Earl Lloyd

Earl Lloyd

1955 NBA Champion & NBA Pioneer| Former Detroit Pistons Head Coach | CIAA “Player of the Decade” (1940s)

Earl Lloyd was born on April 3, 1928, in Alexandria, Virginia. As a small forward, he played college basketball at West Virginia State University, where Lloyd helped lead West Virginia State to an undefeated season in 1948. He later played for the Harlem Globetrotters, amongst his teammates were Chuck Cooper and Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton. All three would go on to be drafted by the NBA as many of the early African American basketball players to be drafted in NBA history, Clifton in 1950, Cooper in 1950, and Lloyd in 1950, the 100th overall pick.

“In 1950, basketball was like a babe in the woods; it didn’t enjoy the notoriety that baseball enjoyed,” Lloyd once said. “I don’t think my situation was anything like Jackie Robinson’s—a guy who played in a hostile environment, where some of his teammates didn’t want him around. In basketball, folks were used to seeing integrated college teams. There was a different mentality.” – Earl Lloyd

Lloyd was selected with the 100th overall pick in 9th round of the 1950 NBA Draft by the Washington Capitals. He also played for the Syracuse Nationals, where he and his team won the 1955 NBA championship, and the Detroit Pistons. Lloyd played in an era (1950s) where players had to deal with heckling, insults, and even discrimination based on the color of their skin.

After 10 seasons playing in the NBA, Lloyd retired in 1960 and later coached the Detroit Pistons from 1971-1972. Lloyd had been a scout for the Pistons when he was credited for discovering Bailey Howell, Willis Reed, Earl Monroe, Ray Scott and Wally Jones.

In 1993, Lloyd was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, later inducted into the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Hall of Fame in 1998. The state of Virginia, proclaimed on February 9, 2001, as “Earl Lloyd Day” by action of Virginia’s Governor. In 2003, Lloyd was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor and in 2007, a basketball court at T. C. Williams High School was named after Lloyd.

Coach Lloyd passed away on February 26, 2015, at the age of 86.

• Overall Coaching Record: 22–55

Coaching Career