Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation that Saved the Soul of the NBA

Charles and Emma Jackson Memorial Lecture

with Dr. Theresa Rundstetler, American University

In-person and streaming options available

Theresa Runstedltler’s book is a gripping history and corrective in which Runstedtler expertly rewrites basketball’s “Dark Ages.” Black Ball explores how the NBA embodied the nation’s imagined descent into disorder in the 1970s amid ongoing resistance to racial desegregation and strident calls for Black Power. It was against this backdrop that a new generation of Black players entered the league—including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Spencer Haywood—and the press and public were quick to blame this cohort for the supposed decline of professional basketball, citing drugs, violence, and greed.

In this year's Jackson Memorial Lecture, Runstedtler weaves together a deep knowledge of basketball and incisive social analysis to argue that this period was pivotal to the rise of the modern-day NBA and explore how basketball became a symbol for post-civil rights America.

Theresa Rundstetler is a scholar of African American history whose research examines Black popular culture, with a particular focus on the intersection of race, gender, labor, and sport. Her critically acclaimed book, Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation That Saved the Soul of the NBA (Bold Type Books, 2023), examines how African American players transformed the professional hoops game, both on and off the court. It was shortlisted for the Museum of African American History's Stone Book Award in 2023.