This article by Sonja Steptoe is from the Sports Illustrated archives (the “SI Vault”), and originally appeared in print in the magazine’s December 24, 1990 issue. We felt it would be appropriate to re-publish the article here now, in honor of John “Boy Wonder” Isaacs, the former basketball star with the New York Rens (of Harlem) who passed away Monday morning at the age of 93. It’s easy to see why Mr. Isaacs was such a hero and friend to so many.
Meet An Ageless Wonder
It’s with deep sorrow that I report the passing of John “Boy Wonder” Isaacs. John passed away this morning at the Albert Einstein Hospital in the Bronx, New York. He had suffered a stroke last week, from which he never arose. He was 93 years old.
A vintage set of club-going rules from Harlem in 1926.
Mr. Obama stopped at Ben’s Chili Bowl in D.C. this weekend, across the street from a historic black basketball site once known as True Reformer’s Hall.
Today is the 100th anniversary of the first inter-city game between two African American basketball teams, on December 18, 1908.
A nice music video tribute to New York City streetball, thanks to our friends over at Bounce Magazine.
Who knew these treasures existed? Dozens of African American basketball teams from the early 1900s, lost in the sands of time. Buried for years beneath the publicity and hype of first the N.C.A.A., then the Harlem Globetrotters, then the N.B.A. I’m using the buried treasure analogy because on this day, November 26, 1922, American archaeologist… Read more »
This week marks the 100th anniversary of the date (November 26, 1908) that President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Twelfth Street Colored Y.M.C.A. Branch building in Washington, D.C. In a formal ceremony involving “many prominent persons of both the white and colored races,” Roosevelt spread the first trowelful of mortar on the foundation… Read more »
Though news coverage of the NBA’s upcoming racial integration was limited, there was enough to get a glimpse of what the milestone meant at the time.
Old Pittsburgh I was in Pittsburgh last week and whenever I visit there, I always stop in Homestead to look around Cumberland Posey’s (and Andrew Carnegie’s) old stomping grounds. And I also visit the Hill District to look around that place, once a major Black Fives Era basketball hotbed. (It was great to see a… Read more »
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Black Fives
We inspire excellence in youth and communities by preserving, teaching, and honoring the pre-NBA history of African Americans in basketball.
For years, we have been building something truly remarkable.![]()
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Something deeper than what’s visible on the surface.![]()
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This piece, created by the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective from remnants of our Black Fives throwback jerseys, carries that idea.![]()
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On the front, you see something beautiful.![]()
On the back, you see the work.![]()
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Tens of thousands of stitches.![]()
Each one holding the whole together.![]()
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Like the earlier African American basketball pioneers whose names were forgotten, but whose work helped shape the game.![]()
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Like the countless people, often unseen, who did and are doing the work that holds our country together.![]()
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The surface only exists because of what’s behind it.![]()
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And it’s only as strong as the weakest stitch.![]()
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Do we really want to remove certain stitches?![]()
Are we OK with pieces falling apart?![]()
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Do we value the work we don’t see?![]()
Do we recognize it?![]()
Do we protect it?![]()
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That’s the real story.![]()
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A cultural archive. A sports heritage platform.![]()
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Make History Now.![]()
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For years, we have been building something truly remarkable.![]()
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A deep archive of early African American basketball.![]()
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The stories, the images, the history that shaped the game.![]()
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But this is more than an archive.![]()
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It’s a cultural IP and sports heritage platform.![]()
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Infrastructure of history, identity, and assets ready to build with.![]()
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For partners, institutions, and brands who want real cultural authenticity, not just performative optics.![]()
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Build with us.![]()
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blackfives.org/build![]()
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#blackhistory #culturalheritage #brandpartnerships #archives #intellectualproperty