We recently acquired this very rare original photograph of Long Island University‘s epic 1939-40 basketball team. A remarkable artifact, it is autographed by all but one of the players on the Blackbirds squad that season, as well as by head coach Clair Bee. And it includes trailblazing African American basketball star William “Dolly” King, known… Read more »
Long Island University’s Epic 1939-40 Basketball Team (Autographed)
In addition to being banned for life, Donald Sterling also should be forced to visit the Black Fives exhibition now at the New-York Historical Society, which reveals that blacks and whites have been working together in basketball for a very, very long time.
Two baseball writers speculate on why more baseball writers didn’t know about George Crowe’s death.
For fans like me, the amazing basketball events of last week — beautifully staged by Nike and the Basketball Hall of Fame, from Harlem to Springfield and back — might as well have been called the “World Basketball Orgy.”
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.
Everyone wants to make history. But few realize that to make history you have to start by making history right now, every day, one moment at a time. The best way to do that is to think about it. All the time. By asking yourself, how I’m making the most out of this moment? What… 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.![]()
Build with us.![]()
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Make History Now.![]()
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#culturalheritage ![]()
#intellectualproperty ![]()
#archives ![]()
#sportsbusiness ![]()
#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