Nearly 75 years after the first Black man in history was drafted into the NBA by the Boston Celtics, the city of Boston and America more broadly still have a long way to go in terms of equity for people of color. And while jabs at Boston’s pretenses of progressivism via the behavior of their fans sadly holds water even today at times, the history of the organization itself in that regard is an important one.
Perhaps no player was more important to setting that in motion than the man in question drafted by the Celtics in 1950, Duquesne’s own Chuck Cooper. And with that era also back in the contemporary news cycle due to former NBAer JJ Redick’s widely-criticized comments about the level of play in Cooper’s era, we thought it would be a perfect time to link up with his son Chuck III.
In this episode of the CLNS Media “Celtics Lab” podcast, we talk about Cooper’s trailblazing on and off of the court, the toll it took, and his and the Celtics’ legacy in fighting for racial and social equity.
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We also get into the good works the Chuck Cooper Foundation does up to this day in addition to tackling Redick’s misguided takes head on.
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Join your usual hosts Cameron Tabatabaie, Alex Goldberg, and Justin Quinn for one of our favorite episodes in a long while — and a refreshing break from hypothetical trade talks about you know who.
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Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi
