By Tatiana Ponil

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Earl Francis Lloyd (April 3, 1928 – February 26, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He was the first African American player to play a game in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

An All–American player at West Virginia State University, Lloyd helped lead West Virginia State to an undefeated season in 1948. As a professional, Lloyd helped lead the Syracuse Nationals to the 1955 NBA Championship. Lloyd was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Prior to being drafted in the ninth round of the 1950 NBA Draft, Lloyd starred in the lineup of the Harlem Globetrotters. Lloyd led the team to two wins over the reigning Minneapolis Lakers; this proved his talents beyond his race. Except for racial segregation, he was one of the finest artists of his time. Lloyd’s talents were recognized amongst other black teammates, the two being Chuck Cooper and Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton. All three would go on to be drafted by the NBA, Clifton in 1950, Cooper in 1950, and Lloyd in 1950, the 100th overall pick.

Lloyd was drafted in the 9th round with pick #100 by the Washington Capitols in the 1950 NBA draft. Nicknamed “The Big Cat”, Lloyd was one of three black players to enter the NBA at the same time. It was because of the order in which the team’s season openers fell that Lloyd was the first to actually play in a game in the NBA, scoring six points on Halloween night. The date was October 31, 1950, one day ahead of Chuck Cooper of the Boston Celtics and four days before Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton of the New York Knicks.

In his NBA career with the Washington Capitols (1950–1951), Syracuse Nationals (1952–1958) and Detroit Pistons (1958–1960), Earl averaged 8.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 560 games over nine seasons.