The Shame of the Basketball Hall of Fame

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Contributor. It’s the word used by the Basketball Hall of Fame that categorizes the African-American college coach that worked at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) during the segregation era in the United States. Because of the absence of official records, the Hall does not fully recognize their accomplishments.

The word itself is a slap in the face because of its origin. The Latin root of the word “tribute” means to give to a higher authority by forced means, while the English prefix “con” means “in opposition.” So if you put that together it literally means to give by forced means while you’re in opposition to a higher power. That sums up the segregated environment that Black coaches worked in late ‘40s though the late ‘60s – giving their all and receiving no mainstream attention.

This is in stark contrast to the recognition given to the White coaches of the pre and post-modern era. The term used for their induction is “enshrinement,” a 14th century word created in England that means, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to “preserve or cherish as sacred.” This distinction illustrates how important it is to choose words and titles with care.

Filmmaker Dan Klores, the director of “Black Magic” – a documentary that chronicled the lack of Hall Of Fame recognition given to the Black College Coach in the segregated era – mentioned in his September 4th Huffington Post article, Basketball Hall of Fame Ignores Its True Pioneers, that:

“Contributor” is a code word that maligned the great black coach John McLendon, whose Tennessee State teams won three national titles in a row (1957-59), whose efforts to integrate the NCAA and NAIA tourneys proved to be successful, who won more than 500 career games, who revolutionized the fast break, who taught the game in at least 80 different countries, who was the first black man ever to coach a professional hoops team…and at an integrated college in the 1960s. McLendon, the mentor to hundreds, if not thousands of coaches and players, including Clarence ‘BigHouse’ Gaines, is in the Hall under this bogus title — ‘contributor’.”

In the September 8th Associated Press story, “Basketball Hall of Fame Forms Committee To Honor Those From Traditionally Black Colleges,” written by Pat Eaton-Robb, the ire of Coach Ben Jobe was captured.

Jobe, after a stellar playing career at Fisk, was a disciple of McClendon and won 524 games as a coach at Talladega College, Alabama State, South Carolina State College and Southern. He brought two teams to the NAIA national finals and received a number of coach-of-the-year awards.

“That’s pathetic, ridiculous,” Jobe said to Eaton-Robb in reference to John McClendon’s induction as a contributor. “The man’s a coach. He was the greatest coach of us all and should be in as a coach. They need to right that wrong.” Jobe stated that he was wary of separate Hall of Fame accommodations for players and coaches from HBCU’s, rather than granting the full enshrinement they deserve.

“You’re talking about segregation again,” Jobe told Eaton-Robb. “I can see how they would think that way, that’s typical of the way most organizations today think.”

Backhanded recognition is nothing new to the American Republic. Even in our so-called enlightened and advanced period, with the country on the verge of electing an African-American President, the word “terrorist” is being used to undermine and categorize Democratic candidate Barack Obama. It’s a word that has never been used for any candidate in the history of the democratic electoral process. In the post-911 society we live in, is there a more hateful or damaging word?

Apparently, the electoral world of basketball is dominated by men whose minds are still firmly planted in the past. Being born in an era of unfairness shouldn’t be the deciding factor for acknowledgment. Klores says it best by calling it a “…systematic policy of exclusion…that is consistent with a segregationist mentality.” He goes on to say that when he confronted two white executives from the Hall of Fame at the NBA All-Star weekend…they had the nerve to tell him  “…McLendon wanted it this way.”

This dismissive attitude illustrates the air of callous omission and mental struggle that men like McLendon have gone through. Throughout their careers however, they have traveled the high road of quiet distinction while dealing with exclusion and the absence of acknowledgment.

However, there is hope.

“Mannie Jackson, chairman of the Hall’s Board of Directors, is putting together a committee to review the Hall of Fame credentials of players and coaches from Historically Black Schools, particularly those who played and coached during the era of segregation,” wrote Eaton-Robb. “‘The committee will take a look back…make sure we have not missed anyone in terms of Hall of Fame recognition, and also those who may not be quite Hall-of-Fame caliber, but should be recognized for what they did for the game,’ said John Doleva, the Hall’s President and Chief Executive Officer.”

Let’s hope that this change will lead to an upgrade in category, making the accomplishments of the African-American coaches of the segregation era equal to all coaches in the Hall of Fame.

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