The NBA All-Star Boycott

January 14, 1964. Thousands of basketball fans have braved a massive snowstorm in Boston to watch the biggest names in basketball – from Bill Russell to Oscar Robertson to Elgin Baylor – in the 14th annual NBA All-Star Game.

But just ten minutes before the game is supposed to start, the players are nowhere to be found. The court is empty. Fans stomp their feet in frustration. Little do they know that all 20 NBA All-Stars have crammed into one locker room and barricaded the door, refusing to leave until the team owners agree to their demands.

Today, the 1963-64 All-Stars take an important – but extremely risky – stand against the rich and powerful men who run the National Basketball Association. What were these players fighting for? And why was the 1964 All-Star Game the perfect setting to stage one of the most important protests in sports history?

Special thanks to our guests: Dave Zarum, author of NBA 75: The Definitive History, Rich Kraetsch and Jason Mann, co-hosts of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast, and NBA legend Wayne Embry, a Hall of Famer and NBA All-Star from 1961 to 1965.

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