| Winston-Salem State University |
Before the arrival of "Magie Johnson" there was another "Magic" -- "Black Magic," also known as "Earl the Pearl." He was Earl Monroe, a dazzling ballhandler and one-on-one virtuoso who made crowds gasp with his slashing drives to the hoop.
Monroe joined the NBA in 1967 and parlayed his talents into a distinguished 13-year career. He was part of a changing of the guard in the NBA, arriving at a time when high scorers like Dave Bing and Jerry West were showing that the backcourt could rack up points just as effectively as the center position. He finished with a career average of 18.8 ppg.
Spectators were amazed not only by the number of points that Monroe scored but also by how he scored them. "The ultimate playground player," is how Bill Bradley once described him to the New York Post. He loved to spin and twist through the paint and then launch off-balance, circus-like shots in the tradition of the Harlem Globetrotters. His shots went in often enough for Monroe to compile a respectable .464 career field-goal percentage and earn four All-Star Game appearances. More importantly, he was a key leader on two excellent teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s-the Baltimore Bullets and the New York Knicks.
Monroe grew up in a tough South Philadelphia neighborhood. As a youth he was more interested in soccer and baseball than in basketball, but by age 14 he had grown to 6-3 and had drawn the attention of school basketball coaches. Although he wasn't immediately adept at basketball, Monroe played center during most of his youth. His "shake-and-bake" moves originated in the tough contests played on Philly's asphalt playgrounds. "I had to develop flukey-duke shots, what we call la-la, hesitating in the air as long as possible before shooting," he once explained.
Monroe decided to attend Winston-Salem State, a small, historically black college in North Carolina. There he found a father figure in Coach Clarence “Big House” Gaines, a famed figure in black college sports and blossomed into a first-rate scorer. As a senior in 1966-67, Monroe led his Winston-Salem State University Rams squad to an NCAA Division II title while averaging 41.5 points. A local sportswriter, the Winston-Salem Journal’s Jerry McLeese penned the phrase "Earl's Pearls" to describe the points he tallied, and a nickname was born.
Monroe, the No. 2 choice in the 1967 NBA Draft, was chosen by the Baltimore Bullets, a franchise that had not enjoyed much success. During his initial season the team showed little improvement, finishing in the Eastern Division cellar. Monroe, however, was a standout. He was named NBA Rookie of the Year after averaging 24.3 points to finish fourth in the league in scoring. In one game against the Los Angeles Lakers he tossed in 56 points.
Fans and pros alike loved Monroe for his array of entertaining shots and his special flair. "Put a basketball in his hands and he does wondrous things with it," said Bullets Coach Gene Shue. "He has the greatest combination of basketball ability and showmanship." In a New York Post interview, Baltimore teammate Ray Scott was less circumspect: "God couldn't go one-on-one with Earl."
In 1968-69, Monroe averaged 25.8 ppg to help the Bullets jump from last to first in their division. He also appeared in the All-Star Game for the first time, scoring 21 points and dazzling viewers with his moves. The season ended abruptly, however, when the Bullets faced the Knicks in the playoffs and were buried in four straight games.
At season's end, Monroe was rewarded with a berth on the All-NBA First Team, the only such honor of his career. The Bullets and the Knicks hooked up again in the 1970 playoffs, tangling in a wild seven-game division semifinal. The Knicks prevailed a second time as Monroe starred in a losing effort. He fired in 39 points in a 120-117 double-overtime loss to the Knicks in Game 1.
Following his retirement Monroe took his flair for showmanship into the entertainment industry. He managed several singing groups, launched a record company called Pretty Pearl Records, and returned to basketball to work as a television commentator.
In 1989, Monroe was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and in 1996 was named to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. "If for any reason someone were to remember me," he said during an interview with HOOP, "I hope they will remember me as a person who could play the game and excite the fans and excite himself."