Ginny, Jabou and Bro. Habib, As the new NBA season kicks off, it is in order to pause and pay homage to the African-American pioneers of what it now the NBA . These trail blazers made it possible for the late Wilt Chamberlains, the Karim Abdul-Jabbahs (the inventor of the sky-hook and the man responsible for the NCAA to ban dunking at the college level which was subsequently lifted), the Dr. Js, the Dave Bings, the Michael Jordans to play, refine and, in the process, define the game to what it is today. The list comes on. Tribute also goes the African-American pioneers of MLB of the likes of Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron and many more who played the game under the harshest and most hostile of conditions. Below is the story of one such pioneer of professional basketball, as we enjoy the season opener. Sidi Sanneh __________________________________________ NEW YORK, Oct 27 (AFP) - While America are to celebrate Halloween Tuesday, the National Basketball Association will open its 2000-2001 season. It is also the 50th anniversary of Earl Lloyd becoming the first African-American to play in an NBA game. Lloyd, who was part of a teleconference call here Friday, remembered the landmark game. "It was totally and unequivocally uneventful," he said. A man with a sense of humor, he added: "It was Halloween, maybe they (the crowd) thought I was a goblin or something." The game was played in Rochester, New York. "There could not have been a better place to play the game. In the 1950s it was integrated and a sleepy New York town," Lloyd said. On Tuesday, Lloyd, who played with the Washington Capitols, the late Chuck Cooper and the late Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton and Hank DeZonie will be honored here at Madison Square Garden before the New York Kicks-Philadelphia 76ers game. Lloyd will take part in a ceremonial opening tip and will be joined in pre-game introductions by DeZonie, Clifton's daughter, Anita Brown, and Cooper's son, Chuck Jr., and widow, Irva. Cooper was the first to be drafted by the Boston Celtics and Clifton was the first to sign a contract with New York. DeZonie played five games in 1950 with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, now the Atlanta Hawks. Lloyd said he could not recall much about the first game, except his team lost. After the game he said the team went back to the hotel where he was allowed to stay in the rooms, but not to eat at the restaurant. "I went to Coach 'Bones' McKinley's suite and saw sandwiches and beer. If this happens when we lose ...," said Lloyd. He said that McKinley was "very special to me" because he was sympathetic to what African-Americans were going through at the time. "He said, 'I can't change it,'" said Lloyd. The two would eat their meals in his room when they were on the road. ps/jlp _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------