National Basketball Association

Earl Lloyd, first black player in NBA history, dies at 86

Published Feb. 27, 2015 1:02 a.m. ET

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Earl Lloyd, the first black player in NBA history, died Thursday. He was 86.

Tom Leyden of WXYZ in Detroit was the first to report Lloyd’s death, saying that Lloyd’s family confirmed the Hall of Famer died in the early afternoon. Several outlets reported he died in Tennessee, where he lived with his wife, Charlita.

Lloyd’s alma mater, West Virginia State, confirmed his death to The Associated Press, though the school did not provide details.

Lloyd became the first African-American to play in an NBA game when he suited up for the Washington Capitols on Oct. 31, 1950, shortly after he was drafted by Washington in the ninth round after his standout career at West Virginia State. He was a two-time All-American, helping lead the Yellow Jackets to a perfect 30-0 record in 1947-48.

"The State family mourns the loss of a fellow Yellow Jacket and trailblazer who was a true champion both on and off of the basketball court," West Virginia State President Brian Hemphill said in a statement. "When Earl stepped out on the court on that fateful date in 1950, this remarkable man rightfully earned his place in the historic civil rights movement and, more important, he opened the door to equality in America."

He would play seven games for Washington that season, a season in which, according to NBA.com, two other African-American players would suit up for an NBA team -- Nat Clifton (New York Knicks) and Charles Cooper (Boston Celtics). All three were drafted by the NBA that season; Lloyd’s Capitols happened to play their season opener first.

"It's amazing how a scheduling quirk can change your whole life," Lloyd once told the Denver Post.

As was the case for trail blazers in other sports like Jackie Robinson, the road was a rough one for Lloyd, Clifton and Cooper.

"Those fans in Indianapolis, they yell stuff like, 'Go back to Africa,'" Lloyd once told NBA.com. “And I’m telling you, you would often hear the N-word. That was commonplace. There were a lot of people who sat close to you who gave you the blues, man.”

Lloyd quickly decided he would not respond to the insults; would not even look at the faces of those who spewed them. Instead, he would take his anger out on his opponents.

"My philosophy was if they weren’t calling you names, you weren't doing anything," Lloyd says. "You made sure they were calling you names, if you could. If they were calling you names, you were hurting them."

After that rookie season, Lloyd skipped the next season to serve with the U.S. Army in the Korean War. While enlisted, Lloyd saw his contract picked up by the Syracuse Nationals after the Capitols folded.

Lloyd returned and would experience his greatest season 1954-55, when he helped lead the Nationals to the NBA championship, joining teammate Jim Tucker as the first black players to play on a championship team. Lloyd played in all 11 of his team’s postseason games, averaging more than 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the playoffs after finishing in the top five in the league in defensive win shares for the season.

The 6-foot-5 forward averaged 8.4 points and 6.4 rebounds in 560 regular-season games in nine seasons with Washington, Syracuse and Detroit.

After his playing career ended following the 1959-60 season, Lloyd became the first black assistant coach in NBA history (joining the Pistons staff in 1968), then became the second African-American head coach in league history three seasons later when Detroit promoted him. (Bill Russell was the first.)

Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003 as a contributor, Lloyd was 22-55 as Detroit's coach in 1971-72 and the first nine games in the 1972-73 season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report