On January 16, 1959 the Minneapolis Lakers were scheduled to play the Cincinnati Royals in Charleston, West Virginia’s brand-new civic center.
The game went on, minus some Lakers players.
The hotel the Lakers had booked was segregated, so they refused to allow the teams African-American players, Elgin Baylor, Boo Ellis and Ed Fleming, to stay there. So the team told the hotel thanks, but no thanks, and they found new accommodations in a non-segregated hotel.
When it came time to play Elgin Baylor decided to sit out the game in protest over the incident, although the other two black players did participate in the game.
Minneapolis lost the game 95-91.
The local organization that sponsored the game protested Baylor’s actions to the NBA and the Lakers, but both organizations backed Baylor and refused to discipline him.
