William Pop Gates Signed AUTO 8x10 Team photo of the Harlem Renaissance Basketball HOF
William Pop Gates (D. 1999) started his professional basketball career with the New York Renaissance, beginning in 1938–39. "Seven months before Jackie Robinson made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Leo Ferris helped usher in a new era of racial integration for professional basketball when he signed Pop Gates, who made his debut for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks in October 1946.
Gates, along with William "Dolly" King, were the first two African-American players in the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1946. "When Leo Ferris came to me, it was like a godsend", Gates was quoted as saying in the book "Pioneers of the Hardwood: Indiana and the Birth of Professional Basketball." "It was a real highlight of my career to be accepted by the NBL as one of only two blacks in the league.”
Later Gates played for and coached the Harlem Globetrotters. He is one of the few athletes who went directly from a high school championship team (Benjamin Franklin, New York, 1938) to a world professional champion (New York Rens, 1939).
He was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989.
We offer an 8x10 photo of the Harlem Rens that featured Pop Gates, Sweetwater Clifton, Dolly King, Duke Cumberland, and Eddie Younger.
Signed in black sharpie and dated 5-89. We’ve never seen another signed team photo by Gates.
Item: 13025
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| Price: $199.00 | | |
