The Washington Bears were an all-black professional basketball team of the 1940s.
Sponsored by movie theater owner Abe Lichtman, the Bears played their home games at Turner's Arena in Washington, DC. Most of the team was composed of former New York Renaissance players, such as Pop Gates, Tarzan Cooper, Jackie Bethards, and John Isaacs. In 1943, the Bears achieved a 41-0 record and won the World Professional Basketball Tournament, defeating the Oshkosh All-Stars in the championship game.
Famous quotes containing the words washington and/or bears:
“Political life at Washington is like political life in a suburban vestry.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“Where has it all gone? I remember that twenty years ago there were geese and cranes and ducks and grouse here, clouds of them!... And there are far fewer animals. Wolf and fox are rare, brother, not to mention bears or mink. There used even to be moose!”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)