11/03/2024
As the NBA season kicks off, we proudly salute the New York Rens, embodying the spirit of Black excellence!
The New York Renaissance, a Black-owned team based in Harlem, dominated the basketball scene a century ago. In 1939, the Rens secured the first world basketball championship. Founded by Robert “Bob” L. Douglass on February 13, 1923, the team took its name from the Black-owned Renaissance Casino and Ballroom at 138th and Seventh Avenue, where they hosted their home games. Douglas, embodying the spirit of "race men" in his era, established the team to afford Black athletes opportunities for improvement through organized sports during a time of "racial uplift," emphasizing race pride, self-determination, and Black cultural expression.
Douglass played a pivotal role in revolutionizing basketball, breaking racial barriers, and challenging the hypocrisy of "white basketball," which resisted acknowledging a Black owner leading a world championship-winning all-black team. In 1925, the Harlem Rens defeated the Original Celtics, a top white team, showcasing their prowess.
During the 1932-1933 season, the Rens achieved an unprecedented feat, winning an unmatched 88 consecutive games and concluding the season with a remarkable 120-8 record, including an 8-6 record against the Original Celtics. Over the five years from 1932 to 1936, the Rens dominated, amassing 497 wins with only 58 losses, boasting an 88% winning percentage. By 1937, they stood as the most outstanding basketball team, regardless of race, in the United States.
In 1939, the Rens overcame the white-owned Harlem Globetrotters to reach Chicago's World Professional Basketball Tournament finals. There, they faced the reigning champions of the whites-only National Basketball League (NBL), the Oshkosh All-Stars. On March 28, 1939, the Rens triumphed over the Oshkosh All-Stars with a score of 34-25, securing their place as the first world champions of professional basketball. Between 1923 and 1948, the Rens won an impressive 2,588 of 3,117 games, maintaining an 83% winning percentage over 25 years.
Despite the NBL's willingness to integrate a select few Black players, the league resisted the integration of an entire team and Black ownership. Racism ultimately prevented the Rens franchise from joining the newly organized NBA.
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