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 scored 81 points on the 22nd of January, 2006, the second-highest total in a single NBA game in the history of the sport.
- Elvin HayesElvin Ernest Hayes scored 39 points and held Lew Alcindor to just 15 in front of 52,693 fans at the Houston Astrodome on the 20th of January, 1968.
- Karl MaloneKarl Anthony Malone grew up on a farm in Summerfield, Louisiana, the youngest of nine children raised by a single mother named Shirley.
- Isiah ThomasIsiah Lord Thomas III grew up on the West Side of Chicago, the youngest of nine children, in a household that would eventually be without his father.
- Bill RussellBill Russell won eleven NBA championships in thirteen seasons, a record in North American professional sports that no team has matched since.
- Chuck Cooper (basketball)Chuck Cooper stepped onto an NBA court for the first time on the 1st of November, 1950, against the Fort Wayne Pistons. That night, three men crossed a line…
- 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 JohnsonMagic Johnson stood at the free throw line on the 7th of November 1991 and told the world he had HIV. He was 32 years old, five-time NBA champion, and…
- 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 scored 63 points in a single regular-season game while protecting a scoring title by the slimmest margin in NBA history: seven-hundredths of a…
- 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 FrazierWalt Frazier posted 36 points, 19 assists, and six steals in the seventh game of the 1970 NBA Finals, while his teammate Willis Reed limped through just two…
- Kareem Abdul-JabbarOn the road against Utah on the 5th of April 1984, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar caught a pass from Magic Johnson and rose into his skyhook from 15 feet.
- Artis GilmoreArtis Gilmore stood 7 feet 2 inches tall and played 670 consecutive professional basketball games without missing a single one.
- Damon JonesDamon Jones once told anyone who would listen that he was "the best shooter in the world." Not one of the best. Not among the best. The best.
- Earl LloydEarl Francis Lloyd stepped onto a basketball court on the night of the 31st of October 1950, and changed American sports history.