when they lost to the Chicago Gears. In 1947, King left Rochester after the season to return to the barnstorming New York Renaissance. While his stay in the Flower City may have been short, He still made a lasting impact. It was the Rochester Royals that broke the color barrier in professional basketball. It was Lester Harrison that was Branch Rickey before there was a Branch Rickey. And whereas Jackie Robinson endured taunts, King was given the same treatment. […]

carl campbell
14 years ago

issac/rabbit-raab/walthour went to the rookie camp boston celtics in 1950 when bob cousy the guard was in attendence it is my understanding there was a encouter which ike told bob come get this–rab was legend of new york city basketball was fearless had execelent basketball skills –he could play the game if you were with him on the court you had to respond to his sense of awarness to be in position make play towards the basket-get back and defend–

[…] the 1946-47 season, the National Basketball League had signed four black players: William “Dolly” King with the Rochester Royals, Willie King with the Detroit Gems, Bill Farrow with the Youngstown […]

carl campbell
15 years ago

rabbit walthour was not forgotten by me i mention him in other comments on harlem usa basketball rab coach a team out of the battleground park on the hill which i played on..nobody can forget isaac walthour i know about eddie younger and his brother sonny their are many more during this time –rabbit was the most outstanding..

carl campbell
15 years ago

point of informationon the first basketball players of color in what is now called the nba/baa were as follows-earl lloyd -who sign the first contract with the washington capitals-chuck cooper was the first black player drafted by the celtics-nat sweetwater clifton was sign by the ny knicks-harold hunter was drated by the washington capitals in the 10th round-at the same time frame hank dezonie sign with tri city blackhawks mr. defreitas assement of basketball during this period of history would be correct every one that played basketball on the road for a reason it not for fun and games.

Richard
15 years ago

Are there any great high school school team or players in the Black Five era (Brooklyn)

HANK WHITNEY
14 years ago

I HAVE FOND MEMORIES OF MR. DOLLY KING. HE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN ME GOING OFF TO ATTEND COLLEGE IOWA STATE. HE OFTEN REFEREED GAMES WHEN I WAS IN H.S. AND HE WOULD ALWAYS ADMONISHED ME WHEN I GO ANGRY AND BECAME PHYSICAL. HE WOULD SAY, “HOT HEADS DON’T PLAY LONG.” CONTROLL THAT TEMPER YOUNG MAN. I TRULY ADMIRED MR. KING.

Keith Ellis
15 years ago

While sympathizing w/ Mr DeFreitas’ position, & appreciating the skill of Puggy Bells both Sr & Jr, we must remember the “NBA” didn’t begin until 1949 w/ the NBL/BAA merger. The NBL indeed had featured black players of the calibre of Hank Williams, Hillery Brown, Roosie Hudson, Pop Gates, Dolly King, & Big George Crowe. After one season of play, in 1950 the “NBA” put Chucks Harmon & Cooper in the Boston Celtics training camp, made SweetWater Clifton a Knick, & also signed such stars as Earl Lloyd & Hank DeZonie. Thus the NBA’s White athletes’ records, excepting those of the inaugural season, were indeed racked up in an integrated league.

Mr DeFreitas’ remark about New York City is spot-on; Madison Square Garden didn’t host mixed-race pro games from 1930 to 1947. Yet we can pleasantly put out positive vibrations from history, too — Indianapolis’ Butler FieldHouse was a better-known venue that fielded scores of mixed-race games before packed houses of 15,000 screaming fans during the same period. Small wonder Puggy Bell’s NY Rens so often toured the MidWest’s cavernous & inviting gyms, once the lane had been cleared by topflite Hoosier integrated ballclubs.

carl campbell
15 years ago

i remember dolly king officiated a championship game our team -five guys-played in during the sixties the game was getting kind of rough he stopped us and spoke about sportsmenship, that struck me and rest of us about the person he was.we all knew he was wonderful basketball player at LIU also he played with RENS/with the boy wonder john i,pop gates charley isles,sr puggy bell,sr,lew badger,hank dezonie and rest the players of that era.its most important that that legacy is pass on..

Louis A. DeFreitas, Sr.Ed.D.
15 years ago

I remember Dolly King as the recreation Director at the Riverton Housing in Harlem, New York. Along with him, at the Riverton, was Richard “Puggy” Bell, Sr, who also starred with the Rens. Mr. Bell worked with the security department at the Riverton. His son, Puggy, Jr., was also an accomplished “tricky” basketball player. Because of pure racism in New York City these men had to wait until long after they left this earth to be honored. Thank our God for those who believe in history. These two men, and the men and women of their time, saved many of us from becoming lost in the belief of white domination. Their actions proved that whites in America had to cheat to win. The white athletes of the past in the NBA did not play against the best of their times. Their records mean nothing in reality.

Richard
15 years ago

What a great story. i will share this with my friends. So is Dolly King considered the first black player in the NBA (NBL)…..Whatever happen to him in his later years….

Ron Bond
15 years ago

I think I remember Dolly King as on of the first, if not the first, Black basketball officials for the NCAA in the fiftys. I remember seeing him at MSG and the Palestra in Philly

Keith Ellis
15 years ago

Blaise is right on about Dolly’s Royals beating out Mikan’s Gears for the ’47 NBL title. But the World Championship that King, Johnny Isaacs, & the Washington Bears claimed in 1943 — & the Rens won in 1939 — was won in 1947 by the Indianapolis Kautskys, led by Leo Klier, our own hometown hero, not to mention future Royal legend Arnie Risen.

Blaise M. Lamphier
15 years ago

Claude:

Thanks for recognizing one of my favorite athletes, Mr. Dolly King.

In 1945-46, the Rochester Royals, newcomers to the NBL, placed second during the regular season but won their championship by winning the league’s postseason tournament. In 1946-47, the NBL gurus changed the rules for how the league champion would be determined, announcing that the team with the best regular season record would be crowned league champion and the postseason would be a separate tournament. Once again, the Royals won the title. Historical revisionists often list George Mikan and the Chicago Gears as the league champions from that season because they knocked off Rochester in the third round of postseason play, but the Royals were rightly the league champions and the news media from the day supports that fact.

Dolly King was a key factor in the Royals’ success and one of the most popular players in Rochester during that season. The local fans were well-acquainted with Dolly from his visits to Rochester’s Edgerton Park Arena as a member of the NY Rens when they played against the Rochester Pros. Because of the historic revisionists who don’t recognize Rochester’s 2nd NBL title, Dolly King is rarely credited with his rightful NBL title from 1946-47, which the Royals secured with a victory in Rochester over Oshkosh on March 11, 1947. In one of the postseason games versus the Chicago Gears on April 3, 1947, Dolly–who was better known for his defense and rebounding than his offense–had to go up against George Mikan in the role of Rochester’s center and actually outscored Big George 16-14 with Mikan following out late in the game.

Dolly King…NBL world champion with Rochester well-before the 1950 integration of the NBA and 8 years before Earl Lloyd and Jim Tucker became the first African-Americans to win an NBA title (1955 with Syracuse).

I hope to give Dolly King all the credit this vastly underrated, multi-sport athlete deserves in an upcoming book on the Royals.

Cheers,
Blaise

Keith Ellis
15 years ago

In what year was Walthour, who shares the “Rabbit” monicker w/ oft-overlooked Ren Jackie Bethards, cut, Claude — could it have been during the same 1950 preseason training camp of Chuck Harmon and Cooper? As I understand it, Chuck Harmon was the last man Red Auerbach cut from the squad.