Tri-City Blackhawks: The Brief, Turbulent History of a Pioneering NBA Team

Professional basketball in the 1940s bore little resemblance to the modern-day NBA. The arenas were smaller. The players generally were shorter. Almost all of them were white. A majority of the travel was by car, bus or train. Most players had two hands on the ball when they shot and almost none of them jumped when they did so. There were almost no slam dunks. Many of the franchises were located in small Midwestern cities such as Oshkosh, Sheboygan, Anderson and Fort Wayne.

The Tri-City Blackhawks, based in a community that straddled the Iowa-Illinois border, were a big part of that basketball landscape. The team originated in Buffalo, New York, and existed for only five years, but it brushed up against basketball history almost every step of the way. This history of the trailblazing team covers the Blackhawks' large role in the racial integration of the pro game, as well as its employment of three Hall of Famers, including the most legendary coach in NBA history. Presenting the team's brief but notable career in full, this book fills a glaring gap in basketball scholarship. The Blackhawks traveled a turbulent and uncertain path in their infancy, but they remain in existence today as the Atlanta Hawks.