Earl Lloyd

Quick to play down the significance of his achievement, Lloyd in later years refused to compare his experience with that of Jackie Robinson, who was the first African American to play major league baseball when he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945. In an Associated Press article, "Lloyd Says He's No Jackie Robinson," Lloyd noted that his first game caused little controversy because it was played in a city that had already embraced integration.

According to the article, Lloyd experienced a relatively easy transition from college to the NBA because of the acceptance of his white teammates during training camp, where he proved he could play at their level. Lloyd commented, "So you get to training camp with these guys from Southern Cal and Ohio State and UCLA and Georgetown and N.C. State, you kind of ask yourself: Do I belong? For a young black man from Virginia to compete at that level and learn that he belongs there, it was a true defining moment."

Lloyd has contended that Jackie Robinson faced a much more hostile environment in the late 1940s in baseball, often from his own teammates. Unlike Robinson who was the sole black in baseball, Lloyd had the solace of fellow black colleagues, Clifton and Cooper, in the NBA. Lloyd said, "In basketball, folks were used to seeing integrated teams at the college level. There was a different mentality."