Earl “Moon Fixer” Lloyd sort of broke the NBA’s color barrier today, on Halloween, 60 years ago. I say “sort of” because while Lloyd made it to the court first, Chuck Cooper was drafted first, and Globetrotter Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton was the first to sign a contract. What’s more, blacks would be a strangely liminal presence in the sport, even once Don Barksdale made the All-Star Game in 1953. It took Maurice Stokes, Russell and Baylor, the scorer, to change that. Prosaically, Lloyd became the Moon Fixer when, as a new arrival at West Virginia State, he was the only kid tall enough to handily shift the position of the moon decoration hung up at dances. This photo was taken during his brief tenure as head coach of the Pistons, during the 1971-72 season.

Earl “Moon Fixer” Lloyd sort of broke the NBA’s color barrier today, on Halloween, 60 years ago. I say “sort of” because while Lloyd made it to the court first, Chuck Cooper was drafted first, and Globetrotter Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton was the first to sign a contract. What’s more, blacks would be a strangely liminal presence in the sport, even once Don Barksdale made the All-Star Game in 1953. It took Maurice Stokes, Russell and Baylor, the scorer, to change that.

Prosaically, Lloyd became the Moon Fixer when, as a new arrival at West Virginia State, he was the only kid tall enough to handily shift the position of the moon decoration hung up at dances. This photo was taken during his brief tenure as head coach of the Pistons, during the 1971-72 season.