About
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The Black Fives Era In Perspective
Just after the game of basketball was invented in 1891, teams were called “fives” in reference to their five starting players.
Basketball, like American society, was racially segregated. Teams made up entirely of African American players were known as colored quints, colored fives, Negro fives, or black fives.
The sport remained segregated from 1891 until the racial integration of professional basketball leagues such as the National Basketball League (NBL) and the National Basketball Association beginning in the late 1940s. The period in between became known as the Black Fives Era. Dozens of all-black teams emerged and flourished during this time, decades before the NBA was born.
These were amateur, semi-pro, and professional teams that were sponsored by churches, athletic clubs, social clubs, businesses, colleges, and “Colored” YMCAs. For a while, these teams had few places to play, since “colored” people were prohibited from using most athletic facilities and had few of their own.
But around 1910, the emergence of the phonograph and radio made indigenous black music — ragtime, jazz, and blues — so popular that it created a dancing craze. Sheet music and the piano in the parlor gave way to dancehalls and ballrooms. Almost overnight, African American musical talent was in demand.
Positive and culturally affirming opportunities in the entertainment industry replaced the insulting, degrading minstrelsy of the past.
Observant black basketball promoters saw this as an opportunity too. Empty ballrooms could be used for basketball games, and to attract more attention the games could feature popular music and dancing.
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