Friday, December 12, 2014

Chuck Cooper 1st Black player drafted by an NBA Team.

 Charles Henry "Chuck" Cooper  was an American professional basketball player. He and two others, Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton and Earl Lloyd, became the 1st African American players in the NBA in 1950. Cooper was also the 1st African-American to be drafted by an NBA team, as the 1st pick of the 2nd round by the Boston Celtics. Cooper was born and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Pittsburgh's Westinghouse High School. He then attended and played basketball for West Virginia State College (now University) and then Duquesne University. Cooper was signed by Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach. He played 4 years with the Celtics, then was traded to the Milwaukee Hawks before ending his career as a member of the Ft. Wayne Pistons. During his NBA career, Cooper played a total of 409 games, scored 2,725 points for an average of 6.66 points per game, had 2431 rebounds for an average of 5.9 per game, and had 733 assists for an average of 1.79 per game.                                                                                                                                                       

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