BOSTON -- The rippling effect of the Boston Celtics drafting Chuck Cooper in 1950 - the first black player drafted by an NBA franchise - was felt for generations to come.
So it’s only fitting that upon his induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame next month, that he is presented to the hall by several Hall of Famers.
Cooper, one of 12 inductees into the Hall of Fame this year, will have 10 presenters: Bill Russell (‘75), Elgin Baylor (‘77), Tom Heinsohn (’86), Julius Erving (’93), Kareem Abdul Jabbar (‘95), Larry Bird (’98), Isiah Thomas (‘00), Dominique Wilkins (‘06), Mannie Jackson (‘17), and Ray Allen (‘18).
The expansive list of presenters speaks volumes as to the impact of Cooper being drafted has had on the NBA.
Being the first black player drafted, while certainly in retrospect is looked upon favorably, there were challenges that Cooper had to endure even at that time.
Celtics Hall of Famer Bob Cousy, who was recently given the Medal of Freedom, which is the highest civilian honor in the United States, recalled an incident in the early 1950s that he has never been able to fully shake.
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“We’re in Raleigh, North Carolina, playing a game,” Cousy said in an exclusive interview with NBC Sports Boston’s A. Sherrod Blakely. “The hotel wouldn’t let Chuck stay in it.”
Head coach and General Manager Red Auerbach was furious. “He (Auerbach) wanted to raise hell,” Cousy recalled.
Cousy knew of a sleeper train that was going through town that night, that would take him and Cooper back to Boston after the game.
He and Cooper showed up at the train station around 10 p.m., but the train wasn’t set to leave for another couple hours.
So after a couple hours of drinking, they had to use the bathroom.
And that is when the segregated ways of society in the south back then, hit them square between the eyes.
As they headed towards the bathroom, there was a sign for “colored” and another for “whites only.”
“Now Chuck is from Pittsburgh. He thinks he’s pretty cool. I’m from the Big Apple. I think I’m sophisticated. We had never seen that before,” Cousy said.
Cousy added, “I teared up. I was ashamed to be white. I didn’t know how to explain it. Even now, I get emotional thinking about it.”
Rather than use the segregated bathrooms, the two headed outside to the very far end of the train platform and relieved themselves in the shadows.
“So it was a Rosa Parks moment that we couldn’t talk about,” Cousy said.
Cooper won’t be the only person associated with the Boston Celtics getting inducted on Sept. 6.
Bill Fitch, who coached the Celtics for four seasons (1979-1983), won 242 games in Boston which ranks sixth on the franchise’s all-time list of coaching victories. His all-time win total (944) ranks 10th all-time.
The 87-year-old spent 25 years coaching in the NBA, known primarily for his ability to take bad teams and build them into competitive, playoff-caliber clubs. That wasn’t the case during his time in Boston which included him winning an NBA title with the Celtics in 1981, twice being named the NBA’s Coach of the Year (1976 and 1980).
He will be presented by Larry Bird who in the past has credited Fitch with helping build his strong work ethic.
Other inductees and presenters include:
Al Attles, presented by Rick Barry (’87)
Carl Braun, presented by David Stern (’14)
Vlade Divac, presented by Jerry West (’80)
Bobby Jones, presented by Billy Cunningham (’86) and David Thompson (’96)
Sidney Moncrief, presented by Bob Lanier (‘92) and Don Nelson (‘12)
Jack Sikma, presented by Lenny Wilkens (‘89), Kareem Abdul Jabbar (’95) and Wayne Embry (‘99)
Tennessee A&I, presented Jerry West (‘80)
Wayland Baptist, presented by Luisa Harris Stewart (‘92), and Nancy Lieberman (‘96)
Teresa Weatherspoon, presented by Cynthia Cooper (‘10), Sheryl Swoopes (‘16), and Tina Thompson (‘18)
Paul Westphal, presented by Elgin Baylor (’77) and Charles Barkley (’06)
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