This Day in Black Sports History: February 28, 2003

Although he excelled at cricket and soccer growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, Patrick Aloysius Ewing rose from poor beginnings to become one of the 50 greatest players in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

After his parents immigrated to the United States, settling in Cambridge, Mass., Ewing, his brother and five sisters would follow four years later when family funds permitted.

In spite of a marked Jamaican accent, Ewing was determined to succeed academically since entering grade school, taking summer school classes and obtaining help from tutors to ensure his education would not stop at the high school level.

Ewing first shot a basketball in a neighborhood pick-up game at the age of 12, quickly learning the game as he grew to six feet six inches by eighth grade, drawing the attention of several prep basketball head coaches.

As a high school student at Cambridge’s Rindge and Latin School, Ewing led his team to three state championships and earned an invitation to try out for the 1980 Olympic Men’s Basketball Team when no other high school athlete had ever been invited.

Impressed to find a team coached by an African-American man, Ewing chose to attend the University of Georgetown, where John Thompson stressed that his best bet was a college education because a small percentage of college athletes make careers in professional sports.

Ewing’s junior year would be marked by the sudden death of his mother and the unplanned pregnancy of his high school sweetheart.

Nevertheless, Ewing turned down the endorsements and millions of dollars waiting for him in the NBA to keep the promise he made to his mother that he would graduate from college.

With Ewing patrolling the paint, the Hoyas reached the NCAA Championship Game three consecutive years, winning the title in 1984 as their imposing center captured the Outstanding Player of the Tournament Award.

During that same year, Ewing would also win Olympic gold as a member of the men’s basketball squad.

In 1985, the league instituted the first ever Draft Lottery to prevent teams from deliberately losing games to secure a better chance of obtaining Ewing, who was unanimously considered the draft’s grand prize.

The New York Knicks would end up winning the Lottery, and selected Ewing with the first overall pick in the 1985 NBA Draft.

Although injuries marred his first year in the league, Ewing was named the Rookie of the Year, averaging 20 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks per game. In the seasons that followed, Ewing would come to be regarded as one of the premier centers in the league.

From 1988 to 1999, Ewing led the Knicks to 13 consecutive playoff appearances, four Eastern Conference Finals and one NBA Finals appearance, while averaging better than 21 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks per contest.

Over the course of 15 seasons, Ewing played in a franchise-record 1,039 games for the Knicks, the only player to play 1,000 games with the team.

As part of a seven-player deal, the Knicks shipped Ewing to the Seattle SuperSonics in 2000, where he would play one season. He added another with the Orlando Magic before he announced his retirement on September 18, 2002.

On February 28, 2003, the 11-time All-Star’s jersey number (33) was retired by the Knicks in a grand ceremony at Madison Square Garden, officially going down as one of the greatest players in the franchise’s storied history.

Five years later, Ewing was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as an individual player, and in 2010 as a member of the 1992 gold medal-winning United States Olympic Men’s Basketball “Dream Team”.

Ewing has been an assistant coach with the Magic for the past five seasons.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 27, 2006

In an era when women and blacks were viewed as second-class citizens and were not considered qualified to compete at baseball’s highest level, Effa L. Manley became a pioneer by breaking down the national pastime’s racial barriers while hurdling the additional obstacle of gender bias.

Born on March 27, 1900 in Philadelphia, PA, Manley was raised in a household with a black stepfather and black half-siblings and chose to live as a black person despite having white biological parents.

Upon graduating from high school, Manley moved to New York, where she met her future husband, Abe Manley, during the 1932 World Series at Yankee Stadium.

"Babe Ruth made a baseball fan of me," Manley once said. "I used to go to Yankee Stadium just to see him come to bat."

After marrying in June of 1935, the Manleys started a Negro League team in Brooklyn later that year, naming the team the Eagles. However, when the Eagles were unable to compete with the Dodgers for fans, they bought the Newark Dodgers, a black semi-pro team, and moved the Eagles to Newark in 1936.

Though she had no prior financial experience, Effa assumed an active role as Eagles co-owner, taking over day-to-day business operations, arranging playing schedules, planning the team’s travel, purchasing equipment, negotiating contracts and handling publicity and promotion.

In the process, Manley became a staunch players' advocate, fighting for better salaries, better schedules and better travel accommodations.

Recognizing that the Eagles were a community resource, Manley was also a crusader and social activist for black civil rights, ensuring that the “team had an image of upholding the black community’s best standards.”

As part of her work for the Citizens' League for Fair Play, Manley organized a 1934 boycott of Harlem stores that refused to hire black salesclerks. After six weeks, the owners of the stores relented, and a year later 300 blacks were employed by stores on 125th Street.

Manley also served as the treasurer of the Newark chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), often using Eagles games to promote civic causes, including an “Anti-Lynching Day” at the team stadium.

Although described as “a sore sport in the NNL (National Negro League) setup” and consistently dogged by complaints that “baseball ain’t no place for a woman,” Manley would persevere, as the Eagles would go on to win the 1946 Negro League World Series under her management.

Despite Manley’s best efforts, the integration of Major League Baseball ultimately forced the Eagles to disband in 1948. Nevertheless, until her death in 1981, Manley devoted herself to keeping the history of Negro League baseball alive.

In 1976, Manley published Negro Baseball...Before Integration, which listed 73 players she felt were qualified for the Hall of Fame. She wrote numerous letters to the Baseball Hall of Fame and publications such as The Sporting News, urging recognition for the league and its players.

On February 27, 2006, Manley became the first woman elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. She was selected for induction by a special committee using new statistics from the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues.

Manley is buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, Calif. Her gravestone reads, “She loved baseball.”

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 26, 1973

Compared to Gale Sayers, Roger Craig and Thurman Thomas coming out of San Diego State University, Marshall William Faulk would live up to the hype by becoming the most versatile running back in National Football League history.

Born on Feb. 26, 1973 in New Orleans, La., Faulk, the youngest of six boys, was raised in the Desire Housing Projects, one of the most crime-ravaged, oppressed projects in the United States.

Nevertheless, while many of his childhood friends fell into crime and drugs, with some dying early violent deaths, Faulk turned to football at the age of seven while his mother worked odd jobs to support her sons.

"My mom didn't have a profession,” Faulk told Sports Illustrated. “Her profession was her kids."

Although he ran into some trouble as a youth, getting kicked out of three elementary schools, Faulk was increasingly drawn to football, which became a passion by the time he entered George Washington Carver High School.

After lettering in track and excelling on the football field, especially at the running back and defensive back positions, Faulk received a plethora of college scholarship offers, with most recruiters expressing a desire for him to play defensive back.

However, Faulk preferred to play on the offensive side of the ball. So when San Diego State emerged as the only school to offer him a running back position, Faulk couldn’t resist the opportunity.

In only the second game of his collegiate career, Faulk racked up 386 rushing yards on 37 carries and scored seven touchdowns, serving as the prelude to one of the most prolific freshman seasons in NCAA history.

Faulk would complete his freshman campaign with 1,429 yards rushing and 23 total touchdowns (21 rushing). His exploits would earn him a spot on the Associated Press All-American Team—just the third freshman to receive the honor—and the second highest finish for a freshman in Heisman Trophy voting annals.

His stellar sophomore and junior years, seasons in which he finished second and fourth in the Heisman Trophy vote respectively, were sufficient motivation for Faulk to forgo his final year of eligibility and declare for the 1994 NFL Draft, where he was selected with the second overall pick by the Indianapolis Colts.

Faulk’s impact on the Colts, and the NFL, was immediate, becoming the first player in league history to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award and the Pro Bowl’s Most Valuable Player Award in the same season.

In his second season with Indianapolis, Faulk rushed for 1,078 yards and scored 14 total touchdowns on his way to helping the Colts come within one game of going to the Super Bowl and playing in his second consecutive Pro Bowl.

Although injuries would result in a sub-par 1996 season, Faulk would rush for over 1,000 yards in each of the next two seasons, including 1,319 rushing yards, 86 receptions for 906 yards, and 2,227 total yards from scrimmage in 1998, the first of a record four consecutive 2,000-plus total-yard seasons.

Strained relations with head coach Jim Mora would result in a trade to the St. Louis Rams in 1999, where Faulk’s talents would be fully showcased in a Rams’ spread offense formation that came to be known as “The Greatest Show on Turf.”

Similar to his rookie season in Indianapolis, Faulk’s addition paid instant dividends for the Rams as he became only the second player in NFL history (after Roger Craig) to have 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in a season. In addition, Faulk set a league record with 2,429 total yards from scrimmage, which has since been broken by Chris Johnson.

The 1999 season would also see St. Louis defeat the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV after finishing last in the NFC West the previous season.

The following year would be Faulk’s best one as a professional, as he won the NFL MVP Award and the Offensive Player of the Year Award while becoming the first running back in league history to lead his team in receptions five separate seasons (three in Indianapolis and twice in St. Louis).

The Rams returned to the Super Bowl in the 2001 season, though they would lose to the New England Patriots in what would be the climax of Faulk’s career.

After rushing for a career-high 1,382 yards, catching 83 passes for 765 yards, totaling 2,147 yards from scrimmage and scoring 21 touchdowns, Faulk won the Offensive Player of the Year Award for the third consecutive season.

Injuries and age would catch up with Faulk as 2001 was the last of his 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and though he remained the Rams' lead running back in successive years, Faulk was well past his prime, despite remaining a respected and effective player.

Faulk would announce his retirement from football on March 26, 2007, ranking 10th in rushing yards (12,279), first in receiving yards (6,875), third in yards from scrimmage (19,154), second in receptions (767) and second in receiving touchdowns (36) among running backs.

To further add credibility to his legacy, Faulk is also one of three players (Marcus Allen, Tiki Barber) to amass 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards in a career, as well as the only one to have 12,000 yards rushing and 6,000 yards receiving.

On Feb. 5, 2011, Faulk was elected into the NFL Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

"To talk about the great backs and not include him is a mistake," Dick Vermeil, former coach of the Rams, once told Sports Illustrated. "I've been around some great players, and he's better—he’s an elite player."

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 25, 1964

“I don’t have a mark on my face and I upset Sonny Liston and I just turned 22 years old; I must be the greatest!”

Those were the immortal words uttered by Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. on Feb. 25, 1964 in Miami, Fla., fresh off upsetting a heavily favored Sonny Liston to win the World Heavyweight Championship of professional boxing.

By dethroning the reigning champion, Clay became the youngest man to win the heavyweight title, a distinction he would own for over twenty years until Mike Tyson burst onto the scene.

Four years removed from winning a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome as a light heavyweight, Clay became the top contender to Liston’s title by amassing a record of 19-0 with 15 knockouts.

Light on his feet and quick with his hands, Clay was an unconventional heavyweight who brimmed with confidence even after being knocked down in his two fights prior to facing Liston, whose penchant for early-round knockouts had already become legendary.

However, the Louisville, Ky. native defied most boxing experts by confounding the lumbering champion with a dazzling array of blinding combinations and fancy footwork.

By the end of the sixth round, Liston’s right eye was severely swollen and his left eye was significantly compromised due to a cut.

Complaining of a shoulder injury, Liston shockingly failed to answer the bell for the seventh round, giving Clay the victory by technical knockout (TKO), and ushering in a new era in boxing.

The week after the fight, Clay, who had joined the Nation of Islam, would change his name to Muhammad Ali and go on to achieve international superstardom for standing tall in the ring and standing up for what he believed out of it.

After defeating Liston in a rematch via second-round TKO in 1965 and subsequently defending the Heavyweight Championship eight times, Ali was stripped of the title and had his boxing license suspended in 1967 for refusing to serve in the United States Army during the Vietnam War due to his religious beliefs.

Ali’s refusal to serve in the Army resulted in a jury finding him guilty of a felony that was punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $10,000.

For this stance, Ali would lose three prime years of his professional boxing career as the appeals process was being litigated.

However, during this period sentiment against the Vietnam War and support for Ali increased proportionately.

With the help of a Georgia senator, Ali was allowed to resume his career in 1970, and it was in this second stage of his career that Ali cemented his status as one of greatest fighters in boxing history.

Ali’s trilogy of fights with Joe Frazier, more specifically, the first dubbed "The Fight of the Century" and the last named "The Thrilla in Manila", as well as his upset victory over George Foreman in a bout famously known as "The Rumble in the Jungle", reestablished Ali’s technical brilliance and transformed him into a global icon who transcended the sport.

When Ali retired in 1981, he had defeated every top heavyweight boxer of his era and was one of the most recognizable athletes in the world.

Ali walked away from the squared circle with a career record of 56-5, with 37 of those victories coming by way of knockout.

And despite being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1984, Ali has remained an active and beloved public figure to this day.

Forty-six years ago, Ali boldly declared he was the greatest when he defeated Sonny Liston after many had doubted he could even go the distance with the feared brawler.

Now Ali and the nickname "The Greatest" are completely and unequivocally synonymous with one another.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 24, 1998

Although she suffered a season-ending injury in the penultimate game of her college basketball career, Nykesha Simone Sales left the University of Connecticut (UConn) as the Huskies’ all-time leading scorer.

In her first three seasons, Sales helped lead UConn to a NCAA Championship and two Elite Eight appearances, while winning the Rookie of the Year Award in her freshman campaign and Big East Player of the Year honors during her junior season.

Sales also distinguished herself on the defensive end of the court, capturing the Defensive Player of the Year Award in a stellar junior campaign as well.

As she evolved into a more prolific scoring threat, UConn’s all-time scoring record, held by Kerry Bascom, was within reach at the start of Sales’ senior season.

However, needing only two points to break Bascom’s seven-year mark, Sales’ collegiate playing career ended when she tore her Achilles tendon with one game left to play in the regular season.

But feeling remorseful that Sales didn’t already have the record, as he had to bench her to avoid running up the score in a multitude of games, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma drew up a play to make it up to his All-American forward.

Upon obtaining approval from Villanova head coach Harry Perretta, UConn’s season finale opponent, the Big East Commissioner and Kerry Bascom, Sales was allowed to hobble on to the court at the start of the game to make an uncontested layup, giving her 2,178 career points and the UConn all-time scoring record.

"Honest to God, if she [Bascom] would have said, 'Coach, I mean, that's not right.' Then it would have been over," Auriemma would later say.

UConn returned the favor by permitting Villanova to score an uncontested layup of its own, so that serious play would begin with the score tied at 2-2.

But what was supposed to be a celebrated event came under tremendous scrutiny when many sports columnists argued that Sales’ basket violated the integrity of the game.

The basket became even more controversial when ESPN The Magazine discovered Sales had been incorrectly credited with two extra points in a previous game at Seton Hall.

Nevertheless, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, Seton Hall announced they wouldn’t alter the box score of the game, thus keeping Sales’ point total at 2,178.

Similarly, Sales showed the same type of respect to the woman whose record she broke, choosing to wear #42 on her jersey coming out of high school instead of asking to wear the #24 jersey that Bascom wore at UConn.

Sales would go on to become a six-time WNBA All-Star for the Orlando Miracle, later the Connecticut Sun, leading the team to the WNBA Finals in 2004 and 2005.

Until she missed 12 games in the 2006 season, Sales had started 248 consecutive regular season games, the second longest such streak in WNBA history.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 23, 1986

Throughout his 20-year career in the National Basketball Association, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s trademark sky hook was virtually untouchable, much like the records he held upon his retirement in 1989.

But since his early years growing up in New York City, Abdul-Jabbar was destined to secure his place among basketball royalty.

In high school, Abdul-Jabbar, known as Lew Alcindor, Jr. before converting to Sunni Islam, led Power Memorial Academy, to a 71-game winning streak, a 79-2 overall record and three consecutive New York City Catholic championships.

At UCLA, under the tutelage of head coach John Wooden, Alcindor would be equally dominant, twice winning the College Player of the Year Award (1967, 1969), earning three First Team All-American honors (1967-1969) and becoming the first Naismith College Player of the Year (1969).

With Alcindor anchoring the middle, the Bruins’ three-year record was an astounding 88-2, and the team would win three straight NCAA Championships with Alcindor as the Most Outstanding Player in each Tournament.

During his sophomore season at UCLA, Alcindor boycotted the 1968 Summer Olympics, deciding not to join the Men’s Basketball Team to protest the unequal treatment of African-Americans in the United States.

When Alcindor’s college basketball days were over, he owned a number of records at UCLA that have stood the test of time, including highest season scoring average (29.0), highest career scoring average (26.4) and most points in a single game (61).

Not surprisingly, Alcindor was the first overall pick of the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1969 NBA Draft and the first overall pick of the New York Nets in the American Basketball Association (ABA) Draft. In addition, Alcindor was offered $1 million to play for the Harlem Globetrotters.

Ultimately though, Alcindor chose to play for the Bucks, who outbid the Nets for his services after coming off a season in which they finished an abysmal 27-55.

The addition of Alcindor would pay immediate dividends for Milwaukee as the team won 29 more games to lay claim to second place in the league’s Eastern Division. Alcindor was the overwhelming choice for Rookie of the Year, averaging 28.8 points and 14.5 rebounds per game.

The following season, Milwaukee added Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson to the roster, which propelled the talent-laden Bucks to 66 victories during the 1970-71 season and their first, and only, NBA Championship. The season would also turn out to be one of individual dominance for Alcindor, winning the scoring title (31.7 ppg), his first of six Most Valuable Player Awards and the NBA Finals MVP Award.

On May 1, 1971, the day after the Bucks won the NBA championship, Alcindor adopted the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, its Arabic translation roughly meaning "generous/noble (Kareem), servant of (Abdul) the mighty/stern one (Jabbar) [i.e., of God]."

Over the next three seasons, Abdul-Jabbar continued to be the main reason why Milwaukee remained a perennial NBA powerhouse, all while capturing two more MVP Awards.

However, at his request, the Bucks traded Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers because, culturally and socially, Milwaukee was no longer a good fit for the generation’s next legendary center.

"Live in Milwaukee? No, I guess you could say I exist in Milwaukee," Abdul-Jabbar said in a early magazine interview.

"I am a soldier hired for service and I will perform that service well. Basketball has given me a good life, but this town has nothing to do with my roots. There's no common ground."

In two out of his first three seasons with the Lakers, Abdul-Jabbar would win his fourth and record-tying fifth MVP Awards, but when the team selected Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson with the first overall pick in the 1979 NBA Draft, a dynasty began taking shape with Abdul-Jabbar as its centerpiece.

With the tandem of Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson, the Lakers would go on to become the most dominant team of the 80’s, appearing in eight NBA Finals and winning five NBA championships.

Individually, although past his prime, Abdul-Jabbar continued his assault on the league record books, winning his sixth MVP Award in 1980, replacing Elvin Hayes as the all-time leader in games played on Feb. 23, 1986 and surpassing Wilt Chamberlain as the NBA’s all-time scoring leader in 1984.

When he officially retired in 1989 after 20 seasons, Abdul-Jabbar had 19 All-Star Game appearances, 10 All-NBA First Team selections, six NBA championships, six MVP Awards and two Finals MVP Awards under his belt, to go along with career averages of 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game.

During his final season, Abdul-Jabbar was given standing ovations in every single game he played, and was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 22, 2007

This day in black sports history marks the fourth anniversary of the sudden and tragic passing of a man Larry Bird called “best I ever played with” and whom Earvin 'Magic’ Johnson lauded as “the best backcourt defender of all-time.”

These poignant words represent a mere microcosm of how respected Dennis Wayne Johnson was, and still is, throughout the National Basketball Association.

Born the eighth of sixteen children on Sept. 18, 1954 in Compton, Johnson, who lacked the size and talent to compete with his peers in high school, excelled on the street basketball circuit while working several odd jobs upon his graduation.

Johnson’s defensive skills and “rocket launcher legs”, which enabled him to snare rebounds against taller competition, garnered notice from the head coach at Los Angeles Harbor College (LAHC), who encouraged Johnson to enroll at the public community college.

Johnson promptly quit his jobs and matriculated at LAHC, where he developed into a promising young guard, averaging 18.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game as he led the team to a junior college state title.

At the end of his career at LAHC, Johnson accepted a scholarship offer to play at Pepperdine University, developing a reputation for tough defense and averaging 15.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game in his only year in college.

Despite disciplinary issues at LAHC, where he got kicked off the team three times in two years, and with only one year of college basketball under his belt, Johnson was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 29th overall pick in the 1976 NBA Draft.

After one season as a back-up shooting guard, Hall of Fame head coach Lenny Wilkens inserted Johnson into the starting rotation to play alongside Gus Williams, and the duo became a major part of the reason the SuperSonics would play in two consecutive NBA Finals against the Washington Bullets.

The Sonics wound up on the short end of the stick of a seven-game thriller in 1978, in which Johnson set the record for most blocks in Finals history for a guard (7).

However, redemption would come the following season as Seattle defeated the Bullets in five games. Johnson was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, averaging 22.6 points, six rebounds and six assists per game.

During his four-year stint with the Sonics, Johnson established himself as one of the best guards in the league, earning two of his five All-Star selections and two All-Defensive First Team honors.

Before the 1980-81 season, Johnson was traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he became a more versatile scorer while remaining a backcourt defensive stalwart.

In his three years as a Sun, Johnson averaged 17.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists, while leading Phoenix to the Western Conference Semifinals in two consecutive seasons as the team’s main scorer. This span would also see Johnson play in two more All-Star Games while being voted on to three consecutive All-Defensive First Teams.

Johnson’s next seven seasons were spent with the Boston Celtics, which he described as “a dream come true”.

As a playmaking point guard this time, Johnson was the engineer of a Celtics team that featured Hall of Famers Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, and won two NBA Championships in three seasons (1984, 1986).

At the time of his retirement in 1990, Johnson played in 1,100 of a possible 1,148 games during his 14-year NBA career, and was only the 11th player in league history to amass more than 15,000 points and 5,000 assists.

On December 13, 1991, the Celtics franchise retired Johnson’s No. 3 jersey at the old Boston Garden.

However, Johnson would not live to receive the ultimate honor of being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, suffering a fatal heart attack on February 22, 2007. Johnson’s death was met with shock throughout the entire league.

Three years later though, Johnson would be posthumously elected into the Hall of Fame.

Among others, current Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge called him one of "the most underrated players of all time [...] and one of the greatest Celtics acquisitions", and one-time rival Bill Laimbeer called him "a great player on a great ballclub".

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 21, 2003

Although in the twilight of his career, with nothing left to prove, Michael Jeffrey Jordan continued his assault on the National Basketball Association’s record books.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Wilmington, N.C., Jordan was motivated to prove his worth since he failed to make his high school’s varsity basketball team as a sophomore.

So upon earning a spot on the varsity roster, it should come as no surprise that Jordan tallied approximately 20 points per game over his final two seasons of play, including averaging a triple-double—29.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and 10.1 assists—during his senior season.

After accepting a scholarship offer to play at the University of North Carolina, Jordan went on to average 17.7 points and five rebounds per game over the course of three seasons. In the process, Jordan was named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Freshman of the Year and won the Naismith and Wooden College Player of the Year Awards for his junior season exploits.

Jordan gave up his final year of eligibility to enter the 1984 NBA Draft, where he was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the third overall pick after Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) and Sam Bowie (Portland Trail Blazers).

For the 15 seasons he played in the NBA, Jordan would prove that the Rockets and Trail Blazers missed the mark with each All-Star Game he made (14), each Most Valuable Player Award he won (five) and each Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy he brought back to the Windy City (six).

From 1991 to 1998, the Bulls would win the NBA title every season that Jordan was playing. The only two years Chicago didn’t lay claim to the championship (1994, 1995), was when Jordan temporarily retired to pursue a career in baseball.

Jordan would walk away from the game a second time after leading the Bulls to their second three-peat in eight years, further affirming his status as the greatest player in league history.

Two years later, Jordan returned to the NBA as part-owner and President of Basketball Operations for the Washington Wizards, which would only stoke the competitive flames that still burned within.

As a result, Jordan returned to play for the Wizards the following season, in which he led the team in scoring (22.9 ppg), assists (5.2 apg) and steals (1.42 spg).

The 2002-03 season would be Jordan’s last, as advancing age and nagging injuries finally caught up with “greatest basketball player of all-time,” but he would depart with a flourish.

Playing in his 14th and final NBA All-Star Game, Jordan scored 20 points to become the all-time leading scorer in All-Star Game history.

For an encore, on Feb. 21, 2003, Jordan became the oldest player to score 40 points or more in a game, when he lit up the New Jersey Nets for 43 points in an 89-86 Wizards victory.

In a testament to his love of the game, Jordan was the only Washington player to play all 82 games that season, averaging 20.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per contest.

After tributes were paid to him throughout the league, Jordan played his final game on April 16, 2003 in Philadelphia.

Jordan went to the bench in the third quarter after scoring only 13 points and with the Wizards trailing the Philadelphia 76ers, 75–56.

The fourth quarter would see Jordan re-enter the game for a 50-second stint to sink the final free throws of his career. Subsequently, when he returned to the bench, Jordan would receive a three-minute standing ovation from his teammates, the Sixers team, the officials and the capacity crowd at the First Union Center.

His legacy secured, the ultimate form of acknowledgment would come from one of Jordan’s legendary peers who once said:

"There's Michael Jordan and then there is the rest of us." – Earvin 'Magic’ Johnson

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 20, 2011

When Western Conference head coach Gregg Popovich called his number in the first quarter of the 60th NBA All-Star Game, Blake Austin Griffin became a part of black sports history at the tender age of 21.

After his participation in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge, in which he scored 14 points, and his rousing victory in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest, Griffin’s entry into the annual showcase marked the first time in league history a player has taken part in all three events during All-Star Weekend.

The historic achievement was merely another highlight reel in what has been a memorable rookie season for the Los Angeles Clippers superstar power forward, who’s averaging 22.8 points and 12.6 rebounds in the first 56 games of his blossoming career.

But even in high school, where he was integral in Oklahoma Christian School winning four consecutive state championships, Griffin appeared to be destined for greatness.

During his junior season, Griffin averaged 21.7 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.9 assists, and as a senior, he posted 26.8 points, 15.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.9 blocks per contest, which resulted in scholarship offers from college basketball powerhouses such as Duke, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

When push finally came to shove though, the Oklahoma City, Okla. native chose to stay home, accepting a scholarship to play for the University of Oklahoma as one of the highest-rated and most decorated recruits in state history.

In his freshman season at Oklahoma, Griffin averaged 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds in 28.4 minutes per game, becoming the first Sooner to earn Big 12 All-Rookie Team honors since Wayman Tisdale in 1983. And although he was expected to be a lottery pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Griffin decided to return to Oklahoma for a second season to mature physically and lead the team to the NCAA Championship.

Griffin failed to accomplish the latter, as Oklahoma fell to North Carolina in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, but flourished individually, posting 22.7 points and 14.4 rebounds per game. Griffin’s standout year would garner him a myriad of Player of the Year awards, including the Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year Award and the Naismith College Player of the Year Award.

Not surprisingly, the Los Angeles Clippers selected Griffin with the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft after he announced he was giving up his final two years of eligibility two months earlier.

Unfortunately, Griffin would not play a single game during the 2009-10 campaign due to season-ending surgery on his broken left kneecap, which he injured during a preseason game.

Nevertheless, Griffin worked vigorously to rehabilitate his knee, and get himself into playing shape, to fulfill the tremendous promise he exhibited as an amateur.

Since he missed all of last season, Griffin was still considered a rookie entering the 2010-11 season, where he has been named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for November, December and January.

In addition, Griffin has set Clippers’ franchise records for most consecutive double-doubles (23) and most points scored in a game by a rookie (47).

Griffin also became the first rookie since the 1996-97 season (Allen Iverson) to have two 40+ games, as well as the first rookie to be voted into the All-Star Game by the coaches since San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan in 1998.

One can only imagine what Griffin will do for an encore.

Black Sports History Honorable Mention

Kobe Bryant (37 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, three steals) tied Bob Pettit for the most All-Star Game MVP Awards (four).

LeBron James (29 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) became only the second player (Michael Jordan) in All-Star Game history to record a triple-double.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 19, 1996

Seemingly lost among his colorful and controversial comments both during and after he retired from the game was the fact that Charles Wade Barkley was one of the greatest players in the National Basketball Association’s 64-year history.

Born and raised in Leeds, Alabama, Barkley stood at 5’10” and weighed 220 pounds when he failed to make the Leeds High School basketball varsity team.

But after growing six inches during the summer, Barkley earned a starting position as a senior, a year in which he averaged 19.1 points and 17.9 rebounds per game in the process of leading the team to a 26-3 record and a berth in the state high school semifinals.

Described by an assistant coach as “a fat guy who can play like the wind," Barkley was recruited by University of Auburn’s head basketball coach Sonny Smith, who would further along Barkley’s development into one of the most complete players to ever step on a basketball court.

Although he struggled to control his weight, Barkley led the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in rebounding in each of his three seasons at Auburn, ultimately earning him the nickname “The Round Mound of Rebound,” due to skills that belied his height and overweight frame.

In Barkley’s three year college career, he averaged 14.8 points on 62.6 percent field goal shooting, 9.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.7 blocks per game, all while playing center at an undersized 6’4”.

As a result, Barkley was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the fifth overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, a class that included Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan and John Stockton.

Throughout his entire 16 year career, playing for the Sixers (1984-1992), Phoenix Suns (1992-1996) and Houston Rockets (1996-2000), Barkley would never have a season when he averaged less than 14 points and eight rebounds per game, as he would go on to post career numbers of 22.1 points and 11.7 rebounds per game while shooting 54.1 percent from the floor.

Barkley’s banner year came during the 1992-93 season, his first season in Phoenix, when he was selected to play in his seventh consecutive All-Star Game, led the Suns to the NBA’s best record (62-20) and won the league’s Most Valuable Player award.

But Phoenix would fall short in their bid to win the NBA Championship at the hands of the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls, despite Barkley’s 27.3 points, 13.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, which included a triple-double in Game 4. This would be the closest Barkley would come to winning a championship ring.

However, nothing would stop “Sir Charles” from continuing to climb the ranks of professional basketball’s greats.

On Feb. 19, 1996, Barkley pulled down his 10,000th career rebound in a Suns’ overtime victory against the Vancouver Grizzlies, becoming the 10th NBA player to compile 20,000 points and 10,000 rebounds in league history.

By the time he retired in 2000, Barkley became a member of another distinguished list, ranking as one of only four players in NBA lore to have 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists (Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone).

With two Olympic gold medals, 11 All-Star selections and additional acclaim as one of the league’s all-time top 50 players, Barkley was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

In a 2007 issue of SLAM Magazine ranking NBA greats, Barkley was ranked among the top 20 players of all-time. The issue also featured an interview with Hall of Famer Bill Walton, who commented on Barkley's career.

Walton stated, "Barkley is like Magic [Johnson] and Larry [Bird] in that they don't really play a position. He plays everything; he plays basketball. There is nobody who does what Barkley does. He's a dominant rebounder, a dominant defensive player, a three-point shooter, a dribbler, a playmaker."

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 18, 1986

In the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA), only four players have recorded a quadruple-double, which is the accumulation of double-digit number totals in four of five statistical categories—points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots—in a game.

“The reason why [quadruple-double] is such a hard thing to accomplish is because it requires a player to be completely dominant on both ends of the court without being too selfish—so he can get the assists—without fouling out trying to block every shot or grab every rebound. A lot of guys can get the points, rebounds and assists, but it’s the defensive stuff that messes everybody up. You have to love defense to get a quadruple-double. There’s no way around it.” - Nate Thurmond

On Feb. 18, 1986, Alvin Cyrrale Robertson, a four-time NBA All-Star, followed in the enormous footsteps of Thurmond, by registering the second quadruple-double in league history.

While playing for the San Antonio Spurs, the multi-dimensional Robertson compiled 20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals in a game against the Phoenix Suns.

Former Houston Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon and former Spurs center David Robinson recorded quadruple-doubles in 1990 and 1994 respectively to join Thurmond and Robertson in this exclusive club.

However, what distinguished Robertson’s quadruple-double is that his came with steals as the fourth category. Thurmond (22 points, 14 rebounds 13 assists, 12 blocks), Olajuwon (18 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, 11 blocks) and Robinson (34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 blocks) registered theirs with blocks as the fourth category.

Robertson’s historic achievement was one of the highlights in a banner year for the University of Arkansas product, who was selected by the Spurs with the seventh overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft.

By doubling his scoring output from his rookie season, and averaging 3.7 steals per game, Robertson would win the Most Improved Player Award and the Defensive Player of the Year Award for the 1985-86 season, as well as earn the first of four All-Star selections in his 11-year career.

After playing for the Spurs (1984-1989), Milwaukee Bucks (1989-1993), Detroit Pistons (1993) and the Toronto Raptors (1995-1996), Robertson retired holding the top career steals-per-game average in NBA history (2.71 spg), a record that has not been surpassed, and the record holder for the most consecutive games with a steal (105), a mark now held by New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul (108).

Robertson would hang up his sneakers with career averages of 14.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.7 steals per game.

And of all the legendary guards that have graced the NBA courts, such as Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, ‘Magic’ Johnson, and Michael Jordan, Robertson is the first, and last, guard to register a quadruple-double in a game.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 17, 1936

In the summer of 1966, James Nathaniel Brown stunned the sports world with the announcement of his retirement from the Cleveland Browns while still in the prime of his National Football League (NFL) career. But those short nine seasons, in which he terrorized opposing defenses, saw Brown firmly establish himself as one of the greatest players to ever step on the gridiron.

Born in 1936 on St. Simon’s Island, off the coast of Georgia, Brown was raised by his great-grandmother after his father, a former professional boxer, left the family when he was still an infant. When he turned seven, Brown would eventually join his mother in Long Island, NY, where she had found work as a housekeeper.

Life up north was initially a culture shock for Brown, who managed to get into a fight on his first morning at Manhasset Valley grade school.

"My mother had dressed me in new clothes," Brown recalled.

"That morning when they gave us recess, a black boy made a wisecrack, said I looked 'pretty,' and he shoved me. I reacted Georgia-style. I tackled him, pinned him with my knees, punched him. The closed circle of kids watching then started chanting, 'Dirty fighter, dirty fighter.' I stopped fighting. I was mystified. How did these boys fight up here?"

But Brown would find his niche in the sports arena, exhibiting he was a natural athlete at virtually every game, from baseball and football to lacrosse and track events.

By his freshman year of high school, Brown’s superior athleticism and determination to be the best at whatever he did already became the stuff of legends, prompting his high school football coach to declare that Brown, “probably had more drive to succeed of anybody I have ever coached. Whatever he did, he wanted to do better than anybody else.”

Brown would go on to earn 13 letters at Manhasset High School, playing baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse and running track, as well as membership on the honor society for scholastic achievement.

"I was a poor kid from a broken home," Brown once told Newsday, "but I was not insecure, because where there is love there cannot be insecurity."

After being recruited by 45 colleges and universities, Brown chose to attend Syracuse University, where, as a freshman, he was passed over for less talented white players in basketball and football. However, an injury to a teammate would open up a spot for Brown on the football team, and he never looked back.

Subsequent to becoming a starter, Brown would go on to earn 10 varsity letters—three each in football and lacrosse and two each in basketball and track. Brown also placed fifth nationally in the 1956 decathlon competition, qualifying for the Olympic Games in the process. Nevertheless, Brown bypassed the 1956 Olympics to concentrate on football.

In his senior season at Syracuse, Brown ran for 986 yards, third most in the country, scored 14 touchdowns and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. When he graduated in the spring of 1957, Brown had gained 2,091 yards and scored 187 points—including 25 touchdowns—for the Orangemen.

Therefore, it came as absolutely no surprise when the Cleveland Browns selected Brown in the first round of the 1956 NFL Draft, but what did come as a shock was how quickly Brown made his presence known in the league.

By his fifth game, Brown had surpassed the team record for most touchdowns scored in a single season, and played a vital role in Cleveland’s Eastern Division Championship of 1957. Brown would end the year as the NFL’s leading rusher, the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year and the league’s Most Valuable Player.

The scary proposition for the rest of the NFL was that Brown was only going to get better, and he did.

From 1958 to 1965, Brown rushed for an average of 1,421 yards per season, on 5.3 yards per carry, and scored an average of 15 touchdowns.

During this incredible span, Brown was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection, a seven-time First-Team All-Pro Selection, a three-time Pro Bowl MVP and a two-time NFL MVP.

Brown’s bruising running style made him a nightmare to tackle, and a beloved figure in the sports-obsessed city of Cleveland.

“He told me, 'Make sure when anyone tackles you he remembers how much it hurts.' He lived by that philosophy and I always followed that advice.”—John Mackey, 1999

When he decided to hang up his cleats in 1966 at the age of 30, Brown just came off a season where rushed for 1,544 yards and scored 21 touchdowns (17 rushing, three receiving), which made his retirement all the more shocking.

Brown’s legacy in NFL history was completely secure though. His record for career rushing yards (12,312) stood for nearly 20 years, until former Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton broke it in 1984. More impressively, Brown's record for career touchdowns stood for nearly 30 years, until former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice broke it in 1994.

However, Brown’s records for career yards per carry (5.2) and average rushing yards per game (104.3) remain untouched and unrivaled.

In addition to being inducted into the Pro Football of Fame in 1971, Brown is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, being one of the few athletes to be a Hall of Fame member in more than one sport.

More importantly though, Brown has made his impact felt off the field, establishing public service programs like Amer-I-Can, a life management skills organization that operates in inner cities and prisons to help kids caught up in the gang scene in Cleveland and Los Angeles.

"The young black male is the most powerful source of energy and change we have," Brown once told the Washington Post. "My hope is to start a direction where these young men will be given respect and taught how to utilize it."

And more than the sum of all his football accomplishments, this is how Brown would like to be remembered.

"I have no trophies in my home. When I lay down, I think of all the experiences I've had and the respect that I've gotten. That's my glory."

Happy 75th, Mr. Brown.

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This Day In Black Sports History: Februrary 16th, 2011

As the only American boxer to emerge from the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games with a gold medal, Joseph William Frazier had an extremely bright future ahead of him.

After the Olympics, a group of local businessmen invested in Frazier’s professional career so that he could train full-time. When he made his professional debut in 1965, Frazier, a hungry, young southpaw from Beaufort, S.C., did not disappoint, defeating Woody Goss via technical knockout (TKO) in the first round. This would become a recurring theme throughout the first half of Frazier’s career.

In his first 24 fights, Frazier, appropriately nicknamed “Smokin’ Joe”, registered 21 knockouts, with the majority of those victories occurring within four rounds.

Nevertheless, despite Frazier’s rapid ascension, there was a cavernous void in the heavyweight division left by Muhammad Ali, who was stripped of the World Heavyweight Title for his refusal to be inducted into the United States Army during the Vietnam War. To add insult to injury, Ali had his boxing license suspended by the New York State Athletic Commission.

Although the top-ranked contender at the time, Frazier boycotted the 1967 World Boxing Association (WBA) Heavyweight Championship elimination tournament in support of Ali’s controversial stance.

However, the New York State Athletic Commission, the same organization that suspended Ali’s license the previous year, recognized Frazier as the “World Champion” following his 11th round knockout of Buster Mathis in March of 1968.

Less than two years later, on Feb. 16, 1970, Frazier brought some legitimacy back to the Heavyweight Title by knocking out Jimmy Ellis, the winner of the aforementioned WBA elimination tournament, in five rounds at Madison Square Garden.

After dispatching with Light-Heavyweight kingpin Bob Foster in two short rounds, Frazier would immerse himself in a rivalry that would define the rest of his career.

Within a five-year span, Ali and Frazier fought a total of 41 grueling rounds over three fights. The first two bouts went the distance, while the third and final bout mercifully ended with Frazier on his stool, virtually blind in one eye.

Their first encounter, dubbed the "Fight of the Century", set the tone for how fiercely Ali and Frazier would compete in the ring, and how they would come to loathe one another outside it.

“Smokin’ Joe” successfully defended the undisputed Heavyweight Championship via a 15-round unanimous decision, which was punctuated by a thunderous left hook that floored Ali in the final round.

But, similar to the pre-fight hype, Ali would continue to disrespect his heated rival, repeatedly calling Frazier an “Uncle Tom” for stating he would have fought in the Vietnam War if he was drafted.

Not surprisingly, Frazier felt betrayed because he had attended numerous tribunals, hearings and public relations functions in support of Ali throughout his exile from boxing.

Frazier was also a staunch supporter in efforts to have Ali’s license restored, and provided some financial support during the lean times Ali experienced when he was unable to ply his trade.

Ali would later assert that his vicious verbal attacks on Frazier were merely an attempt to promote the fights and increase the gate.

All the vitriol did, though, was drive a deep wedge between two African-American professional boxing superstars who could have accomplished as much, united in social activism, as they did in creating magic on opposite sides of a boxing ring.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 15, 2011

When it comes to the game of basketball, William Felton Russell is arguably the greatest winner in the sport’s history.

Prior to the start of his professional career, Russell led the University of San Francisco (USF) men’s basketball team to two consecutive NCAA Championships (1955, 1956) and won a gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics as captain of the United States National Team.

After the Boston Celtics acquired him in a draft-day trade with the St. Louis Hawks, Russell became the centerpiece of a team that won 11 NBA Championships in thirteen seasons, including an unprecedented eight consecutive titles between 1959 and 1966.

During this dominating, dynastic run, Russell also served a three-season stint as player-coach for the Celtics, becoming first African-American head coach in NBA history.

Russell retired from the game in 1969 with career averages of 15.1 points and 22.5 rebounds per game, as well as five Most Valuable Player Awards and 12 All-Star appearances to his credit.

But despite his myriad of accomplishments, Russell’s life was marked by an uphill battle against racism, beginning in his childhood when he was forced to witness his parents become such victims of bigotry and racial abuse that they had to move into housing projects for an escape.

In his memoir, Go Up for Glory, Russell poignantly recalled his feelings on the racism and segregation that pervaded his existence, even as a standout amateur basketball player at USF and a superstar for the Celtics.

It stood out, a wall which understanding cannot penetrate. You are a Negro. You are less. It covered every area. A living, smarting, hurting, smelling, greasy substance which covered you. A morass to fight from.

As a consequence, Russell became a passionate and unyielding crusader for civil rights, which also resulted in a bitter relationship with the city of Boston due to his programmed hypersensitivity to racial prejudice in all its forms.

Russell’s bad rapport with fans and journalists, stemming from his refusal to respond to acclaim or friendship, caused him to be characterized as egotistical, hypocritical and paranoid.

In addition, seeing himself as a victim of the media, Russell was neither present for the retirement of his Number 6 jersey at the Boston Garden in 1972 nor his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975.

However, with the re-retirement of Russell’s jersey at the TD Garden in 1995 and the receipt of a ‘We Are Boston’ Leadership Award in 2008, ceremonies which Russell did attend, a small measure of reconciliation was achieved, but, to some extent, the wounds from a long history of racial strife remained fresh.

Therefore, it was fitting that Barack Obama, the first African-American president in United States history, endorsed an idea that many view as a way for Boston to put a difficult past, with one of its greatest sports heroes, completely behind them.

Obama’s remarks came during a ceremony in which Russell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the country, for his legacy as a civil rights activist.

Russell is the seventh African-American sports figure, and first basketball player, to receive the award. The Monroe, La. native was among 14 recipients to be honored, including George H.W. Bush, poet Maya Angelou, investor Warren Buffet and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Stan Musial.

Below is the official White House transcript of Obama's remarks about Russell:

When Bill Russell was in junior high, he was cut from his basketball team. (Laughter.) He got better after that. (Laughter.) He led the University of San Francisco to two championships. In 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics, he won 11 championships -- a record unmatched in any sport. Won two while also serving as the team’s coach. And so happens, he also was the first African American ever to hold such a position as a coach in a Major League sports team of any sort. More than any athlete of his era, Bill Russell came to define the word "winner."

And yet, whenever someone looks up at all 6 feet 9 inches of Bill Russell -- I just did -- (laughter) -- I always feel small next to him -- and asks, "Are you a basketball player?" -- surprisingly, he gets this more than you think, this question -- (laughter) -- he says, "No." He says, "That’s what I do, that’s not what I am. I'm not a basketball player. I am a man who plays basketball."

Bill Russell, the man, is someone who stood up for the rights and dignity of all men. He marched with King; he stood by Ali. When a restaurant refused to serve the black Celtics, he refused to play in the scheduled game. He endured insults and vandalism, but he kept on focusing on making the teammates who he loved better players, and made possible the success of so many who would follow. And I hope that one day, in the streets of Boston, children will look up at a statue built not only to Bill Russell the player, but Bill Russell the man.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 14, 1951

It goes without saying that Valentine’s Day is an annual commemoration, celebrating love and affection between intimate companions.

However, sixty years ago, love and affection would be the last words used to characterize how Sugar Ray Robinson treated Jake LaMotta in the Chicago Stadium on Feb. 14, 1951.

After going professional in 1940, Robinson campaigned as a welterweight. However, he moved up to the middleweight division due an increasing difficulty with making the 147 lb. welterweight limit.

Prior to making his mark in a new weight class, Robinson had already established himself as the greatest welterweight to ever lace up a pair of boxing gloves, losing only once in 123 professional fights.

Coincidentally, LaMotta, nicknamed “The Bronx Bull” and “The Raging Bull”, was the one man responsible for the lone blemish on Robinson’s otherwise spotless record as they prepared to do battle for the sixth and final time.

Within a three-year span, LaMotta and Robinson became heated rivals, fighting five times between 1942 and 1945. Robinson won four of those contests via decision. LaMotta’s only victory in the series was an unanimous ten-round decision in their second fight at Detroit’s Olympia Stadium in 1943.

The much heavier LaMotta charged Robinson at every opportunity with bull-like rushes. Robinson tried to outbox his shorter opponent but had difficulty keeping him at bay.

LaMotta knocked Robinson through the ropes in the eighth round with a right to the head and a left to the body. The incident was the first knockdown of Robinson's career, and only the bell saved Robinson from suffering the first knockout of his legendary career as well.

Three weeks later, LaMotta would knock down Robinson again in their third fight, but would end up on the short end of a highly disputed unanimous decision.

Following two more bouts in 1945, both decision victories for Robinson, the two gladiators went their separate ways until fistic karma brought them back together again.

During the course of the next five years, Robinson won the welterweight title in 1946, defending the crown until he ran out of challengers, and by 1949 began his ascent up the ranks for a shot at the undisputed middleweight championship.

Meanwhile, LaMotta cleaned out the middleweight division, and finally captured the title in 1949 with a 10th round knockout of Frenchman Marcel Cerdan.

By the end of 1950, Robinson (still the welterweight champion) was the number one contender for LaMotta’s crown.

So in front of 15,000 fans at the Chicago Stadium, and millions watching on free network television, LaMotta and Robinson met for the first time with a title on the line.

Although both fighters were past their prime, Robinson was still able to conjure up flashes of his brilliant past while LaMotta exhibited the determination, heart, and grit that made him such a crowd favorite.

Nevertheless, the wear and tear from LaMotta’s previous ring wars was evident as he appeared to grow tired by the sixth round of a 15-round bout.

Throughout the fight, Robinson, nicknamed “The Harlem Dandy”, punished LaMotta with sharp jabs and damaging counterpunches, playing the matador to LaMotta’s “Raging Bull”.

Unlike their previous encounters, LaMotta seemed content to head hunt rather than invest in the punishing body work that had become his trademark. In addition, LaMotta was a step slower and his work rate was significantly lower than it had been in the past.

In spite of this, LaMotta would remain competitive for ten grueling rounds, even bloodying Robinson’s nose and mouth with a thunderous left hook to the jaw in the sixth. However, his struggle to make the 160-pound weight limit had left him completely exhausted.

In a last ditch effort, LaMotta summoned whatever reserves he had left and went for a knockout in the eleventh round, pinning Robinson against the ropes and throwing punches from all possible angles.

But when Robinson survived the onslaught, LaMotta found himself in more serious trouble by the end of the round as Robinson began to bludgeon him with vicious combinations to the head and the body.

For next round and a half, Robinson would butcher a virtually defenseless LaMotta, unleashing a plethora of uppercuts, right cuts, and left hooks, with only LaMotta’s immense will keeping him on his feet.

Mercifully, the fight would be stopped at 2:04 of the 13th round as LaMotta lay helpless against the ropes, his first legitimate knockout loss in 95 professional fights.

Dubbed the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, the bout would go down as one of the most memorable fights in Robinson’s Hall of Fame career, in which he became the first boxer to win a divisional world championship five times.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 13, 1920

Before Jackie Robinson broke the Major League Baseball color barrier in 1947, the Negro leagues provided the only arena for aspiring African-American players to showcase their talents on a wider scale.

That arena was created on Feb. 13, 1920 with the establishment of the Negro National League (NNL), the first black professional baseball league, at a YMCA in Kansas City, Mo. Andrew "Rube" Foster, considered the best African-American pitcher of the 1900's, was the driving force behind the league's organization and served as its president.

With member teams in the South and Midwest, the NNL successfully operated until 1931, and as a result of his leadership role in the early years, Foster came to be known as "the father of black baseball."

Consisting of eight teams—the Chicago American Giants, Chicago Giants, Dayton Marcos, Detroit Stars, Indianapolis ABC's, Kansas City Monarchs, St. Louis Giants and the Cuban Stars—the NNL was the first African-American baseball circuit to achieve stability and last more than one season.

Initially, the NNL mainly operated in Midwestern cities, ranging from Kansas City to Pittsburgh. In 1924, the league expanded into the south, adding franchises in Birmingham and Memphis.

Three years after NNL's formation, the Eastern Colored League (ECL) was founded, and in 1924, the very first Negro World Series was played between the ECL and NNL champions.

The ECL collapsed the spring of 1928, but its member teams reemerged in 1929 as the American Negro League (ANL).

Under the economic stress of the Great Depression, the NNL disbanded in 1931.

A new NNL was organized in 1933, eventually becoming concentrated on the East Coast.

Four years later, the Negro American League (NAL) was founded, which included several of the same teams that played in the original NNL. The NAL carried on as the western circuit of black baseball.

The second incarnation of the NNL lasted until 1948, the year following the integration of Major League Baseball. Its surviving teams merged into the NAL, operating as the last black major professional baseball league until 1960.

Over the course of four decades, the Negro leagues would be the launching point for the legendary MLB careers of prominent African-American players such as Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Roy Campanella, Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson.

More than 50 years after his death, Foster finally gained recognition for his immeasurable achievements, most notably establishing the first formal Negro League, when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 12, 1896

In the pantheon of sports, the number of African-Americans who have made their mark in horse racing is few and far between. But though diminutive in stature, one black man became a giant among jockeys of all races past, present and future.

On April 16, 1861, Isaac Burns was born on a farm near Frankfort, Ky., to a bricklaying, free black man and a woman employed as a laundrywoman.

After joining the Union Army during the Civil War, Burns’ father died in a Confederate prisoner of war camp, prompting a move by Burns’ family to the residence of his maternal grandfather, Green Murphy, an auction crier and bell ringer, in Lexington.

Subsequently, Burns’ mother took on a job at the Richard and Owings Racing Stable, where Burns would begin accompanying her to work. Over the course of time, Burns would eventually get noticed by a black trainer named Eli Jordon, who prepared Burns for his first race at the age of 14.

Riding upright, and urging his mount on with words and a spur rather than a whip, Burns won his first race on September 15, 1875 at the Lexington Crab Orchard.

By the end of 1876, Burns, who was now racing under the name Murphy as a tribute to his grandfather, had won 11 races at Lexington’s Kentucky Association track. The following year, Murphy won 19 races and placed fourth in his first Kentucky Derby ride.

But the national spotlight would shine on Murphy for the first time when he rode to victory in the 1879 Travers Stakes in Saratoga Springs.

Five years later, on May 27, 1884, Murphy wound up in the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs, his first Kentucky Derby win. The same year would also see Murphy ride to victory in Chicago’s American Derby, the most prestigious race in the nation at the time.

Throughout his legendary career, Murphy rode 628 winners in 1,412 mounts, including three Kentucky Derby winners (1884, 1890, 1891), four American Derby winners (1884, 1885, 1886, 1888) and five Latonia Derby winners.

During his horse racing prime in the late 1880s, Murphy received an average salary of close to $20,000 per year, excluding bonuses, making him the highest paid athlete in the United States. He lived in a mansion in Lexington, and it is believed Murphy was the first African-American to own a racehorse.

On June 25, 1890, Murphy raced in the most memorable contest of his life. Matched against white counterpart, Ed “Snapper” Garrison, Murphy was victorious in a race that had definitive racial overtones and settled the debate as to which rider was the better jockey.

Battling alcohol abuse and weight gain over the next several years, Murphy’s popularity fell as he rode in and won fewer races and was suspended twice for racing while intoxicated.

In 1896, Murphy was forced into retirement after failing to win a single race, and died just three months later, on February 12, 1896 from pneumonia.

Nevertheless, Murphy’s legacy in horse racing was secure.

His 44 percent winning percentage has never been equaled and a record about which Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro said, “There is no chance that his record of winning will ever be surpassed.”

Murphy competed in eleven Kentucky Derby’s, becoming the first jockey to ride three Derby winners: "Buchanan" in 1884, "Riley" in 1890 and "Kingman" in 1891. "Kingman" was owned and trained by Dudley Allen, the only African-American racehorse owner to train a Kentucky Derby winner.

Upon its creation in 1955, Murphy was the first jockey inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Since 1995, the National Turf Writers Association has given the Isaac Murphy Award to the jockey with the highest winning percentage for a given year in North American racing.

The official Kentucky Derby website states, “Isaac Murphy is considered one of the greatest race riders in American History.”

Murphy’s remains are buried next to Man o’ War, one of the greatest thoroughbreds in horse racing history, at the entrance to Kentucky Horse Park.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 11, 1990

When James “Buster” Douglas signed on to challenge Mike Tyson, the youngest man to win the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) Heavyweight Titles, the Mirage Casino, the only Las Vegas casino to offer odds on the fight, had the challenger as a 42 to 1 underdog.

In essence, the 30-year-old Douglas, who had amassed an unimpressive 29-4-1 record up to that point, was widely regarded as a tune-up for Tyson, nicknamed “The Baddest Man on the Planet”, prior to a future super fight with undefeated cruiserweight champion Evander Holyfield.

But although his mother, Lula Pearl, passed away just 23 days before the fight, Douglas entered the ring in the best physical condition of his career.

With nine successful title defenses and 33 knockouts in 37 fights on his ledger, the unbeaten Tyson was supremely confident that Douglas would become yet another stepping stone on his path toward becoming the greatest heavyweight champion in boxing history.

In fact, it’s highly likely that the only people who truly believed Douglas would walk out of the Tokyo Dome as the undisputed heavyweight champion were Douglas himself and the men working his corner.

So when Douglas got off to a fast start in the bout, dominating the early rounds with an effective jab, stinging right hands and brilliant footwork, the sentiment among those in attendance was they were witnessing an aberration, a tantalizing prelude to Tyson’s seventh consecutive knockout.

However, as ‘Iron’ Mike repeatedly neglected to move his head while seeking a one-punch knockout, Douglas continued to pepper him with jabs and right hands, leading to severe swelling in Tyson’s left eye.

Although his left eye was swollen completely shut by the eighth round, Tyson unleashed a trademark right uppercut that floored Douglas, putting his questionable will to the ultimate test.

Douglas would leave absolutely no doubt this time, as he rose to his feet at the count of eight to survive the round, and withstood a Tyson onslaught at the beginning of the ninth round to retake control of the bout.

Prior to the conclusion of the ninth round, Douglas unleashed a vicious combination that staggered Tyson along the ropes, virtually tearing a page out of the book of the most feared man in boxing.

Douglas would place the finishing touches on his virtuoso performance with a huge right uppercut, followed by a rapid combination, to deal Tyson the first knockdown, knockout and loss of his career in arguably the biggest upset in the history of professional sports.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 10, 1989

In the mid-1990s, as he inched closer to becoming the National Basketball Association’s all-time leader in coaching victories, Leonard Randolph Wilkens exhibited the same type of quiet resolve that began to develop during his childhood, growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

Born on October 28, 1937 to an African-American father and an Irish mother, Wilkens had to quickly adjust to the ostracism he would receive for his mixed heritage, either from the taunts of other children or the contemptuous remarks of racist adults.

While still a preschooler though, his emotional maturation was further accelerated when his father died suddenly, leaving Wilkens, the oldest of four children, as the “man of the family” at the tender age of five.

Living in a Brooklyn tenement, and supported only by the wages his mother earned working in a candy factory, Wilkens managed to keep his emotions under firm control while keeping his nose in the books and resisting the temptations of the street.

"I couldn't have sympathy," Wilkens told Sports Illustrated.

"I couldn't trust. I couldn't get involved with people because then I'd have to feel. What scared me so much was seeing no one going out of their way to help my mother and family after my father died. Seeing people look down their noses at us. You realize that no one really cares.”

“So how do you get through? You start building the wall. You never let anyone know what's inside. It sounds awful now to say I'd never cry."

After acquiring a grocery delivery job at the age of seven, Wilkens spent his leisure time playing basketball with various youth leagues in Brooklyn, becoming a standout over the course of his adolescent years.

At Boys High School, Wilkens made enough of a mark to win an athletic scholarship to Providence College, a private, Catholic university in Rhode Island.

As one of six African-Americans in a school with 1,200 students, Wilkens was re-indoctrinated to the ugly reality of racism. But Wilkens allowed brilliance in the class room and stellar play on the court do the talking.

"There were people looking at me like I was some kind of insect," Wilkens recalled of his college years. "People who assumed that because I was from Bed-Stuy, I was carrying a knife or gun.”

“One drop of black blood in this country ... and you're tainted. If I let that hurt me, who has the anxiety? Me. I was not going to let anyone hurt me or make me feel anxious. I'd learned something by then. If I could control myself, I could make them feel anxious."

Wilkens’ controlled aggression helped him become a two-time All-American at Providence, leading the team to its first National Invitational Tournament (NIT) appearance in 1959 and the NIT Finals in 1960, where he was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Wilkens graduated from Providence with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1960.

In the 1960 NBA Draft, Wilkens was drafted sixth overall by the St. Louis Hawks, and in a matter of years became a perennial All-Star.

Between 1963 and 1973, Wilkens was named to nine All-Star teams as a member of the Hawks (1960-1968), Seattle SuperSonics (1969-1972) and Cleveland Cavaliers (1972-1974). In 1968, Wilkens finished second in the NBA’s MVP voting to Wilt Chamberlain.

At the time of his retirement in 1975, Wilkens was second on the NBA’s all-time assists list, behind only Oscar Robertson, and finished his career with 16.5 points, 6.7 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Wilkens would begin the coaching portion of his basketball journey as a player-coach in Seattle (1969-1972 and for the Portland Trail Blazers in 1974, which was his final year as a player. Wilkens became a full-time coach in 1977 when he took over the 5-17 SuperSonics.

Their dismal record notwithstanding, Wilkens’ knack for teaching the fundamentals of the game became glaringly evident as he guided Seattle to a 42-18 record the rest of the season, and an appearance in the 1978 NBA Finals, where the SuperSonics succumbed to the Washington Bullets in seven games.

The following season, Wilkens took Seattle back to the NBA Finals and, this time, the SuperSonics defeated Washington in five games.

Despite Seattle’s dramatic turnaround under Wilkens’ steady hand, Wilkens was overlooked for the Coach of the Year Award in 1978 and 1979 for reasons that more than one observer considered racist.

After eight seasons in Seattle, Wilkens moved on to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers, transforming a team that won only 29 games in 1985-1986 into an Eastern Conference powerhouse that won 50 games or more in five of his last six seasons.

In 1994, his first year as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, Wilkens finally won Coach of the Year honors for taking a mediocre Hawks team to the playoffs with a 57-25 record.

Two years later, Wilkens would surpass Red Auerbach as the NBA’s all-time leader in coaching victories and, after brief stints with the Toronto Raptors (2000-2003) and the New York Knicks (2004-2005), retire with 1,332 victories, which is now only second to former coach Don Nelson.

During his coaching career, Wilkens also served as an assistant coach on the gold-medal winning 1992 United States Olympic Dream Team and as the head coach for the 1996 United States Olympic Team, which also captured gold.

On February 10, 1989, Wilkens’ exploits as a player were rewarded with election to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

And with his induction as a coach in 1998, Wilkens became only one of three players to be enshrined in Springfield as a player and a coach (Bill Sharman, John Wooden).

In 1996, the NBA named Wilkens one of its 50 Greatest Players and one of its 10 Greatest Coaches, the only individual named to both lists.

According to Newsweek, Wilkens "has earned the respect of two decades' worth of NBA players by being patient, by being demanding and by asking no more of his players than he asked of himself.... Nothing can detract from Wilkens' historic accomplishment. He has proved himself a man for all seasons, not just any one."

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 9, 1992

Figuratively speaking, November 7, 1991 was the day the magic died in the National Basketball Association.

Named by ESPN as the seventh most memorable moment in the past 25 years, Earvin Johnson, Jr., more affectionately known as "Magic,” held a press conference to announce his retirement after testing positive for HIV.

The announcement devastated not only the Los Angeles Lakers franchise, who Johnson guided to five NBA Championships in the 1980’s, but the national and international basketball community, where he had become a beloved figure.

Prior to his announcement, the AIDS virus was associated with drug addicts and homosexuals, but Johnson acknowledged that he was infected through having multiple sexual partners during his playing career.

The virus was also widely viewed as an impending death knell to those with the misfortune of being infected, instantly turning them into social pariahs.

But it was only fitting that “Magic” began the process of destroying these stereotypes with a virtuoso performance that transcended the game.

Even with one of its brightest stars permanently on the shelf, the 1991-92 NBA season commenced according to schedule. Nevertheless, Johnson’s on-court brilliance and magnetic personality remained firmly implanted in the hearts and minds of basketball fans worldwide.

Despite not playing in a single regular season game, Johnson was voted on to the Western Conference starting lineup for the 1992 All-Star Game on February 9, 1992, his 12th selection, and the former three-time Most Valuable Player humbly elected to participate.

Former teammates and opponents weren’t reluctant to voice concerns and objections about Johnson’s presence, but most relented with assurances that it didn’t present a risk and, by the end of the game, no one was upset that he was on the roster.

And how could they be?

By keeping in shape with a daily physical regimen that frequently included full-court, contact basketball, Johnson proved he was more than capable of keeping up with his All-Star teammates and counterparts.

The game ended in a 153-113 Western Conference blowout, but it was the end of the game that provided some of the most memorable moments in NBA history.

After being held scoreless since the end of the second quarter, Johnson went on a scoring spree in the game’s final minutes by making three consecutive three-pointers, tossing in one of his trademark no-look passes to Dan Majerle to add some flair to his run.

On the defensive end, the rest of the players on the floor allowed Johnson to go one-on-one with Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan, to the delight of the capacity crowd.

Johnson capped the game by taking and making an off-balance three-point shot to put the finishing touches on a stat line highlighted by 25 points, nine assists and five rebounds.

Players from both teams ran on to the court to congratulate Johnson and no one had any objections to him winning the second All-Star Game MVP Award of his career.

"When Magic announced that he was going to play, I was skeptical like everyone else, at first," said Portland Trail Blazers All-Star Clyde Drexler, who finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

"But once it was confirmed that everything was safe and he was going to play, everyone in the United States who knows anything about basketball was extremely happy with today. I would much rather have Magic as MVP than myself. It's the best way to honor him and he deserves it."

Johnson provided more in-depth perspective on the message he wanted to convey at the Orlando Arena.

"People with this virus can live on -- that's the message," Johnson said.

"They can run, they can jump. Second of all, you don't have to worry about me playing. You can't get it from hugging, kissing, elbows, and high fives. Life doesn't stop because something happens to you."

And fortunately, 19 years later, life still hasn’t stopped for Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

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