Harry "Bucky" Lew [Basketball]
New England Basketball League, 1902
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lew was the first African American to integrate a basketball league and play basketball professionally. He played for Lowell and Newbury-Haverhill.

Interscholastic Athletic Association of the Middle States [Basketball]
African American Basketball League, 1905
Washington, District of Columbia
Within two years the ISAA fielded forty clubs.

Smart Set Athletic Club [Basketball]
Basketball Club, 1906
Brooklyn, New York
This was the first organized basketball club for African-American men, and an Interscholastic Athletic Association of the Middle States (ISAA) member. By World War I Smart Set had also formed a women's basketball team.

Monticello Rifles [Basketball]
Basketball Barnstorming Team, 1909
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Organized by Cumberland Posey, this barnstorming basketball team performed throughout the East with an intense, fast style later emulated by collegiate players.

YMCA 12th Street Team [Basketball]
Basketball Club, 1910
Washington, District of Columbia
The YMCA introduced African Americans in large numbers to basketball and formed its own league for intercity play. Edwin Henderson brought the game to Washington, and in 1910 the 12th Street Team defeated the ISAA champion Smart Set team.

Robert J. Douglas [Basketball]
New York Renaissance Basketball Team, November 30, 1923
New York City, New York
Robert Douglas organized and coached the team which made its professional debut playing the Collegiate Big Five. The team won 2,588 games before it disbanded in 1949. Douglas was the first African American inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

American Basketball Association [Basketball]
Professional Basketball League , 1925
Brooklyn, New York
When the ABA organized, it adopted a Jim Crow policy excluding African-American players.

Harlem Globetrotters [Basketball]
Professional Basketball, 1927
Hinkley, Illinois
Originally called the Savoy Big Five, this group of players originally from Wendell Philips High School in Chicago were renamed the Harlem Globetrotters by agent Abe Saperstein.

Philadelphia Tribunes [Basketball]
Women's Professional Basketball, 1931
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
One of the first and most dominant African-American women's basketball teams, the Philadelphia Tribunes, was organized in 1931 by the African-American newspaper of the same name, and disbanded in 1940. The Chicago Romas were the other leading African-American women's basketball team. These barnstorming women introduced a generation of African-American girls to basketball.

William "Dolly" King [Basketball]
National Amateur Athletic Union Basketball Tournament, 1937
Brooklyn, New York
William King, a member of the Long Island University basketball team, was the first African-American man to play in the national AAU tournament. He subsequently played basketball professionally for African-American teams including the Scranton Miners, New York Renaissance, and Washington Bears. In 1946, he played for the National Basketball League's Rochester Royals.

New York Renaissance and Oshkosh All-Stars [Basketball]
World Professional Basketball Tournament, 1939
Chicago, Illinois
The New York "Rens" scored 34 points to 25 points by the Oshkosh All-Stars of the National Basketball League to win the tournament, an integrated "World Series" of basketball. Rens player Clarence "Puggy" Bell was named tournament MVP.

Toledo Jim White Chevrolets and Chicago Studebakers [Basketball]
National Basketball League, 1942
Toledo, Ohio
Bill Jones and three other African Americans join the Toledo NBL franchise and Sonny Boswell and five former Harlem Globetrotters joined the Chicago NBL franchise accomplishing the integration of the first major professional basketball league.

American Professional League and Pacific Coast Professional League [Basketball]
Professional Basketball League , 1944
Los Angeles, California
These two basketball leagues desegregated in 1944 and employed Kenny Washington (Hollywood Bears) and Jackie Robinson (Los Angeles Bulldogs) before they went on to integrate the NFL and Major League Baseball.

Basketball Association of America [Basketball]
Professional Basketball League , 1946
Boston, Massachusetts
Formed at the same time the NBL had integrated and Jackie Robinson was integrating baseball, this league formed by Walter Brown of Boston banned African-American players.

Donald Barksdale [Basketball]
1948 Summer Olympic Games, 1948
Berkeley, California
UCLA's Donald Barksdale, the first African American named to a U.S. Olympic basketball team, went on to win a gold medal.

Charles "Chuck" Cooper [Basketball]
Boston Celtics, National Basketball Association, April 25, 1950
Boston, Massachusetts Massachusetts
Chuck Cooper was the first African American participating in the NBA draft to be signed, by the Boston Celtics.

Earl Lloyd [Basketball]
Washington Capitols, National Basketball Association, October 31, 1950
Rochester, New York
Drafted in the same year as Chuck Cooper, Lloyd was the first African American to play in an NBA game, against the Rochester Royals. The Capitols lost, 78-70.

William F. "Bill" Russell [Basketball]
National Basketball Association, 1966
Boston, Massachusetts
Bill Russell became the first African-American head coach in the NBA; he coached the Boston Celtics to back-to-back NBA championships (1968, 1969). Russell was also the first African-American player to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, on April 28, 1975.

Jackie White [Basketball]
National Basketball Association, February 11, 1968
Cleveland, Ohio
Jackie White served as the first African-American NBA referee at a game held in the Cleveland Arena between the Chicago Bulls and the Cincinnati Royals.

Wayne Embry [Basketball]
National Basketball Association, 1971
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Wayne Embry was named the first African-American general manager of an NBA team, the Milwaukee Bucks (1971-1979).

Lucy Harris [Basketball]
National Basketball Association, 1977
New Orleans, Louisiana
In 1977, Lucy Harris became the first woman to be drafted by the NBA. This African-American silver medalist from the 1976 Olympics was drafted by the New Orleans Jazz but never played.

John Thompson [Basketball]
NCAA Division I Championship, April 2, 1984
Washington, District of Columbia
Coach John Thompson led his Georgetown University Hoyas through "March madness" to win the NCAA basketball championship in 1984, the first African-American collegiate coach to do so.

Lynette Woodard [Basketball]
Harlem Globetrotters, November 11, 1986
Wichita, Kansas
Lynette Woodward made her debut on a male professional basketball team scoring seven points with the Harlem Globetrotters.

Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer [Basketball]
National Basketball Association, 1997
New York City, New York
The NBA hired the first African-American women referees for its regular season roster in 1997.

Women's National Basketball Association [Basketball]
Women's Professional Basketball, 1997
New York City, New York
In June 1997, the NBA formed the eight-team WNBA. Former U.S. Olympic African-American standouts Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks) and Sheryl Swoopes (Houston Comets) helped to popularize the league. Swoopes is the first woman to have an athletic shoe named after her "Air Swoopes."

Carolyn Peck [Basketball]
NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship, 1999
Lafayette, Indiana
Carolyn Peck became the first African-American woman coach to lead her women's basketball team, Purdue University's Boilermakers, to an NCAA national championship.