WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.779 Welcome to today's deep dive. I'm your host, 00:00:02.859 --> 00:00:04.900 and I'm here with our resident sports history 00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:07.919 expert to unpack something truly incredible. 00:00:08.179 --> 00:00:12.279 Hey, everyone. I am really excited to get into 00:00:12.279 --> 00:00:14.300 this one. It's a fascinating topic. Yeah, it 00:00:14.300 --> 00:00:17.679 really is. So to start us off. I need you to 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:20.219 do a little visualization exercise with me. Picture 00:00:20.219 --> 00:00:23.539 this. Okay, I'm ready. It's the late 1930s. It's 00:00:23.539 --> 00:00:26.140 a Saturday morning. You are a college athlete. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:31.179 You wake up and you force down this totally bland 00:00:31.179 --> 00:00:33.619 breakfast because sports nutrition at this point 00:00:33.619 --> 00:00:36.320 basically consists of just steak and eggs. Right, 00:00:36.380 --> 00:00:39.359 a heavy, greasy breakfast. Exactly. So you head 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:41.659 to the stadium. You strap on a leather helmet 00:00:41.659 --> 00:00:43.780 that honestly offers about as much protection 00:00:43.780 --> 00:00:46.079 as a cardboard box. Oh, yeah. The gear was basically 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:49.399 just thick sweaters and heavy wool pads. Yeah. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:52.359 And you go out there and you play a full, brutal 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:55.439 60 minutes of American football. And we really 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:57.159 need to clarify here. We aren't talking about 00:00:57.159 --> 00:00:59.759 modern spread offenses where you run out of bounds 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:01.960 to stop the clock and avoid a hit. Right. We 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:05.959 are talking about 1930s grinded out three yards 00:01:05.959 --> 00:01:08.379 in a cloud of dust football. You're playing offense 00:01:08.379 --> 00:01:11.379 and defense. You are hitting people and you are 00:01:11.379 --> 00:01:15.069 getting hit on every single play. So the final 00:01:15.069 --> 00:01:17.849 whistle blows. You are covered in mud. You are 00:01:17.849 --> 00:01:20.489 bruised all over. Your adrenaline is crashing. 00:01:20.709 --> 00:01:23.969 You probably have a mild concussion, though obviously 00:01:23.969 --> 00:01:25.769 nobody would call it that back then. I mean, 00:01:25.790 --> 00:01:27.530 I'd be looking for a stretcher at that point. 00:01:27.769 --> 00:01:30.489 Exactly. Most human beings would be looking for 00:01:30.489 --> 00:01:33.950 a hospital or a week of bed rest. But the guy 00:01:33.950 --> 00:01:36.129 we are talking about today, he doesn't go to 00:01:36.129 --> 00:01:38.120 the hospital. He takes a quick shower to wash 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:41.019 off the mud. He grabs a bite to eat. Then he 00:01:41.019 --> 00:01:44.079 literally walks over to the gymnasium, laces 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:47.459 up a pair of canvas sneakers with zero arch support, 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:50.640 and plays an entire college basketball game. 00:01:50.739 --> 00:01:53.280 Wow. On the exact same day. See, it sounds like 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:55.519 a tall tale. Yeah. It sounds like something a 00:01:55.519 --> 00:01:58.079 grandfather invents to impress his grandkids 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:00.900 at Thanksgiving. But this is the actual recorded 00:02:00.900 --> 00:02:04.090 history of William Dolly King. And that is exactly 00:02:04.090 --> 00:02:07.349 why we are doing this deep dive today. We are 00:02:07.349 --> 00:02:11.189 looking at a man who is arguably the most versatile 00:02:11.189 --> 00:02:14.870 athlete New York City ever produced. And yet 00:02:14.870 --> 00:02:18.050 he is largely a ghost in the history books. It's 00:02:18.050 --> 00:02:20.409 what I call the prehistory problem. We get so 00:02:20.409 --> 00:02:22.569 obsessed with the modern NBA, the modern NFL, 00:02:22.810 --> 00:02:25.150 that we completely forget the Titans who actually 00:02:25.150 --> 00:02:27.830 built the foundation. For sure. Dolly King wasn't 00:02:27.830 --> 00:02:30.580 just a multi -sport athlete. He was a pioneer 00:02:30.580 --> 00:02:32.780 who helped break the color barrier in professional 00:02:32.780 --> 00:02:35.439 basketball. He was one of the handful of African 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:38.419 -Americans to play in the NBL. A national basketball 00:02:38.419 --> 00:02:40.979 league. Right, the NBL, which is the direct ancestor 00:02:40.979 --> 00:02:43.520 of the NBA. And we're pulling this story today 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:46.300 from historical records, newspaper archives from 00:02:46.300 --> 00:02:49.300 the era, and the Wikipedia entry for Dolly King. 00:02:49.419 --> 00:02:51.719 We really want to piece together a career that 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:53.800 honestly just doesn't make sense when you look 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:56.259 at it through a modern lens. It completely defies 00:02:56.259 --> 00:02:59.509 modern logic. Today, we have, you know, load 00:02:59.509 --> 00:03:01.650 management where guys sit out games simply because 00:03:01.650 --> 00:03:03.289 they played the night before. Right, to rest 00:03:03.289 --> 00:03:06.050 their knees. Exactly. And here is Dolly King 00:03:06.050 --> 00:03:09.830 playing two entirely different, highly physical 00:03:09.830 --> 00:03:12.889 sports in one day. It's just a completely different 00:03:12.889 --> 00:03:15.409 species of athlete. Let's go back to that Ironman 00:03:15.409 --> 00:03:16.729 legend for a second because I want to make sure 00:03:16.729 --> 00:03:18.469 people know this actually happened. This was 00:03:18.469 --> 00:03:21.930 at Long Island University, LIU Brooklyn, where... 00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:25.379 King was a massive star. The story comes directly 00:03:25.379 --> 00:03:27.639 from his coach, Claire B. And we should note 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:30.620 that Claire B is a highly credible source. He 00:03:30.620 --> 00:03:33.520 was an innovator, a Hall of Fame coach. He's 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:35.639 not the kind of guy who is prone to just making 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:38.800 things up for press. Right. He specifically claimed 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:41.819 King played a grueling football game against 00:03:41.819 --> 00:03:44.360 a tough opponent and then literally suited up 00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:46.560 for the basketball team that exact same night. 00:03:46.860 --> 00:03:48.740 I really want to dwell on the physiology of that. 00:03:48.819 --> 00:03:51.379 I'm just stuck on the transition. How do you 00:03:51.379 --> 00:03:54.340 go from the heavy collision -based bracing of 00:03:54.340 --> 00:03:57.159 football to the fine motor skills of basketball? 00:03:57.360 --> 00:03:58.939 Well, that is the major takeaway right there. 00:03:59.020 --> 00:04:01.599 It isn't just about cardio endurance. It is about 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:04.479 your nervous system. In football, you are constantly 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:07.439 tightening up. You are bracing for impact. Your 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:10.360 muscles are dense, contracted. Exactly. Yeah. 00:04:10.439 --> 00:04:13.479 But basketball requires fluidity. It requires 00:04:13.479 --> 00:04:16.680 a soft touch, loose hips, lateral. quickness 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:20.379 to switch your body from like car crash mode 00:04:20.379 --> 00:04:23.600 to ballet mode in the span of maybe three hours. 00:04:23.779 --> 00:04:26.740 That is physiologically baffling. And he wasn't 00:04:26.740 --> 00:04:28.699 doing this with modern recovery tools. There 00:04:28.699 --> 00:04:30.620 were no cryotherapy chambers. He didn't have 00:04:30.620 --> 00:04:32.800 an electrolyte hydration plan. He probably had 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:35.220 an orange slice and some water, maybe a salt 00:04:35.220 --> 00:04:37.759 tablet if he was really lucky. Yeah. And remember 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:40.600 the gear we talked about. In the 30s, uniforms 00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:44.000 were wool. When wool gets wet with sweat or rain, 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:46.930 it gets incredibly heavy. He was likely carrying 00:04:46.930 --> 00:04:49.509 an extra 5 to 10 pounds of pure water weight 00:04:49.509 --> 00:04:51.329 on his body during the football game. Oh, that 00:04:51.329 --> 00:04:53.829 sounds miserable. Right. To shut that wet gear 00:04:53.829 --> 00:04:55.870 and then run up and down a hardwood court for 00:04:55.870 --> 00:04:58.110 40 minutes, it speaks to a level of physical 00:04:58.110 --> 00:05:00.110 conditioning that I don't think we even have 00:05:00.110 --> 00:05:02.170 a metric for today. It definitely helps that 00:05:02.170 --> 00:05:04.860 he was built like an absolute tank. The stats 00:05:04.860 --> 00:05:08.379 we have list him at 6 '4", 215 pounds. Which 00:05:08.379 --> 00:05:10.639 really requires some historical context. Right, 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:13.100 because if I see a 6 '4 guy walking down the 00:05:13.100 --> 00:05:14.699 street today, I just think, oh, maybe he played 00:05:14.699 --> 00:05:16.879 high school ball. I don't immediately think he's 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:21.480 a giant. But in 1939, he was a Leviathan. Yeah. 00:05:21.980 --> 00:05:24.740 The average height for an American male at that 00:05:24.740 --> 00:05:28.540 time was around 5 '8". Yeah. In basketball, the 00:05:28.540 --> 00:05:30.959 centers, the big men on the team, were often 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:35.519 just 6 '4". or 6 '5". Wow. So King was the size 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:38.540 of a center, but he had the speed and athleticism 00:05:38.540 --> 00:05:41.779 of a guard. Imagine LeBron James playing in a 00:05:41.779 --> 00:05:43.839 league where the average player is the size of 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:46.060 a modern horse jockey. That's a great visual. 00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:48.100 That is the physical disparity we are talking 00:05:48.100 --> 00:05:51.120 about here. So he just dominates at LIU. He is 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:53.920 this multi -sport phenomenon. But then college 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:56.399 ends. And this is where the story shifts from 00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:59.660 a triumphant sports hero narrative to harsh societal 00:05:59.660 --> 00:06:03.259 reality. It's the early 1940s. He is black. The 00:06:03.259 --> 00:06:05.879 NBA doesn't exist yet. And the major professional 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:08.279 leagues that do exist aren't hiring people who 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:10.300 look like him. This is the era of the pivot. 00:06:10.420 --> 00:06:12.339 If you were an elite African -American athlete 00:06:12.339 --> 00:06:15.000 back then, you didn't have a glitzy draft day. 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:17.439 You had to hustle. You had to find a way to get 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:19.639 paid. Exactly. You had to go to where the games 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:22.439 were, and that meant the all -black barnstorming 00:06:22.439 --> 00:06:25.519 teams. Barnstorming. We hear that word a lot 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:27.459 in sports history, especially regarding this 00:06:27.459 --> 00:06:30.319 era. But can we define what that actually looked 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:32.779 like for the listener? Sure. It is definitely 00:06:32.779 --> 00:06:35.740 not a luxury tour bus. It's five or six guys 00:06:35.740 --> 00:06:39.480 piling into a station wagon or a sedan. You drive 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:42.060 200 miles to a small town. Just cramming into 00:06:42.060 --> 00:06:44.439 a car. Yep. And you might play in a high school 00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:47.459 gym or a dance hall or sometimes literally a 00:06:47.459 --> 00:06:51.000 barn that just has hoops nailed up to the rafters. 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:54.019 You play local team, you split the gate money 00:06:54.019 --> 00:06:56.040 with them, and then you try to find a place to 00:06:56.040 --> 00:06:58.699 sleep. Which was a major issue. A huge issue. 00:06:58.860 --> 00:07:02.279 Because of segregation, local hotels often wouldn't 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:04.970 take you. So you slept in the car, you woke up 00:07:04.970 --> 00:07:06.810 the next morning, drove another hundred miles 00:07:06.810 --> 00:07:09.649 and did it all again. And this is exactly where 00:07:09.649 --> 00:07:12.149 Dolly King goes to work. He joins the New York 00:07:12.149 --> 00:07:14.670 Renaissance, commonly known as the Wrens. The 00:07:14.670 --> 00:07:17.050 Wrens are absolute royalty in basketball history. 00:07:17.209 --> 00:07:19.990 They were specifically the first all -black, 00:07:20.149 --> 00:07:23.149 fully professional, African -American owned basketball 00:07:23.149 --> 00:07:25.689 team. And because they played together constantly, 00:07:25.910 --> 00:07:28.449 we're talking hundreds of games a year, they 00:07:28.449 --> 00:07:30.750 developed a style of play that the white teams 00:07:30.750 --> 00:07:33.240 just couldn't match. What was that style called? 00:07:33.459 --> 00:07:35.839 They called it the Fancy Dan style. It was all 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:38.540 about quick passing, weaving, cutting to the 00:07:38.540 --> 00:07:40.259 basket. They actually didn't dribble very much 00:07:40.259 --> 00:07:42.540 because the basketballs back then were often 00:07:42.540 --> 00:07:45.500 lopsided and the floors were incredibly uneven. 00:07:45.800 --> 00:07:47.680 Oh, that makes sense. You can't trust the bounce. 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:50.180 Exactly. So they passed. It was a beautiful, 00:07:50.259 --> 00:07:53.759 fluid, incredibly fast -paced game. So King is 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:56.420 out there. Cutting his teeth with the Wrens. 00:07:56.420 --> 00:07:58.720 And later he plays for the Washington Bears, 00:07:58.980 --> 00:08:01.639 which was another powerhouse all -black team 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:05.540 from 1941 to 1946. This whole circuit is essentially 00:08:05.540 --> 00:08:08.379 a shadow league. It was the incubator for the 00:08:08.379 --> 00:08:10.879 modern game. While the white leagues were playing 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:13.779 a very rigid, flat -footed, set -shot style of 00:08:13.779 --> 00:08:16.660 basketball, the black fives, as they were often 00:08:16.660 --> 00:08:18.740 called, were innovating. They were pushing the 00:08:18.740 --> 00:08:21.079 pace. They were playing a faster, much more athletic 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:23.540 game. Dolly King was right there in the laboratory 00:08:23.540 --> 00:08:26.199 where modern basketball was being invented, even 00:08:26.199 --> 00:08:28.740 if the mainstream white press largely ignored 00:08:28.740 --> 00:08:31.019 it at the time. But that wall of segregation 00:08:31.019 --> 00:08:33.679 had to crack eventually. And for Dolly King, 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:37.419 that crack finally appears in 1946. The post 00:08:37.419 --> 00:08:39.899 -war era. Everything in America is changing. 00:08:40.019 --> 00:08:42.720 The National Basketball League, the NBL, makes 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:45.639 the decision to integrate. This is a huge, huge 00:08:45.639 --> 00:08:47.860 moment. This is before Jackie Robinson even plays 00:08:47.860 --> 00:08:50.169 his first game for the Dodgers, right? It is. 00:08:50.169 --> 00:08:52.789 The NBL actually integrated a full year before 00:08:52.789 --> 00:08:55.629 Major League Baseball and King gets the call. 00:08:56.190 --> 00:08:58.490 He is signed by an owner named Lester Harrison 00:08:58.490 --> 00:09:01.509 to play for the Rochester Royals. The Rochester 00:09:01.509 --> 00:09:03.889 Royals, who, for those of you connecting the 00:09:03.889 --> 00:09:06.769 historical dots at home, are the exact franchise 00:09:06.769 --> 00:09:09.110 that eventually moves and becomes the Sacramento 00:09:09.110 --> 00:09:11.789 Kings in the modern NBA. Correct. So we are talking 00:09:11.789 --> 00:09:13.669 about Major League franchise history here. So 00:09:13.669 --> 00:09:16.649 King plays 41 games for the Royals in that 1946 00:09:16.649 --> 00:09:19.570 to 47 season. Now, I was looking at the historical 00:09:19.570 --> 00:09:22.509 box scores for this deep dive, and I saw a number 00:09:22.509 --> 00:09:24.850 that stopped me cold. Let me guess. The scoring 00:09:24.850 --> 00:09:28.809 average. Yes, he averaged 4 .0 points per game. 00:09:28.929 --> 00:09:30.889 I can already hear the modern basketball fans 00:09:30.889 --> 00:09:34.710 groaning. I mean, four points. Today, if you 00:09:34.710 --> 00:09:37.110 average four points, you are the 12th man on 00:09:37.110 --> 00:09:39.950 the bench. You only play in garbage time. Was 00:09:39.950 --> 00:09:43.149 he actually a good player or was signing him 00:09:43.149 --> 00:09:45.710 mostly a publicity stunt? You have to completely 00:09:45.710 --> 00:09:49.529 recalibrate your brain for 1946 basketball. Just 00:09:49.529 --> 00:09:51.830 throw out all your modern expectations of what 00:09:51.830 --> 00:09:54.090 a stat line should look like. Okay, recalibrate 00:09:54.090 --> 00:09:57.350 me. Why is four points per game actually impressive? 00:09:57.750 --> 00:10:00.190 Well, first of all, there is no shot clock. A 00:10:00.190 --> 00:10:02.230 team could take a tiny lead and then literally 00:10:02.230 --> 00:10:04.490 just hold the ball at midcourt for five minutes 00:10:04.490 --> 00:10:06.950 without shooting. Wow, just stalling. Exactly. 00:10:07.570 --> 00:10:10.269 Games often ended with final scores like 45 to 00:10:10.269 --> 00:10:13.539 40. Second, the paint under the basket was an 00:10:13.539 --> 00:10:16.360 absolute war zone. The rule was basically no 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:19.320 blood, no foul. If you drove to the basket, you 00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:21.440 were getting hammered. So overall scoring was 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:23.879 artificially low across the entire board? Exactly. 00:10:23.879 --> 00:10:26.679 The very best players, the league leaders, were 00:10:26.679 --> 00:10:28.860 only averaging maybe 10 or 12 points a game. 00:10:29.179 --> 00:10:31.080 So if you were dropping 4 or 5 points a night, 00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:33.480 you were a very solid contributor. You were a 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:35.960 starter or a key rotation player. Okay, that 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:37.940 makes a lot of sense. But more importantly than 00:10:37.940 --> 00:10:40.590 the scoring, King wasn't brought in to shoot 00:10:40.590 --> 00:10:43.490 the ball. He was brought in to stop people. Ah, 00:10:43.710 --> 00:10:46.049 he was a defensive specialist. He was the enforcer. 00:10:46.250 --> 00:10:49.129 Lester Harrison, the owner, knew the league was 00:10:49.129 --> 00:10:52.590 extremely rough. He needed a guy who was 6 '4", 00:10:52.590 --> 00:10:55.350 215 pounds to clear out space and grab rebounds. 00:10:56.250 --> 00:10:58.929 King was out there doing the dirty work. He was 00:10:58.929 --> 00:11:00.710 essentially the Dennis Rodman or the Draymond 00:11:00.710 --> 00:11:03.899 Green of 1946. That actually makes the integration 00:11:03.899 --> 00:11:06.379 aspect even more intense, doesn't it? I mean, 00:11:06.379 --> 00:11:09.419 if you are a pure scorer, you can maybe avoid 00:11:09.419 --> 00:11:12.340 some contact. You shoot from the outside. But 00:11:12.340 --> 00:11:15.360 if your specific job is to be the enforcer and 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:17.340 you are one of the only black men on the court. 00:11:17.539 --> 00:11:20.840 You are a massive target. Every single hard foul 00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:23.179 he gave, every rebound he fought for in the paint 00:11:23.179 --> 00:11:25.879 had intense racial undertones from the crowd 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:28.220 and the opposing players. The pressure must have 00:11:28.220 --> 00:11:30.139 been suffocating. He had to walk an impossible 00:11:30.139 --> 00:11:32.799 razor's edge. He had to be physical enough to 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:35.679 do his job effectively, but disciplined enough 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:38.120 not to retaliate when he was inevitably cheap 00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:40.779 -shotted by white players. The mental toughness 00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:43.580 that required is just off the charts. And he 00:11:43.580 --> 00:11:45.759 succeeded. He helped them get to the playoffs. 00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:47.919 He wasn't just a passenger on that team. The 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:50.100 Royals were one of the very best teams in the 00:11:50.100 --> 00:11:52.379 league. He was contributing to winning basketball 00:11:52.379 --> 00:11:55.039 at the absolute highest level available in the 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:58.330 world. Okay, so we have established he is a legitimate, 00:11:58.450 --> 00:12:02.450 barrier -breaking pro basketball player. But 00:12:02.450 --> 00:12:04.070 this is the part of the deep dive where the story 00:12:04.070 --> 00:12:06.409 just gets absurd again. Yes, the twist. Because 00:12:06.409 --> 00:12:09.029 usually when the grueling basketball season ends 00:12:09.029 --> 00:12:12.509 in the spring, you rest, you heal your battered 00:12:12.509 --> 00:12:16.350 knees, you go on vacation. Not Dolly King. So 00:12:16.350 --> 00:12:18.230 what does he do? Well, we have to talk about 00:12:18.230 --> 00:12:20.950 the economics of the era. In 1946, you couldn't 00:12:20.950 --> 00:12:23.309 just retire on a basketball salary. It didn't 00:12:23.309 --> 00:12:25.509 pay millions. Most guys had summer jobs. Some 00:12:25.509 --> 00:12:27.850 worked in factories. Some sold insurance. Dolly 00:12:27.850 --> 00:12:30.009 King's summer job was being a professional baseball 00:12:30.009 --> 00:12:32.549 player. And to be clear, we aren't talking about 00:12:32.549 --> 00:12:36.009 semi -pro local sandlot games here. No, absolutely 00:12:36.009 --> 00:12:38.629 not. He played in the Negro Leagues, and he played 00:12:38.629 --> 00:12:40.809 for the Homestead Grays. For the listener who 00:12:40.809 --> 00:12:43.190 doesn't know baseball history, how big a deal 00:12:43.190 --> 00:12:45.629 are the Homestead Grays? They are the New York 00:12:45.629 --> 00:12:48.179 Yankees of black baseball. They were a dynasty. 00:12:48.419 --> 00:12:52.399 Josh Gibson played for the Grays. Cool Papa Bell. 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:56.200 These are mythical. Hall of Fame figures. Wow. 00:12:56.419 --> 00:12:58.600 For King to just walk onto that roster means 00:12:58.600 --> 00:13:01.759 he was truly elite. You don't just try out for 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:04.000 the Homestead Grays and make the team unless 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:06.779 you are a serious generational talent. And he 00:13:06.779 --> 00:13:08.700 didn't just play for them. He also played for 00:13:08.700 --> 00:13:11.039 the New York Black Yankees and the New York Cubans. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:15.139 This was from roughly 1944 to 1948. So there 00:13:15.139 --> 00:13:17.379 is this massive overlap where he is playing pro 00:13:17.379 --> 00:13:19.379 basketball in the winter and pro baseball in 00:13:19.379 --> 00:13:21.600 the summer. Think about the biomechanics of that 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:24.039 for a second. In baseball, you're tracking a 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:26.320 small white ball moving at 90 miles an hour. 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:28.700 It is all about hand -eye coordination, quick 00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:31.139 twitch reactions, and rotational power in your 00:13:31.139 --> 00:13:34.000 swing. Right. In basketball, it's about verticality, 00:13:34.039 --> 00:13:36.779 lateral movement, and cardiovascular endurance. 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:39.580 To switch back and forth every six months, you 00:13:39.580 --> 00:13:42.059 never let your body adapt to one sport. You are 00:13:42.059 --> 00:13:44.899 in a constant state of physiological flux. And 00:13:44.899 --> 00:13:47.919 a constant state of forward motion, too. The 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:50.259 travel schedule for the Negro Leagues was arguably 00:13:50.259 --> 00:13:52.559 even more brutal than the barnstorming basketball 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:55.779 circuit. It was unrelenting. We were talking 00:13:55.779 --> 00:13:58.700 over 100 games a summer. They would regularly 00:13:58.700 --> 00:14:01.240 play three doubleheaders in three different cities 00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:04.620 in three days. That's six games in three days. 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:08.000 Yes. It was a grind that physically broke people. 00:14:08.379 --> 00:14:11.909 And King was doing this year round. No off -season 00:14:11.909 --> 00:14:13.990 to rest, just switching uniforms and getting 00:14:13.990 --> 00:14:16.409 right back on the bus. It really reframes that 00:14:16.409 --> 00:14:18.669 Ironman story from college, doesn't it? That 00:14:18.669 --> 00:14:20.929 wasn't a one -time stunt to impress a coach. 00:14:20.970 --> 00:14:23.590 That was literally just his life. It was survival. 00:14:23.889 --> 00:14:26.370 He was maximizing his earning potential while 00:14:26.370 --> 00:14:28.889 his body held up. He was an athletic mercenary 00:14:28.889 --> 00:14:31.149 in the very best sense of the word. Eventually, 00:14:31.230 --> 00:14:33.610 though, Father Time remains undefeated. The late 00:14:33.610 --> 00:14:35.950 40s and early 50s come around, and he starts 00:14:35.950 --> 00:14:38.990 to wind down his playing career. He plays for 00:14:38.990 --> 00:14:41.230 some lesser known teams like the Dayton Wrens 00:14:41.230 --> 00:14:43.129 and the Scranton Miners. Right, the journeyman 00:14:43.129 --> 00:14:46.590 phase. He is just squeezing the very last drops 00:14:46.590 --> 00:14:48.570 out of the orange before he has to hang it up. 00:14:48.690 --> 00:14:51.210 But he doesn't leave the game entirely. He transitions 00:14:51.210 --> 00:14:55.649 to the sidelines. From 1964 to 1969, he is the 00:14:55.649 --> 00:14:57.990 head coach at Manhattan Borough Community College. 00:14:58.029 --> 00:15:00.169 Which is such a beautiful full circle moment. 00:15:00.330 --> 00:15:03.450 Yeah. He is back in New York City. passing on 00:15:03.450 --> 00:15:05.690 all that hard -earned knowledge to the next generation 00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:08.350 of young men. Yeah. You can only imagine the 00:15:08.350 --> 00:15:10.850 stories he could tell those kids. You know, they 00:15:10.850 --> 00:15:12.769 complained about running laps, and he could say, 00:15:12.870 --> 00:15:15.330 oh, you think practice is hard? Let me tell you 00:15:15.330 --> 00:15:17.190 about the time I played the Harlem Globetrotters 00:15:17.190 --> 00:15:20.149 and then drove 300 miles through the night to 00:15:20.149 --> 00:15:22.389 play the Kansas City Monarchs in baseball. But 00:15:22.389 --> 00:15:24.769 sadly, he didn't get to be the old sage of the 00:15:24.769 --> 00:15:27.629 game for very long. No. And this is the real 00:15:27.629 --> 00:15:30.450 tragedy of his story. He passes away in 1969 00:15:30.450 --> 00:15:33.710 from a heart attack. He was only 55 years old. 00:15:33.870 --> 00:15:37.129 That just hits hard. 55 is so young. It forces 00:15:37.129 --> 00:15:38.929 you to ask some really uncomfortable questions. 00:15:39.570 --> 00:15:42.409 Did the lifestyle contribute to his early death? 00:15:42.590 --> 00:15:45.250 The constant stress of navigating segregation? 00:15:45.730 --> 00:15:49.210 The sheer lack of rest? The physical toll of 00:15:49.210 --> 00:15:51.769 playing two professional sports year -round for 00:15:51.769 --> 00:15:53.610 over a decade? You have to imagine it played 00:15:53.610 --> 00:15:56.730 a role. We can't know for absolute sure from 00:15:56.730 --> 00:15:59.629 a medical standpoint, but it's hard not to see 00:15:59.629 --> 00:16:02.220 a strong correlation there. He gave everything 00:16:02.220 --> 00:16:05.039 to the game, quite literally. And he died right 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:08.080 before the NBA exploded into the mainstream consciousness. 00:16:08.500 --> 00:16:11.340 He missed the Magic Johnson and Larry Bird era. 00:16:11.580 --> 00:16:14.779 He missed Michael Jordan. He completely missed 00:16:14.779 --> 00:16:17.059 the era of big television money. He was part 00:16:17.059 --> 00:16:19.080 of the generation that planted the tree so that 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:21.279 others could sit in the shade. But he wasn't 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:24.639 entirely forgotten by history. In 1992, New York 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:26.600 City tried to set the record straight. He was 00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:28.759 posthumously inducted into the New York City 00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:30.779 Basketball Hall of Fame. And you always judge 00:16:30.779 --> 00:16:33.679 a man by the company he keeps. Look at who he 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:36.320 was inducted with in that specific class. William 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:38.980 Pop Gates. An absolute legend of the game. Red 00:16:38.980 --> 00:16:41.860 Sarachek. And his old college coach, Claire B. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:44.039 These are the fundamental architects of New York 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:47.190 basketball. By putting King in that class, the 00:16:47.190 --> 00:16:50.009 committee was firmly saying, this man belongs 00:16:50.009 --> 00:16:53.210 on the Mount Rushmore of city hoops. It validates 00:16:53.210 --> 00:16:55.529 everything we have been discussing today. He 00:16:55.529 --> 00:16:58.110 wasn't a footnote. He was a headline that people 00:16:58.110 --> 00:17:00.899 simply forgot how to read. So we have covered 00:17:00.899 --> 00:17:04.240 the Ironman college game, his time with the Wrens, 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:06.960 breaking the color barrier in the NBL, and playing 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:09.660 for the Homestead Grays. It is a resume that 00:17:09.660 --> 00:17:12.559 genuinely sounds like fiction, but as we wrap 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:14.380 up, I want to end with a thought experiment for 00:17:14.380 --> 00:17:16.119 you and for the listener. Okay, let's do it. 00:17:16.140 --> 00:17:19.440 We established that he was 6 '4", 215 pounds, 00:17:19.640 --> 00:17:22.460 built like a linebacker, but moved like a point 00:17:22.460 --> 00:17:25.210 guard. And that was in 1940, eating steak and 00:17:25.210 --> 00:17:27.869 eggs and wearing flat canvas shoes. Right. If 00:17:27.869 --> 00:17:31.130 you take Dolly King's DNA, that incredible frame, 00:17:31.309 --> 00:17:34.450 that natural endless engine, and you drop him 00:17:34.450 --> 00:17:37.509 into 2024, you give him modern plyometric training. 00:17:37.690 --> 00:17:39.869 You give him a dedicated nutritionist. You put 00:17:39.869 --> 00:17:41.890 him in a Division I program with a high -end 00:17:41.890 --> 00:17:44.289 strength coach. What kind of athlete are we actually 00:17:44.289 --> 00:17:47.089 looking at? That is a fascinating question because 00:17:47.089 --> 00:17:51.789 today, 6 '4 isn't a center anymore. but a 6 '4", 00:17:51.789 --> 00:17:54.289 225 -pound athlete, assuming modern weights, 00:17:54.430 --> 00:17:57.950 with elite lateral agility. In football, you 00:17:57.950 --> 00:18:00.849 are looking at an NFL strong safety who can cover 00:18:00.849 --> 00:18:03.849 absolutely anyone on the field. Or in the modern 00:18:03.849 --> 00:18:06.650 NBA, you are looking at a Russell Westbrook or 00:18:06.650 --> 00:18:09.369 an Anthony Edwards type of player, a power guard 00:18:09.369 --> 00:18:12.130 who just bullies people going to the rim. Or 00:18:12.130 --> 00:18:15.089 maybe a Dion Sanders or a Bo Jackson type of 00:18:15.089 --> 00:18:17.650 figure. Someone who literally plays both professional 00:18:17.650 --> 00:18:19.970 sports simultaneously simply because they are 00:18:19.970 --> 00:18:21.829 just that much better than everyone else alive. 00:18:22.130 --> 00:18:25.109 Exactly. With modern sports science keeping his 00:18:25.109 --> 00:18:27.769 body healthy and recovering properly, he would 00:18:27.769 --> 00:18:30.680 be a global superstar. He had all the raw materials. 00:18:30.900 --> 00:18:33.500 He just happened to be born 60 years too early 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:35.339 to maximize them financially and culturally. 00:18:35.579 --> 00:18:38.339 That is the ultimate takeaway for me. Dala King 00:18:38.339 --> 00:18:41.180 is the bridge. He connects the gritty, segregated, 00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:45.259 barnstorming era to the polished, highly televised 00:18:45.259 --> 00:18:47.799 global game we watch today. You really cannot 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:49.819 understand the modern NBA without understanding 00:18:49.819 --> 00:18:52.160 the guys who played in those smoky gyms and cages 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:55.200 back in 1946. Absolutely. History is never a 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:57.670 straight line. It is built entirely on the backs 00:18:57.670 --> 00:18:59.750 of guys like King who broke down the heavy doors 00:18:59.750 --> 00:19:01.549 so that others could comfortably walk right through. 00:19:01.650 --> 00:19:06.170 A true pioneer and the ultimate Iron Man, William 00:19:06.170 --> 00:19:08.450 Dolly King. A name that is definitely worth remembering. 00:19:08.730 --> 00:19:10.789 Thanks for taking this deep dive with us. We'll 00:19:10.789 --> 00:19:11.430 see you next time.