BOSTON – The Boston Celtics extended their win streak to nine Tuesday night with a 117-99 win over the Philadelphia 76ers during the team's second annual HBCU Night.
As part of Black History Month, the NBA is recognizing students and alumni of Historically Black Colleges and Universities for their contributions to the league and to the rest of the world. In recent years, it has been active in devoting programing, resources and exposure to HBCU students nationwide.
In celebration of the their achievements, the Celtics planned a night full of HBCU performances and attendees.
Florida A&M alumnus Kimani Jackson sang the National Anthem ahead of tip-off and local members of the Divine Nine fraternities and sororities performed during halftime. Past NBA x HBCU Fellows for the Celtics, Anthony Mendez, Ellison Burt-Murray, and myself were also recognized during the game.
The team shared a video on social media and on the Jumbotron during the game displaying some of the fellows’ participation last summer and what they gained during their work.
“It’s been very motivating and inspiring to see representation of people that look like me,” Bury-Murray said.
Burt-Murray interned under the marketing department during the fellowship and got first-hand experience behind media channels and promotional strategies for the team.
“I got to see high-level members of the team like Brad Stevens and Joe Mazzulla, and every time they saw me they were really quick to introduce themselves,” he said.
For the Heroes Among Us campaign, Howard University alumna Bianca Sullivan was highlighted as the evening’s hero for her work providing resources for students at her alma mater. Sullivan serves as the president of the Howard University Alumni Club in Massachusetts, leading efforts for mentorship programs and scholarship funds for over 60 freshmen from the area over the last decade.
Celtics Community Engagement Manager, Tome Barros said there is a strong correlation in history and culture between the Celtics and HBCUs.
“There’s a standard of excellence; HBCUs have a huge history,” he said.
Barros is a Hampton University alumnus. He said the sense of family at HBCUs is what has translated the most to his time with the Celtics.
“We all feel like our institution was the best because of what it brought out of us,” he said. “That, for me, was game-changing.”
The Celtics organization believes the aspiration to leave lasting influences and impacts in communities is what they have the most in common with the HBCU community.
Celtics Legend Sam Jones was one of the NBA’s earliest HBCU alumni after being drafted out of North Carolina Central University in 1957.
Jones played for Boston from 1957-1969 winning 10 NBA championships and was one of three Celtics to play in all of the eight consecutive championships Boston won in those years. Playing alongside NBA icon Bill Russell, Jones helped welcome a new era of African Americans in sports.
This legacy of inspiration is one which the Celtics look to continue sharing with HBCUs.
“Even though I landed my dream job here, I still want to do other things and still want to make my mark,” said performance coach Isaiah Covington, a Delaware State University alumnus.
“I still want to be able to leave an impact,” he said. “I still want to be a mentor; I’m trying to start an internship program here. Now that I got here, I want to help the next generation of people get here.”
Jaylen Brown has also been a consistent advocate for HBCUs and allocating education resources for Black youth. He’s visited Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University in his hometown of Atlanta to speak to students and develop relationships.
“Just continuing to add resources and building a platform and caring about the platform is great to see and I’d like to see more of it going forward,” said the All-Star wing.
Barros said further developing authentic relationships with HBCU students and representatives can help the league strengthen their relationship with the institutions.
“It reminds us that we need to do more. We’ve got to touch base with our universities and figure out different pathways where we can do more and create more avenues,” he said. “If the NBA is showing that there’s some dedication there then we’ve got to be the people who are pushing it to go further and further.”