Earl Lloyd Biography

1928-

American basketball player

Earl Lloyd was one of a handful of black basketball players who broke the racial barrier and helped integrate the National Basketball Association (NBA). In 1950, with the Washington Capitols, he became the first African American to play in an NBA game. The top defensive player later joined the Syracuse Nationals and became the first black player to win an NBA championship. Later with the Detroit Pistons, he was the first African American to be named an assistant coach and the first to be named a bench coach. Lloyd was enshrined in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, was nominated to the Basketball Hall of Fame, and saw February 9, 2001, named Earl Lloyd Day by Virginia's governor.