Willie Naulls momentarily contained his rage when he heard the racial epithet expressed matter-of-factly by an opponent announcing to his teammates whom he would defend.
Naulls’ revenge came the next time he got the ball. The 6-foot-6 forward plunged his left elbow into his defender’s jawline as he drove past, arcing the ball off the backboard and into the basket to give the Bruins a two-point lead in an eventual five-point victory.
“It is amazing what a well-placed elbow, within the rules of the game, will do to expose a coward,” Naulls later wrote in his book, “Levitation’s View.