Don Barksdale

CTL-E-6861 · Person · other · 1923–1993

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07733 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6861.

Donald Argee "Don" Barksdale (March 31, 1923 – March 8, 1993), a forward-center from Oakland, California, broke basketball's color line at three separate levels. At UCLA — after Army service in which he won the 1944 National AAU triple jump championship — he became, in 1947, the first Black player named a consensus NCAA All-American. In 1948 he became the first Black Olympian in basketball, winning gold with the United States team at the London Games; and in 1953, with the Baltimore Bullets, he became the first Black player named to an NBA All-Star team. Both asserted firsts are supported here by UCLA Athletics and by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, which elected him in 2012 through its Early African-American Pioneers Committee. The Hall also records that his 1951 Bullets contract made him one of the league's ten highest-paid players; he closed his career with the Boston Celtics (1953–1955).

The record

• Also known as: Donald Argee Barksdale

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0346. Firsts disposition: (a) 'First Black player named to an NBA All-Star team (1953)' ASSERTED — supported by UCLA Athletics and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame; (b) 'First Black Olympian in basketball (1948 London)' ASSERTED — supported by UCLA Athletics and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Both claims verified separately; both asserted. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Barksdale is the packet's quiet triple pioneer — college, Olympic, and professional firsts across six years, each at a different institution's door. The Hall's 2012 election, decades after his death, is part of the record, not an afterthought. Photo: CLEARED — File:Don Barksdale 1948.jpg, Public domain.

Referenced by

• University of California, Los Angeles — has alumnus → this record

Sources

• UCLA Athletics. "UCLA Athletics Celebrates Black History Month." UCLABruins.com, February 1, 2011. Accessed 2026-11-03. https://uclabruins.com/news/2011/2/1/207905661 (primary source · build store)
• Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. "Class of 2012" announcement (Don Barksdale, Early African-American Pioneers Committee direct-elect), February 24, 2012, as reproduced by InsideHoops. Accessed 2026-11-03. http://Insidehoops.com/basketball-hall-of-fame.shtml (primary source · build store)

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Record CTL-E-6861 · Combined Graph record U-07733 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 2 sources · 1 mapped relationship.
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