This Day in Black Sports History: February 2, 1968

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 18, 1986 In the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA), only four players have recorded a quadruple-double, which is the accumulation of double-digit number totals in four of five statistical categories—points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots—in a game. “The reason why [quadruple-double] is such a hard thing to accomplish is...

This Day in Black Sports History: February 21, 2003 Although in the twilight of his career, with nothing left to prove, Michael Jeffrey Jordan continued his assault on the National Basketball Association’s record books. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Wilmington, N.C., Jordan was motivated to prove his worth since he failed to make his high school’s varsity basketball...

This Day in Black Sports History: February 20, 2011 When Western Conference head coach Gregg Popovich called his number in the first quarter of the 60th NBA All-Star Game, Blake Austin Griffin became a part of black sports history at the tender age of 21. After his participation in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge, in which he scored 14 points,...

This Day in Black Sports History: February 19, 1996 Seemingly lost among his colorful and controversial comments both during and after he retired from the game was the fact that Charles Wade Barkley was one of the greatest players in the National Basketball Association’s 64-year history. Born and raised in Leeds, Alabama, Barkley stood at 5’10” and weighed 220...

This Day in Black Sports History: February 22, 2007 This day in black sports history marks the fourth anniversary of the sudden and tragic passing of a man Larry Bird called “best I ever played with” and whom Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson lauded as “the best backcourt defender of all-time.” These poignant words represent a mere microcosm of how respected...

This Day in Black Sports History: February 24, 1998 Although she suffered a season-ending injury in the penultimate game of her college basketball career, Nykesha Simone Sales left the University of Connecticut (UConn) as the Huskies’ all-time leading scorer. In her first three seasons, Sales helped lead UConn to a NCAA Championship and two Elite Eight appearances, while winning...

This Day in Black Sports History: February 4, 1952 When Jack Roosevelt Robinson made his major league debut on April 15, 1947 in front of 26,623 spectators at Ebbets Field, including more than 14,000 black patrons, he became the first African-American player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier, which segregated the sport for more than 55 years. But...

This Day in Black Sports History: February 28, 2003 Although he excelled at cricket and soccer growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, Patrick Aloysius Ewing rose from poor beginnings to become one of the 50 greatest players in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After his parents immigrated to the United States, settling in Cambridge, Mass., Ewing, his...

This Day in Black Sports History: February 23, 1986 Throughout his 20-year career in the National Basketball Association, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s trademark sky hook was virtually untouchable, much like the records he held upon his retirement in 1989. But since his early years growing up in New York City, Abdul-Jabbar was destined to secure his place among basketball royalty. In...

This Day in Black Sports History: February 15, 2011 When it comes to the game of basketball, William Felton Russell is arguably the greatest winner in the sport’s history. Prior to the start of his professional career, Russell led the University of San Francisco (USF) men’s basketball team to two consecutive NCAA Championships (1955, 1956) and won a gold...