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:
““If Washington were President now, he would have to learn our ways or lose his next election. Only fools and theorists imagine that our society can be handled with gloves or long poles. One must make one’s self a part of it. If virtue won’t answer our purpose, we must use vice, or our opponents will put us out of office, and this was as true in Washington’s day as it is now, and always will be.””
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)
“The only virtue a character needs to possess between hardcovers, even if he bears a real person’s name, is vitality: if he comes to life in our imaginations, he passes the test.”
—Stephen Vizinczey (b. 1933)