A Closer Look at NBA Pioneer Earl Lloyd

2008/01/25 03:29:19 @NBA.com: News

In the CLEVELAN PLAIN DEALER, Mary Schmitt Boyler writes "Earl Lloyd is extremely proud of the fact that he was the first African-American to play in the NBA. But please don't call him the Jackie Robinson of basketball.' I take polite umbrage,' Lloyd said of the comparison. ‘What I had to go through pales to what he had to go through. Here's a guy, his own teammates didn't want to play with him. The competition? They tried to maim him. The fans vilified him. For a guy to go through all that and perform in that hostile arena . . . then when it's time for him to go into the Hall of Fame, he made it on the first ballot. Being black had nothing to do with it'. Robinson's achievements have been well-chronicled. Lloyd's are not quite as familiar.”
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