Douglas, Robert 'Bob'

Impact on the world

Built the New York Rens into a 25-year dynasty that won 2,588 of 3,117 games, an 83% winning percentage, including an 88-game winning streak in 1933 that remains the longest in professional basketball history, and led the team to victory over the all-white champion Oshkosh All-Stars at the inaugural 1939 World Professional Basketball Tournament.

Life & background

An immigrant from the British West Indies who arrived in New York City around 1902, Douglas founded the New York Renaissance, known as the Rens, in October 1923, the first Black-owned, all-Black, fully professional basketball team in history. Naming the team after the Renaissance Casino and Ballroom in Harlem, where they played their home games, Douglas built the Rens into the most dominant team of their era regardless of race, compiling an 83% winning percentage over 25 years and an 88-game winning streak in 1933 that remains the longest in professional basketball history. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1972.

Sources

1. Black Fives); Black Fives Foundation