Pop Gates
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Decatur, Alabama | August 30, 1917
Died | December 1, 1999 New York City, New York | (aged 82)
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
Listed weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Benjamin Franklin (Harlem, New York) |
Position | Guard |
Career history | |
As player: | |
1937–1938 | New York Harlem Yankees |
1938–1941, 1942–1946 | New York Renaissance |
1941–1946 | Washington Licthman Bears |
1941–1944 | Grumman Flyers |
1944–1945 | Rochester |
1944–1946 | Long Island Grumman Hellcats |
1945–1946 | Chicago Monarchs |
1946–1947 | Tri-Cities Blackhawks |
1947–1949 | New York Rens |
1949 | Dayton Rens |
1949–1950 | Scranton Miners |
1950–1957 | Harlem Globetrotters |
1951–1952 | New York Celtics |
As coach: | |
1949 | Dayton Rens |
1950–1955 | Harlem Globetrotters |
Career highlights and awards | |
Basketball Hall of Fame as player |
William Penn "Pop" Gates (August 30, 1917 – December 1, 1999) was an American professional basketball player.
Early life[edit]
He was born in Decatur, Alabama and attended high school in New York, New York. After attending Clark Atlanta University (although he did not play for the school), he began his basketball career in New York City.
Basketball career[edit]
Gates started his professional basketball career with the New York Renaissance, beginning in 1938–39. "Seven months before Jackie Robinson made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Leo Ferris helped usher in a new era of racial integration for professional basketball when he signed Pop Gates, who made his debut for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks in October 1946.
Gates, along with William "Dolly" King, were the first two African-American players in the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1946. "When Leo Ferris came to me, it was like a godsend", Gates was quoted as saying in the book "Pioneers of the Hardwood: Indiana and the Birth of Professional Basketball." "It was a real highlight of my career to be accepted by the NBL as one of only two blacks in the league."[1]
Later Gates played for and coached the Harlem Globetrotters. He is one of the few athletes who went directly from a high school championship team (Benjamin Franklin, New York, 1938) to a world professional champion (New York Rens, 1939).
Awards and honors[edit]
Gates was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1989.
References[edit]
- ^ "Long-forgotten Leo Ferris helped devise NBA's 24-second clock, first used 61 years ago today". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
External links[edit]
- 1917 births
- 1999 deaths
- African-American basketball players
- American men's basketball players
- Basketball players from New York (state)
- Clark Atlanta University alumni
- Dayton Rens coaches
- Dayton Rens players
- Guards (basketball)
- Harlem Globetrotters coaches
- Harlem Globetrotters players
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
- New York Renaissance players
- Player-coaches
- Scranton Miners (basketball) players
- Sportspeople from Decatur, Alabama
- Tri-Cities Blackhawks players