Summary

Chapter 4 is titled “Coach Phelps.” The opening page shows Coach Mike Phelps. He is White. He is wearing brown slacks and a brown vest over a button-down shirt and tie. The first page of this chapter drops back in time to talk more about the history of basketball. During the early years, teams pitted themselves against each other at random and created identities to draw fans. A Chicago team dubbed themselves the Harlem Globetrotters. Marques Haynes was an early member of the team. In high school, he was not allowed to “showboat” his skills. He ignored that rule on the final game of his high school career. Many white scientists felt Blacks were not suited to athletics. Members of the Globetrotters proved that false.

Gene explains how the National Basketball Association came into being in 1946. Racial tension erupted after an altercation between a...