  charles henry "chuck" cooper (september 29, 1926 â february 5, 1984) was an american professional basketball player. he and two others, nat "sweetwater" clifton and earl lloyd, became the first african american players in the nba in 1950. cooper was also the first african-american to be drafted by an nba team, as the first pick of the second round by the boston celtics. ==life, death, and education== cooper was born and died in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. he graduated from pittsburgh's westinghouse high school. he then attended and played basketball for west virginia state college (now university) and then duquesne university. he died at the age of 57 on february 5, 1984 of liver cancer. ==career== cooper was signed by boston celtics coach red auerbach. he played four years with the celtics, then was traded to the milwaukee hawks before ending his career as a member of the ft. wayne pistons. during his nba career, cooper played a total of 409 games, scored 2,725 points for a
1926_births 1984_deaths African-American_basketball_players Basketball_players_from_Pennsylvania Boston_Celtics_draft_picks Boston_Celtics_players Duquesne_Dukes_men\'s_basketball_players Fort_Wayne_Pistons_players Harlem_Globetrotters_players Milwaukee_Hawks_players Sportspeople_from_Pittsburgh,_Pennsylvania St._Louis_Hawks_players West_Virginia_State_Yellow_Jackets_men\'s_basketball_players