Brooklyn Nets celebrate the history of the Black Fives era

As part of the celebration of Black History Month, the Brooklyn Nets held a tour of the Black Fives portraits on Barclays Center’s concourse for local kids.

Brooklyn Nets players D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Jarrett Allen joined Claude Johnson, executive director of the Black Fives Foundation, in celebrating the legacy of African-American basketball in Brooklyn with a tour of the Black Fives portraits on Barclays Center’s concourse.

The Black Fives teams were an integral part of African-American basketball from 1904-50, before racial integration of the National Basketball League in the 1940s and the National Basketball Association in 1950. Black Fives teams represented major American cities and consisted of talented athletes who helped to develop the way basketball is played today in the NBA.

The tour was to educate 30 Brooklyn youth from the Salvation Army about the history of African-American basketball in the borough prior to the racial integration. The six large-scale photographs honor the legacy of the early 20th century African-American basketball teams. Barclays Center has been home to the photographs that celebrate Brooklyn’s diverse population and history since 2013.

Claude Johnson and several descendants of Brooklyn’s Black Fives team are continuing the legacy about the teams that smashed the color barrier in pro basketball, and helped pave the way for the Civil Rights Movement. Johnson led the tour explaining each portrait to the children in attendance with details regarding players that made the transition into the NBA and Basketball Hall of Fame.

"“The first that was drafted was Chuck Cooper of the Boston Celtics. The first to play was a guy named Earl Lloyd. He was with the Washington Capitals. Eventually that team moved and they became the Syracuse Nationals. Then there was another guy that was the first to be signed and his name was Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton. He played for the [New York] Knicks, previously he had played for the Harlem Globetrotters and a team called the New York Rens.“So what we do is we celebrate their history but also try to make sure that they get their proper recognition. Some of these guys are candidates for the Basketball Hall of Fame, so far we’ve been able to get six into the Hall of Fame. Not just these guys, but others because there were dozens of teams, really hundreds of players all around the country so that’s what we do.”"

Nets players in attendance shared their thoughts on the tour and appreciation to learn more about the Black Fives history.

"Dinwiddie: “It’s special being able to participate in black history in black history month and to talk to the kids it’s big and it just shows you how much things are out there that are bigger than basketball. When you bring into local history and black history as well you talk to the kids it brings it closer to home it makes it a little more realistic, a little more palpable to them.“Sometimes when you talk about concepts far out that doesn’t really apply to them but when you can tell them streets and things that are right down the block. They can say, ‘Oh i walked right past that place every day, I had no idea the history behind it.’ Makes it more real for them.”Allen: “It’s a humbling experience seeing the history of where black and African-American basketball started and trying to show the boys and girls here where it started it means a lot that they chose me to be here. It makes me more appreciative, they were talking about how the mortality rate was high with all the people that came over to the US so like they had to struggle through that before I chose to come here. It makes me appreciate that they did that for the future.”"

A representative from the Salvation Army shared his thoughts on the event’s impact on the children in attendance.

"“The Salvation Army brings kids together give them different opportunities they are not used to seeing. For them to be able to get the Nets together and work as an organization and get this together, it means a lot. It feels good to be apart of it. Gives the kids a chance to be excited and opportunity to new things and show people we still want to inspire them to reach their dreams.”"

Children left the event inspired and appreciative of the knowledge garnered from the unique event sharing a lesson with their favorite players. The Nets will continue to have the portraits on display as they take on Anthony Davis and the visiting New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday.

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For more information on the Black Fives and their continued work being done to bring proper recognition to this once-forgotten but important history, please visit: blackfives.org.