Robert Douglas
From Hoopedia
Robert J. Douglas, born November 4, 1881 in St. Kitts, British West Indies and died July 16, 1979, founded the Renaissance Five in 1923. They became one of the preeminent basketball teams in America. The Original Celtics, their arch-rivals, declined to join the American Basketball League in 1925 in part because the the Rens were not invited to join. The Rens played their last game on March 21, 1949. Their lifetime record was 2,588-529.
Around 1903 Douglas, along with George Abbott and J. Foster Phillips, formed the Spartan Field Club, which played many sports. The basketball team was called the Spartan Braves. They played in the Metropolitan Basketball Association, but also played many games against independent teams across the country. In 1923 Douglas persuaded the Renaissance Casino to sponsor them by providing a home court; in return, the team changed its name to the New York Renaissance.
Douglas was the first Black inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. His Rens are one of four teams inducted into the Hall.
