Robert L. Douglas (b. (St. Kitts) November 4, 1882 – d. (unknown) July 16, 1979) was the founder of the New York Renaissance

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team, the first fully all-black professional black-owned basketball team.

Career

Nicknamed the "Father of Black Professional Basketball", Douglas owned and coached the Rens from 1923 to 1949, guiding them to a 2,318-381 record (.859). The Rens barnstormed throughout the United States, mostly in the Midwest, and played any team that would schedule them, black or white. Traveling as far as 200 miles for a game, they often slept on the bus and ate cold meals; they were barred from many hotels and restaurants by

Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sou ...

and norms of racial discrimination which prevailed in the northern United States at the time. The Rens soon became a dominant team, winning as many as 88 consecutive games during the 1932–33 season. In the twenties and early thirties, their matches with the Original Celtics were basketball's greatest gate attraction. At the World Professional Basketball Tournament they won in 1939, lost to the eventual champion

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name '' Harlem'' because of ...

in 1940, and finished second to the National Basketball League champion Minneapolis Lakers in 1948.

Accolades

He was inducted into the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

as a contributor in 1972, the first African American enshrined.

References

External links

Robert L. "Bob" Douglas
at the Basketball Hall of Fame 1882 births 1979 deaths 20th-century African-American men African-American sports executives and administrators Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees {{1880s-US-basketball-bio-stub