The NBA held its inaugural Pioneers Classic on Sunday when the Boston Celtics took on the Milwaukee Bucks at TD Garden. The game was a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the debut seasons of Chuck Cooper, Earl Lloyd, and Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, the NBA’s first Black players.
Cooper was the first African-American to be drafted by an NBA team, the Celtics, and his son, Chuck Cooper III, spoke to ESPN about the difficulties his late father faced and how the great Bob Cousy was by his side.
“The Celtics played a regular-season game in North Carolina,” Cooper said. “And I believe it was at Raleigh, North Carolina, and they wouldn’t let my dad stay at the hotel. So my dad was like, ‘You know Red [Auerbach]? Don’t make a big deal of it. I’ll head back to Boston on the next train and get ready for the next game.’ But Bob Cousy was his good friend, and he wasn’t going to let my father catch that train by himself.”
This isn’t 200 years ago, of course. The Celtics had selected Cooper with the 13th pick in the 1950 NBA Draft, and it can boggle the mind at times how different the U.S. was at that time. Even Black players who came after Cooper, such as Oscar Robertson, have spoken about similar experiences.
“We got to the train station,” Cousy said. “We decided to make a pitstop and go to the boys’ room. We look up there, and there are the two signs. One with an arrow pointing to where the colored went to the restroom, and the other for Whites.
“And it was a moment in time where you’re standing with a close friend, and you’re embarrassed for the world,” Cousy added. “You just don’t know what to say. You just don’t know how to explain that type of overt stupidity. To this day, I’m offended by it.”
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It was only in 1964 that segregation ended in the U.S. with the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Cooper was gone from the NBA by then. He’d only play six seasons in the league, averaging 6.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game for his career.
Cooper’s name tends to get forgotten at times, but his story is one everyone should know. The NBA’s honoring Lloyd, Clifton, and him with this game was a great gesture. Lloyd was the first Black player to play in the NBA, while Clifton was the first to sign an NBA contract.
