The Black Fives: The Epic Story of Basketball's Forgotten Era

Before the NBA, before March Madness, and before basketball became a global sport, Black players, coaches, and entrepreneurs built a thriving basketball movement that changed the game forever. Yet their contributions have largely been left out of the story.

In The Black Fives, historian Claude Johnson uncovers the remarkable history of Black basketball from the early twentieth century through the integration of professional basketball in 1950. Drawing on more than two decades of research, in...