Hey, why not? In a feature length article that appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune over the weekend, Black Fives got a nice mention. Derron Williams, Utah Jazz. That’s cool, because the Tribune is the largest newspaper in Utah. And it shows how far a good syndicated article can go if it has legs. So,… Read more »
Black Fives, Now In Utah?
Congratulations to Hakeem Olajuwon for being named to the Class of 2008 for enshrinement into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame yesterday. This reminds me of this one time in the summer of 1995 when I escorted Hakeem around a trade show in Munich, Germany. It was the ISPO Show, the annual mega-fair for sports… Read more »
I was reminded that the elder Lloyd was the first black player to wear Converse All Stars in an NBA game.
It doesn’t work. The new Vogue Magazine cover featuring LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen is all wrong.
Today in 1924, the first game between two fully-professional African American basketball teams was played, at the Renaissance Casino in Harlem.
I sat down with MSG Network for an interview in their documentary about the close relationship between NBA pioneers Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton and Joe Lapchick.
The New York All Stars were the first African American basketball team to play the sport for financial gain.
In the early 1900s, the Christian origins of basketball (in the YMCA) spawned an unwritten rule: playing the game was forbidden during Lent.
Basketball is a game of minutes, seconds, and fractions of a second. Timekeeping is a critical part of the game. Hometown timekeepers can help the home team win, or the visiting team lose by doing a little “home cooking” with the clock. This practice takes place everywhere. Even the National Basketball Association instituted a rule… Read more »
Jackie Robinson was much better at basketball than at baseball, and may have been the finest hoops player of his time.
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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.![]()
Build with us.![]()
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Make History Now.![]()
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#culturalheritage ![]()
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#blackhistory
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