Reece ‘Goose’ Tatum, who played with the Globetrotters from 1941 to 1955 and was known as the “Clown Prince of Basketball,” will be enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of its 2011 class.
But now it’s as if the Hall mistakenly thinks that its progress regarding the election of African Americans in general somehow goes toward satisfying the need to consider specific deserving black pioneers from the earlier time.
This weekend marks the 70th anniversary of the historic date (March 28, 1939) the all-black New York Renaissance defeated the Oshkosh All Stars to win the championship title in the inaugural World Professional Basketball Tournament at the Chicago Coliseum.
Clarence ‘Fats’ Jenkins was the captain and on-court leader of the New York Renaissance (‘Rens’) professional basketball team from 1925 to 1940, leading the team to an 88-game winning streak in 1933 and to the World Pro Basketball Tournament title in 1939.
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