PUMA and the Black Fives Foundation our second collection in our ongoing partnership. The Black Fives Foundation’s mission is to research, preserve, showcase, teach and honor the pre-NBA history of African Americans in basketball. This collection celebrates the way the teams of the Black Fives Era expanded their reach beyond the neighborhoods where they began, into cities and towns throughout the United States. Teams would travel the country playing extensive schedules, adhering to strict business models while navigating racist Jim Crow restrictions on everything from public transportation to restaurants to lodging, even before arriving in tense, unfamiliar, potentially volatile arenas, armories, ballrooms, and gymnasiums far from home. Yet, these squads most often won those games, left town safely, and were invited back. Their journeys played an instrumental role in popularizing the game while providing essential cultural inspiration to Black communities across America. This collection showcases these experiences with historical graphics and authentic logos maintained by the Foundation, on designs featuring vintage-inspired fabrications.
