Curated category
20th-century African-American sportsmen
- Clyde DrexlerClyde Austin Drexler was born on the 22nd of June 1962 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He grew up in the South Park area of Houston, Texas.
- Kobe BryantKobe Bean Bryant entered the world on the 23rd of August 1978, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father Joe played eight seasons in the National Basketball…
- Elvin HayesIn the senior year of 1963, Elvin Hayes led his Britton High School team to a state championship in Louisiana. He averaged thirty-five points per game during…
- Karl MaloneKarl Anthony Malone was born on the 24th of July, 1963 in Summerfield, Louisiana. He grew up as the youngest of nine children on a farm run by his single…
- Isiah ThomasIsiah Lord Thomas III arrived in Chicago on the 30th of April 1961. He grew up as the youngest of nine children on the city's West Side.
- Bill RussellWilliam Felton Russell was born on the 12th of February 1934, in West Monroe, Louisiana. The town operated under strict segregation laws that dictated every…
- Chuck Cooper (basketball)Charles Henry Cooper entered the world on the 29th of September 1926 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father Daniel worked as a mailman while his mother Emma…
- Scottie PippenScottie Maurice Pippen Sr. was born on the 25th of September 1965, in Hamburg, Arkansas, to Ethel and Preston Pippen. His father worked at a paper mill while…
- Magic JohnsonEarvin Johnson Jr. was born on the 14th of August 1959 in Lansing, Michigan. His father worked at General Motors while his mother cleaned homes and prepared…
- Chris BoshChristopher Wesson Bosh was born on the 24th of March 1984 in Dallas, Texas. He grew up in Hutchins, a suburb where his father played pick-up games at a…
- George GervinGeorge Gervin was born on the 27th of April 1952 in Detroit, Michigan. He attended Martin Luther King Jr. High School where he struggled until his senior…
- Chauncey BillupsChauncey Ray Billups was born on the 25th of September, 1976 in Denver, Colorado. He grew up in a city that would later become his professional home base for…
- Walt FrazierWalter Frazier Jr. was born on the 29th of March 1945, in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up as the eldest of nine children attending David Tobias Howard High…
- Kareem Abdul-JabbarFerdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. grew up in the Dyckman Street projects of Inwood, Upper Manhattan, after moving there at age three in 1950.
- Artis GilmoreArtis Gilmore Sr. was born on the 21st of September, 1949 in Chipley, Florida. He grew up as one of ten children in a family where his father worked as a…
- Damon JonesDamon Darron Jones was born on the 25th of August 1976. He played for the Ball High School Golden Tornadoes basketball team before graduating in 1994.
- Earl LloydEarl Francis Lloyd was born in Alexandria, Virginia on the 3rd of April 1928. His father worked in the coal industry while his mother stayed home to raise…