Hot Potato: How Washington and New York Gave Birth to Black Basketball and Changed America's Game Forever

By Bob Kuska

Book Overview

"The players today are much better than we were.... But there is one thing that we could do better. We could pass the ball better than they can now. Man, we used to pass that basketball around like it was a hot potato."--Sam "Buck" Covington, former member of the Washington Bruins n a nation distinguished by a great black athletic heritage, there is perhaps no sport that has felt the impact of African American culture more than basketball. Most people assume that the rise of black basketball was a fortuitous accident of the inner-city playgrounds. In Hot Potato, Bob Kuska shows that it was in fact a consciously organized movement with very specific goals. When Edwin Henderson introduced the game to Washington, D.C., in 1907, he envisioned basketball not as an end in itself but as a public-health and civil-rights tool. Henderson believed that, by organizing black athletics, including basketball, it would be possible to send more outstanding black student athletes to excel at northern white colleges and debunk negative stereotypes of the race. He reasoned that in sports, unlike politics and business, the black race would get a fair chance to succeed. Henderson chose basketball as his marquee sport, and he soon found that the game was a big hit on Washington's segregated U Street. Almost simultaneously, black basketball was catching on quickly in New York, and the book establishes that these two cities served as the birthplace of the black game. Hot Potato chronicles the many successes and failures of the early years of black amateur basketball. It also recounts the emergence of black college basketball in America, documenting the origins of the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association, or CIAA, which would become the Big Ten of black collegiate sports. The book also details for the first time the rise of black professional basketball in America, with a particular emphasis on the New York Renaissance, a team considered by experts to be as important in the development of black basketball as the Harlem Globetrotters. Kuska recounts the Renaissance's first victory over the white world champion Original Celtics in 1925, and he evaluates the significance of this win in advancing equality in American sports. By the late 1920s, the Renaissance became one of the sport's top draws in white and black America alike, setting the stage for the team's undisputed world championship in 1939. As Edwin Henderson had hoped--and as any fan of the modern-day game can tell you--the triumphs certainly did not end there.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813925568
• ISBN13: 9780813925561
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: University of Virginia Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.7" x 8.7"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A Landmark Work

There aren't enough adjectives to describe this important work on an oftentimes overlooked part of U.S. history/sports. Bob Kuska takes the reader on an exploration of the development of black athletics at the turn of the last century, with his focus surrounding basketball teams and leagues in New York City and Washington, D.C. The chapters are in chronological order by year and highlights the important personalities, teams and events in the two cities and throughout the country - from youth leagues to the colleges and beyond. I am particularly impressed with Kuska's acknowledgement of many individuals that time had seemingly forgotten. The ten years of research he did certainly accomplished his goal of giving the reader a complete understanding of the era. To set a clear path to the future, our society must have an appreciation of the rough paths taken by those who confronted the hideous Jim Crow laws and other forms of racisim & truly learn from the past. America's game was changed forever, but not just on the hardwood floors. These heroes knocked down barriers and opened the door for others to pursue their dreams, no matter what the odds.

A truly outstanding sports history

When one Edwin Henderson, a Harvard-educated African American physical education teacher - was introduced to basketball in Washington DC in 1907, he envisioned it as a method of organizing black athletes to allow them to excel at northern while colleges. In sports, he reasoned, blacks would get a fair chance to succeed. Hot Potato details the birth and rise of black amateur basketball in America, examines college basketball and the origins of the CIAA, and surveys the rise of black professional athletes. A truly outstanding sports history evolves.

Excellent summary of an important era in basketball history!

Kuska has given us some details to back up the legends of black basketball stars from the first half of the 20th century. Many of the individual names are known and the New York Renaissance team has been heard of by real basketball fans. This book gives us some details and further understanding of what the individuals went through and what modern basketball owes to them. A GREAT READ!! Hope to hear more from this fine writer and sports historian.

Name Correction

I am the granddaughter of Samuel Buck Covington. I'd just like to point out in the editorial by John Grasso, from Guilford, NY, that my grandfather, Samuel Buck Covington was mistakenly referenced as "Cunningham". Samuel Buck Covington was an outstanding athlelete and pillar of the Washington Metropolitan community. He was honored to be part of the writing of this wonderful book and the naming of the title "Hot Potato". Growing up he told countless stories of what it was like breaking barriers and playing semi-professional basketball for the Washington Bruins against teams such as the Harlem Globtrotters. This is a wonderful tribute to those who came through during this time who had gone unnoticed. I am proud to say he was my grandfather. Unfortunately, he did not live to see the final product of this book. Samuel Buck Covington died in September,1998 . . . Cheryl Moore

Great book on Basketball History

Seldom does a basketball historian find a book on basketball in which more than 75% of the material is new to him. Bob Kuska's new book - Hot Potato: How Washington and New YorkGave Birth to Black Basketball and Changed America's Game Forever is such a book. It is a chronicle of the earliest days of Black basketball in the two cities where its impact was greatest and covers the period 1905 through the 1930s. There have only been a handful ofbooks written on basketball history of this period and none of them devote more than a few pages to Black teams. More than a decade of research went into this work which includes a detailed reference section and twelve pages of photos. The story begins with Edwin Henderson, the first major contributor to Black basketball and concludes with the New York Renaissance - the Hall of Fame team of the 1930s. Both amateur and pro basketball are covered. Along the way the basketball exploits of such legendary figures as Paul Robeson and Cumberland Posey are detailed along with Fat (not Fats) Jenkins, Pop Gates, George Fiall, Bob Douglas and many others. The intriguing title came about as a result of an discussion with Sam "Buck" Cunningham, one of the players interviewed during the research for the book. "The players today are much better than we were - ... but there is one thing that we could do better. We could pass the ball better than they can now.Man, we used to pass that basketball around like it was a hot potato." This is definitely a must addition to the library of a basketball historian. Thank you very much, Bob."