I forgot to mention these important birthdays of famous and in some cases forgotten pioneering African American basketball stars: George Crowe. March 22, 1921: George Crowe, a native of Whiteland, Indiana, is a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Crowe played for the New York Rens, the Los Angeles Red Devils (alongside Jackie… Read more »
Friday Free Throws
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.
If you hate the N.B.A.’s dress code on shorts, at least consider that you didn’t have to wear these.
Today in 1924, the first game between two fully-professional African American basketball teams was played, at the Renaissance Casino in Harlem.
The New York All Stars were the first African American basketball team to play the sport for financial gain.
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.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HTHmv1xSuQ If this is your first time seeing Black Fives and you wonder what it’s all about, then this short video clip might help. It’s a brief introduction that I pulled it off the shelf — about 30 seconds — with team photos, media coverage, celebrity shots, and product highlights flying by real fast. It’s… Read more »
Bill Rhoden’s latest column will likely make you disappointed in David Stern and his N.B.A., or the Rev. Calvin Butts III and his Abyssinian Development Corporation (ADC).
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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