The Black Fives

The Pre-NBA Era of All-Black Basketball Teams

Black Fives players photographed by John W. Mosley, circa 1940.

After basketball emerged as a sport in 1891, its teams consisted of all-white players known as “fives,” so-called for their five starting players. That remained the case for over a decade. But at the turn of the century, the sport entered black neighborhoods, and all-black teams began to form, as integration was still far off. These teams were called the “Negro fives, “colored quints,” or “black fives.” It is the era that produced the Harlem Globetrotters. 

Before the 1950s, several dozen all-black basketball teams competed against one another in New York, Atlantic City, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Cleveland, and other cities. In their final decade, the Black Fives also competed against white teams, and several Black Fives became world champions.

Tuberculosis, also called consumption, had ravaged the world in the nineteenth century, killing one in seven people. Americans were still dying from it in large numbers in the early 1900s. Blacks were particularly susceptible due to their subjection to poor living conditions in overcrowded urban neighborhoods. As a result, close to 25% of black Americans succumbed to tuberculosis in New York alone. An infectious bacterial disease that often affected the lungs, tuberculosis was usually treated by a stay in a sanatorium in the late-1800s, as it promised a healthful climate and lots of rest. But in 1904, a new strategy came into play in black communities. 

A 1910 photograph of Conrad Norman’s team the Alpha Big Five, which he named after his Alpha Physical Culture Club. Courtesy of Black Fives, Inc.

That year, black athlete Conrad Norman founded the Alpha Physical Culture Club in Harlem and began organizing basketball games. Three years later, he formed a basketball team he called the Alpha Big Five, after the name of his new athletic club. And not only did Norman play on the team, but he also coached and managed a sister team called the New York Girls, which, in 1910, made history by becoming the nation’s first independent all-black basketball team composed of females.

The year Conrad Norman founded his athletic club in Harlem, some two hundred thirty miles away, a gym teacher named Edwin Bancroft Henderson introduced basketball to black students in segregated schools in Washington, D.C. The game soon entered various YMCAs, and in a matter of years, several all-black basketball teams sprang up throughout the country. In the ensuing decades, Black Fives teams were found as far as California and featured squads like the Los Angeles Red Devils, which boasted the legendary Jackie Robinson.

It is important to note that the era of the Black Fives was also the era of white supremacy, which meant that all-black teams could not play at venues reserved for whites only. Instead, they competed in segregated buildings: the dance floor of black ballrooms, church basements, meeting halls, and armories. Before and after the games, fans were allowed to dance to live music which spurred ticket sales. As time passed, the teams developed better organization, and competition between them culminated in the Colored Basketball World Championship, pitting the best teams against one another. The winningest team during the period was the New York Renaissance or New York Rens, with an overall record of 2588-539 over 30 years. 

The New York Renaissance, or New York Rens, played from 1922 to 1949.

Because the team was so dominant, officials invited New York Rens players to the first World Professional Basketball Tournament held in Chicago in 1939. The team faced off against the all-white Oshkosh All-Stars, who they defeated in the finals. That year, ten of the best all-white teams vied for the top spot, with only two all-black teams—the New York Rens and the Harlem Globetrotters—taking the court among the Black Fives.

The Rens’ win over the Oshkosh All-Stars in the inaugural basketball tournament brought needed recognition to black players. Other Black Fives teams went on to win basketball tournaments over the next decade until the National Basketball Association (NBA) was formed and later integrated. Basketball began as a white sport and later entered black communities as an answer to disease. But as recently as the 2019–2020 season, the NBA roster skewed over 80% black and less than 18% white. Professional basketball is also among the most-watched sports in America, with several teams being worth billions of dollars apiece. Many of those valuable teams have since recognized the legacy of their predecessors, the Black Fives.

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This article appears in 45 People, Places, and Events in Black History You Should Know.

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