Who was the first Native-American basketball player to have played in NBA? Here are all the details
The NBA is known for having players from different ethnicities. Throughout the league's history, however, there have only been a few Native-American NBA players.
Back in the 1950s, the league was just the beginning of becoming a big-time association. At the time, most of the players were Caucasian and only a few African-Americans were part of the basketball league. Still, that didn't stop the league from growing into a multicultural and diverse company.
The NBA's quest for equality took quite a while to develop and soon after, people of different races had equal opportunities.
The first Native-American basketball player in the league was Phil Jordon. He was part of the Wailaki and the Nomlaki tribes. Jordon first played for the New York Knicks back in the 1956-57 NBA season. He played only a limited amount of games during the season and bounced around the league for seven seasons. Standing at 6-foot-10, Jordon played power forward and center position.
According to an article by NBC Sports, Jordon was part of the Knicks squad that allowed Wilt Chamberlain to score 100 points in a single game. Luckily for Jordon, he missed out on the opportunity to guard "The Stilt" as he fell ill on the day of the game.
Can the Knicks return to the NBA playoffs this season?
The New York Knicks had one of the most intriguing offseasons in the association. Signing Jalen Brunson on a four-year $104 million deal caught everyone by surprise.
Free agent guard Jalen Brunson has agreed to a four-year, $104 million deal with the New York Knicks, his agents Aaron Mintz and Sam Rose of @CAA_Basketball tell ESPN. The deal includes a player option on the final season.
The Knicks haven't really done enough to improve their team. They still have Julius Randle in their squad, who they tried to get rid of after a disappointing season.
Over the summer, they were rumored to be making a move to acquire Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz. After weeks of not coming to any agreement with the Jazz, the Cleveland Cavaliers swooped in to snatch the 3-time All-Star away from them.
Full trade: Utah is trading Donovan Mitchell to Cleveland for Lauri Markkanen, Ochair Agbaji, Collin Sexton, three unprotected first-round picks and two pick swaps, sources tell ESPN.
Making the playoffs may be an impossible task for the Knicks to accomplish this season. Their current roster won't make a difference as teams in the Eastern Conference are slowly getting stronger. Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle may have to do everything to get the squad to the postseason.