The Chuck Cooper Story. David Finoli and Chuck Cooper III

 

The Chuck Cooper Story.   David Finoli and Chuck Cooper III

Breaking Barriers.  

As a mostly lifelong resident of the Pittsburgh area and a sports fan for just about all of those years it is not hard to come across many athletic stars in a variety of sports from one generation to the next.      When it comes to college basketball the region features three division one schools with plenty of history and great players that traversed the hardwoods of those programs.  One such program was Duquesne University; a school located on the bluff just outside the downtown Pittsburgh area.     The school has produced many notable players over the past 80 years but one in particular was a bit off of the radar that recently came to my attention.    

In the book, The Chuck Cooper Story, his unique and interesting story is explained via the quality writing style of long-time western Pennsylvania author David Finoli.   We reviewed another Finoli book in this blog—see Pittsburgh Sports in the 1970’s, for another review.    What adds an extraordinary slant to this book is that Finoli partnered up with Chuck Cooper’s son who provided plenty of insight and images to the finished product. 

Finoli opens the book by thanking the many contributors towards the making of this manuscript.   He praises the insight and efforts of the Cooper family including co-author Chuck Cooper III.    Additionally, the author writes about the importance of this story since it took place in an era where black athletes were often at a competitive disadvantage if they even had an opportunity to play at all.     Finoli explains how Chuck Cooper was part of a history making event while enduring a successful collegiate and professional basketball playing career. Cooper just happened to be a black man playing at Duquesne in the latter part of the 1940’s.    As he helps lead Duquesne to successful seasons his junior and senior years he became a top pro prospect.     In fact, as the authors ardently document Cooper was picked in the first round of the 1950 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics who would later go on to establish a dynasty in the league throughout the 1960’s.   

The significance of that moment April 21, 1950, is actually reprinted on the back of the book and features an assertive defense of taking the black Duquesne star with the fourteenth overall pick of the draft.   Upon being reminded of Cooper’s race, Celtics owner Walter Brown then responded with a classic retort: “I don’t care if he is striped, plaid or polka dot, Boston takes Charles Cooper.”   Now to the credit of the author, he is careful to acknowledge two other black players that entered the league that season in Nate “Sweetwater” Clifton and Earl Lloyd.    Cooper, however, was the first black player to be drafted in the NBA.    While this was the very early stages of the association and a long way from the way business is handled today in the media and the league, the transaction dating from seventy-five years ago is historical and could easily be compared to when Jackie Robinson was the first black player to appear in a major league baseball game just a few years prior to this milestone. 

The book goes on to describe Cooper’s professional basketball career with the Celtics and eventually a few other teams as well.    Finoli and Cooper’s son do not hedge on the racism and brush back that Cooper faced while playing in the league.   Not only was Cooper the subject of many ugly and bigoted comments heard from the fans in opposing arenas, but the authors indicate that organizations that employed Cooper seemed to be reluctant to further develop his game.   Cooper was a fair scorer and rebounder at the collegiate level.  However, the book indicates that Cooper felt that his coaches did not want him to expand his role beyond being a stout rebounder and defender and the reason provided was likely due to the color of his skin. 

Fortunately, Cooper came from a strong, supportive family in Pittsburgh as indicative of Chuck Cooper’s contributions including many images dating back to Cooper II’s youth.  This served him well when enduring the rigors of being professional athlete constantly on the road and traveling to often less than receptive cities.    The support from his family also led to him furthering his education as his playing career came to an end.   Eventually, Chuck Cooper the II rises, the authors refer to this as his “second act in life” to be a leader in various organizations and outreach positions giving him notoriety not only within his family but the greater Pittsburgh community as well.    In fact, the authors proudly note that Cooper’s alma mater has since constructed a fieldhouse on campus that has Duquesne great namesake clear to all visitors. 

Although the book is lengthy enough (270 pages) and contains many insightful images and quotes from those that played with or knew Cooper, the reader must wade through the minutia of high school and college games in particular in the earlier stages of this manuscript.    Nevertheless, this is an important piece of history to learn about an underrated and overlooked successful basketball and community leader.   One does not have to be a fan of Pittsburgh sports to learn how the barrier was broken in professional basketball so many years ago.  One could easily argue that that this is a story for all Americans to realize and cherish.   

·       You might like to read this book if you want to learn more about Chuck Cooper II.

·       You might like to read this book if you covet reading about Duquesne University sports figures.

·       You might like to read this book if you seek more information about African American basketball players.

·       You might like to read this book if you enjoy reading biographies of lesser-known athletes depicting significant American sports history.       

You can read more about the author on X:   https://x.com/dfinoli