On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King is murdered on the balcony of Lorraine Motel in Memphis, in Tennessee. The news quickly spread to America, which had difficulty sleeping and woke up broken as the evening was marked by violent riots throughout the country. In the NBA, it's also chaos.
Because that day, Bill Russell's Boston Celtics must face Wilt Chamberlain's Philadelphia Sixers in the Eastern Conference final. After the assassination of the pastor, the great rivalry between the two giants obviously takes a back seat while everyone wonders: should we really play this match?
A deep division, even at the heart of the NBA
In the league, as in America, there are two opposing camps. Jack Ramsay, General Manager of the Sixers, explains that the players are bound by contract and that they must participate in the meeting. Walter Kennedy, the commissioner, makes no decisions and lets the franchise owners decide.
A leader explains that Martin Luther King is not the President. Baily Howell, the Celtics' white winger, doesn't see why the game would be postponed. “ What was his title? » he asks journalists. “ Why should we cancel a match for him? »
Boston, where the late Bill Russell serves as coach/player, is hosting a reunion. The team, of which 8 of the 10 members are black, decides to play. Philadelphia does the same. Seven players decide to play, Chet Walker abstains. Wilt Chamberlain and Wally Jones vote to postpone the meeting. The majority wins and the match will take place at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, for fear of new riots and the effects of a last minute cancellation.
A passionless match, played to avoid riots
The room, which had been sold out all year, is not full. The Celtics enter the field in silence, the Sixers follow them but there is no life, no desire and Boston wins (127-118) in a match that the players, despite the stakes, have played with his head elsewhere. “ I was in shock all day“, confides Bill Russell. “ I sat for five hours before I could think of anything“.
The second game of the series will not take place until five days later, with both teams deciding to postpone the meeting. Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain attend the pastor's funeral. The Celtics pivot, whose ideas were closer to those of Malcolm X, nevertheless went to the black neighborhoods of Boston to preach a return to calm. “ Where are the perspective and the notion of things? The ordinary black man thinks that going to the moon or Vietnam is more important than living here. I believe people are our greatest resource“.
David Stern immediately celebrates Martin Luther King Day
After being down 3-1, the Celtics ended up beating the Sixers before winning in the Finals against the Lakers. Martin Luther King is no longer there.
As soon as the pastor died, a campaign was set up in the United States to create a public holiday dedicated to the memory of Martin Luther King. But opposition remained strong, and Ronald Reagan opposed it, before Congress finally forced his hand. It was therefore not until 1986 that “MLK Day” was celebrated for the first time.
NBA commissioner for two years, David Stern immediately took the opportunity to establish his tribute. It's every third Monday in January, around Martin Luther King's birthday.
Article originally published on January 18, 2018
