Breaking Barriers

On April 25, 1950 Boston Celtics Owner Walter Brown got up at the table and declared he was taking Chuck Cooper with the fourteenth pick in the draft. When someone reminded him that Cooper was black Brown declared "I don't care if he is striped, plaid, or polka dot, Boston takes Charles Cooper." Thus began the odyssey of Chuck Cooper as the Jackie Robinson of the NBA, as he was the first African American that the league drafted. Along with Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, and Earl Lloyd they cleared the lane for all who followed. The Cooper story begins though in 1926 and builds to his All-American career at Duquense University. It was there that he became the second player to score a 1,000 points in his career, set the school single season scoring record and became only the second African American to be named to a consensus All-American team before beginning his historic NBA career with the Boston Celtics. As impressive as his basketball career was, it was his second act in life that was even greater. He broke barriers as the first African American department head for the city of Pittsburgh and also as an urban affairs officer for Pittsburgh National Bank where he had the opportunity to help those in need. The story of Chuck Cooper is incredible and the pages written by David Finoli and Chuck Cooper III tell the complete story of this iconic figure in American sports history.