Audio
Description
In this interview, Paul Grier and Calvin Miller talk informally about their memories of basketball in Charlotte, North Carolina starting around the 1950s. Mr. Grier and Mr. Miller, both African Americans, attended segregated schools and mostly played sports with other Black players in their youth. They recount basketball players that they knew, playing pickup games, and the fierce sports rivalry between West Charlotte High School and Second Ward High School. They discuss race issues in basketball, including segregation in sports and society as a whole when they played in high school and college, players who began integrating sports, and how some talented Black players were still overlooked in the 1990s. Mr. Grier also discusses playing basketball at North Carolina A&T State University before dropping out to play professionally, and coaching in a youth league basketball with a focus on academic success.