Black Athletes Who Passed Away in 2023

Nate Colbert had baseball running through his veins. His father, Nate Colbert Sr., played in the Negro Leagues with legend Satchel Paige. Naturally, Junior wanted his run as a ball player. Colbert was a first baseman in the Majors for 11 years on multiple teams including the Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Montreal Expos, and Oakland Athletics.

It might not be known as that now, but USC was once considered “RBU,” thanks to the number of storied ball carriers who won Heisman trophies at the university in the 1960s and 1970s. One of those running backs was Charles White, who won the award in 1979. He went on to play in the NFL for nine seasons with the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams.

Jessie Lemonier was a young NFL player who was just getting his NFL career started. Despite going undrafted in 2020, he fought his way onto a roster with the Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions. He l

Stanley Wilson Jr. was a cornerback in the NFL for three years, all with the Detroit Lions, the team he was drafted by in 2005.

Willis Reed is an icon in the NBA world. He spent the entirety of his career with the New York Knicks and was a two-time NBA Champion, a two-time Finals MVP, a seven-time All-Star, and an MVP. His legendary status was cemented when he played in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals after he suffered a torn thigh muscle earlier in the series.

Any conversation about the greatest running back (and football player) of all time has to start with Jim Brown. He was the first transcendent player in the league who was revered by all who watched and played the sport.

How many athletes can say they were successful in sports and politics? Larry Rivers can. He was a wizard on the court as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters. he later became a county commissioner in his hometown of Savannah, GA.

Ray Lewis III attempted to follow in his father’s footsteps, by playing football at his dad’s alma mater, the University of Miami. It didn’t work as he later transferred to Coastal Carolina and Virginia Union.

You don’t always have to be a superstar to have a long and successful NFL career. Haggans played in the league for 13 years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Arizona Cardinals, and the San Francisco 49ers. He won a Super Bowl in 2005 with the Steelers.

Mike Williams was a talented player whose career in the league was short-lived. He played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Buffalo Bills in his four-year NFL career.

Phil Sellers was a talented high school and college player who never got to see his skills in the NBA realized. Coming out of high school he was one of the best players in the nation and went on to play for Dick Vitale (yes, that won) at Rutgers University. The Detroit Pistons later drafted him in the third round of the 1976 NBA Draft. His career in the NBA would only last two years.

Tasha Butts was a basketball lifer. She played at the University of Tennessee for Pat Summit in the early 2000s. In 2004, she was drafted by the Minnesota Lynx in the second round of the WNBA Draft. After a short career in the league, she later went back to college to coach. Just before her death, she was hired as the head coach for the women’s team at Georgetown University.

Before Devin Booker, the star of the Phoenix Suns was Walter Davis, who was a six-time All-Star during his 15-year NBA career. After a great college career at the University of North Carolina, Davis was the fifth overall pick in the 1977 NBA Draft. He also played for the Denver Nuggets and Portland Trailblazers.

D.J. Hayden was a solid NFL cornerback who played for the Oakland Raiders, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Washington Commanders during his nine-year career.

McGinnis was a star in the NBA and ABA, being named an All-Star three times in both leagues. In his career, he played for the Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Denver Nuggets.