Pop Gates

William Penn "Pop" Gates (August 30, 1917 – December 1, 1999) was an American professional basketball player. Considered one of the top players of his day, he was the first African American player signed to the National Basketball League, which through merger became today's National Basketball Association.

Pop Gates

Gates circa 1952
Personal information
Born	(1917-08-30)August 30, 1917 Decatur, Alabama, U.S.
Died	December 1, 1999(1999-12-01) (aged 82) New York City, New York, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight	205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school	Benjamin Franklin (Harlem, New York)
Position	Guard
Career history
As a player:
1937–1938	New York Harlem Yankees
1938–1941, 1942–1946	New York Renaissance
1941–1946	Washington Licthman Bears
1941–1944	Grumman Flyers
1944–1945	Rochester
1944–1946	Long Island Grumman Hellcats
1945–1946	Chicago Monarchs
1946–1947	Tri-Cities Blackhawks
1947–1949	New York Rens
1949	Dayton Rens
1949–1950	Scranton Miners
1950–1957	Harlem Globetrotters
1951–1952	New York Celtics
As a coach:
1949	Dayton Rens
1950–1955	Harlem Globetrotters
Career highlights
NBL All-Time Team 3× All-WPBT Team (1940, 1942, 1943) ABL champion (1950)
Basketball Hall of Fame

Early life

He was born in Decatur, Alabama and attended high school in New York City. During high school studies he earned All-Conference honors in both 1937 and 1938 and made the All-City first team in 1938, as well as won three All-City titles with YMCA teams.^[1] Some later newspaper publications claimed that Gates graduated from Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University), but in fact his professional basketball career started right after graduating from Franklin High School.^[2]

Basketball career

Gates started his professional basketball career with the New York Renaissance, beginning in 1938–39. "Seven months before Jackie Robinson made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Leo Ferris helped usher in a new era of racial integration for professional basketball when he signed Pop Gates, who made his debut for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks in October 1946.

Gates, along with William "Dolly" King, were the first two African-American players in the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1946. "When Leo Ferris came to me, it was like a godsend", Gates was quoted as saying in the book "Pioneers of the Hardwood: Indiana and the Birth of Professional Basketball." "It was a real highlight of my career to be accepted by the NBL as one of only two blacks in the league."^[3]

Later Gates played for and coached the Harlem Globetrotters. He is one of the few athletes who went directly from a high school championship team (Benjamin Franklin, New York, 1938) to a world professional champion (New York Rens, 1939).

Awards and honors

Gates was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1989.

Career playing statistics

NBL

Legend

GP	Games played	FGM	Field goals made
FTM	Free throws made	FTA	Free throws attempted
FT%	Free throw percentage	PTS	Total points
PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year[4]	Team	GP	FGM	FTM	PTS	PPG
1946–47	Tri-Cities	41	125	60	310	7.6
1948–49	Dayton	40	161	126	448	11.2
Career		81	286	186	758	9.4