Boston Celtics power forward Chuck Cooper was the first Black player drafted by an NBA franchise and played in the NBA in 1950.
progresifjaya.co.id, JAKARTA – Charles Henry Cooper, affectionately known as Chuck Cooper, was the first Black professional basketball player drafted to play in the NBA. He was selected by the Boston Celtics with the first pick in the second round of the 1950 NBA Draft and played for four seasons until 1954.
Chuck Cooper played in the NBA as a power forward after being drafted by Boston Celtics owner Walter A. Brown. He was coached by the legendary Red Auerbach and was a teammate of the great Bob Cousy.
When officials from other teams learned of Boston’s interest in Cooper at the time, they advised against drafting him because of his blackness.
However, Brown’s famous quote at the time was: “I don’t care if he’s striped, plaid, or polka-dotted.” Boston persisted in taking Chuck Cooper from Duquesne. His NBA debut with the Boston Celtics, wearing jersey number 11, came on November 1, 1950, against the Fort Wayne Pistons.
The Boston Celtics fielded the first all-Black starting lineup in NBA history.
“Thank you for your courage in offering me a contract in professional basketball. I hope i never give you the opportunity to regret it.” That was the text of a telegram from Chuck Cooper to Boston Celtics owner Walter Brown at the time.
After four seasons with the Boston Celtics, he was traded to the Milwaukee Hawks before finishing his career as a member of the Wayne Pistons. After that, he spent one year playing for the Harlem Magicians, before injuring his back in a car accident and leaving basketball.
Besides being the first Black player to play in the NBA, Cooper, who played college basketball for the Duquesne Dukes, was also named a consensus second-team All-American in 1950. According to the November 18, 1950, edition of the African-American newspaper, he was the first Black basketball player to be named a college All-American.
During his NBA career, the 6-foot-10 player played in 409 games and scored 2.725 points, averaging 6,66 points per game. He also had 2.431 rebounds, averaging 5,9 per game, and 733 assists, averaging 1,79 per game. B Coz some statistics were not recorded at the time, it is unknown how many blocks, steals, or turnovers he had during his career.
In an interview with journalist George Sullivan, Cooper also recounted the significance of his selection by the Boston Celtics.
The 1953–1954 Boston Celtics basketball team practicing the pick-and-roll strategy. From left to right: Bob Donham, Ed Mikan, Bill Sharman, and Chuck Cooper.
“I’m convinced no NBA team would have drafted a Black player in 1950 if the Boston Celtics hadn’t selected me early in the draft, in the second round. Seven rounds later, the Washington Caps selected Earl Lloyd, and a few months later, the New York Knicks acquired Sweetwater Clifton’s contract from the Harlem Globetrotters. But that was a case where both the Caps and the Knicks followed the lead of the Boston Celtics. Walter Brown was the man who put his reputation on the line.”
Boston Celtics center Bob Cousy, who played for the 1950s and 1964 also said of his teammate Cooper, “Chuck Cooper was a classy, intelligent, and sensitive man who blazed a trail that wasn’t easy. He was also a truly great basketball player.”
In Cooper’s honor, the Boston Celtics unfurled a special commemorative banner from the rafters of TD Garden during the 2000-2001 season to mark the fiftieth anniversary of his draft. In 2019, he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Chuck Cooper, born in Pittsburgh on September 29, 1926, also died in Pittsburgh on February 5, 1984, at the age of 57 at Forbes Hospice of liver cancer. (Bembo)
