Zachary M. Clayton (April 17, 1913 – November 20, 1997) was a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

New York Rens The New York Renaissance, also known as the Renaissance Big R Five and as the Rens, were the first black-owned, all-black, fully-professional basketball team in history, established in October 1923, by Robert "Bob" Douglas. They were named after t ...

. He was also a

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

baseball player and a professional boxing referee. He was inducted into the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

in 2017. As a boy, Clayton's family moved from Virginia to Philadelphia. Clayton played at the Christian Street YMCA along with Charles "Tarzan" Cooper, Jackie Bethards and

Bill Yancey William James Yancey (April 2, 1902 – April 13, 1971) was an American baseball shortstop in the Negro leagues. He played from 1927 to 1936. He also played for the New York Renaissance, an all-black professional basketball team. Yancey also serv ...

. There they began four fruitful careers on a squad called the Tribune Men. Clayton also played for the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

. Clayton would win world championships with both teams. Clayton is enshrined in the Philadelphia basketball Hall of Fame. Clayton later became a boxing referee. His most famous bout was the 1974 Ali-Foreman " Rumble In The Jungle". Clayton also refereed Muhammad Ali's last fight, against Trevor Berbick in 1981. Clayton was a lieutenant in the Philadelphia Fire Department for 26 years. He retired in 1979.

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External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
1997 deaths Bacharach Giants players Baltimore Elite Giants players Chicago American Giants players Harlem Globetrotters players New York Black Yankees players New York Renaissance players Basketball players from Philadelphia Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees 1913 births People from Gloucester Courthouse, Virginia Baseball players from Philadelphia 20th-century American sportsmen {{1910s-US-basketball-bio-stub