As fans traversed certain NBA arenas and ended up in team stores, they were bound to come across apparel that includes a Black NBA logo, an Aug. 28, 1963, homage to the March on Washington, the embroidered word “DREAM,” and more details celebrating Black history.
The apparel was created and supplied by New York Knicks legendary guard Allan Houston and his FISLL brand’s Black History Collection. FISLL is a social impact brand that embraces five fundamental values — faith, integrity, sacrifice, leadership and legacy — and hopes to apply the principles through fashion, technology, sports, mentorship and community service to equip others to develop traits needed to make an impact.
Houston desires that people to reflect on something greater when they wear one of the collection’s hoodies, flight jackets or cardigans.
“All these are small details of a larger representation,” Houston said. “It really is about what Dr. [Martin Luther] King’s dream was. It’s about character and the symbols on the apparel point back to that. So, when I think about his dream in relation to the product, is that truly our dream. This particular collection is bigger than the moment. As you wear it, think about if the content of your character is living in faith, integrity, sacrifice, leadership, and legacy.”
FISLL’s first curriculum in 2011 focused on civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.’s pioneering efforts to turn the world’s attention to a person’s character rather than color. Houston drew a parallel between his relationship with his father and King’s dream.
Thirteen years later, FISLL’s Black History Collection is the culmination of father-son and mentor-mentee relations rooted in those five fundamental values. The tag inside of the Black History Collection apparel reads, “When my father became the first Black head basketball coach in the SEC at the University of Tennessee, it confirmed my calling to play the game for a bigger purpose. It was continuing a legacy of faith, leadership, and social responsibility.”
Houston’s father, Allan Houston Sr., was the first Black basketball coach in the SEC. Houston Jr. decided to join his father at Tennessee in 1989 after initially committing to Louisville. He played four years for him, becoming Tennessee’s all-time leading scorer. Houston went on to play nine seasons for the Knicks and was a member of the 1999 NBA Finals team. A two-time NBA All-Star, he won a gold medal as a member of the U.S. men’s basketball team at the 2000 Summer Games.
Houston witnessed a similarity between his father’s leadership in raising him and how he nurtured his players.
“When I was around 9 or 10, I was going with him when he hosted basketball camps in different communities,” Houston said. “He knew that many young men needed a picture of structure and discipline. What remained consistent throughout his guidance was that unconditional love. So, when I went with him to recruit players and saw how these players viewed my dad as another father figure, I was like a little brother to those guys. He knew he was raising them and me.”
“Little brother” was inspired at a young age decades before creating and presiding over FISLL. Houston recalls aspects of his relationship with his father and integrates them into FISLL mentorship.
“When you think about FISLL and my dad and I’s relationship, it’s all about trust,” Houston said. “A lot of young people today don’t know who to trust, and they shouldn’t because many hold impactful banners without holding up to the standards of it. I saw my dad execute those standards and realized mentoring is really just about me caring enough to try to help.”
The standards, however, weren’t limited to his father’s side of the family.
His maternal grandfather, William Lee Kean, was one of the first four-year lettermen at Howard University in 1922. He had a successful 35-year career from 1923 to 1956 as a basketball coach at Central High School in Louisville, Kentucky, generating a 91.1% winning percentage.
Houston wrote about his grandfather in a paper written on May 10, 1993, one month before he was drafted 11th overall by the Detroit Pistons.
“He was at the forefront of the integration effort in athletics” in Kentucky, Houston said in the paper. “In all these feats, he never failed to display anything less than the noblest of character and demanded the utmost respect … His desire for victory never pressured him, nor did he carry himself like many victory-worshipping coaches. His legislation was more than victories. He built character. No one could measure the service he gave to his boys.”
Kean’s lifestyle and mindset can be traced to his father, William Thomas Kean, who was named father of the year by his church, where he served as custodian. More than 100 years later, William Thomas Kean’s exemplary fatherhood is present in his great-grandson.
As Houston prepared for bed around midnight in his hotel room in Los Angeles during the Knicks’ mid-December West Coast road trip in 2023, his iPhone vibrated. With seven children, a position with the Knicks as vice president, player leadership and development, and the owner of a social-impact brand, it’s a sound that he was familiar with.
“You’re the best dad I could ever ask for. Love you!” said Asher, the youngest of Houston’s seven children and his second son.
Houston’s eldest son, Allan Wade Houston III, shared in his family’s legacy this past year as a graduate transfer on the Louisville football team. After playing four seasons and graduating from Brown University, he joined the Cardinals and contributed to their top-25 ranking and trip to the Holiday Bowl in 2023, 35 years after his father won a state championship at Ballard High School in Louisville in 1988.
Twelve years before in 1976, Houston Sr. became the first Black assistant men’s basketball coach at Louisville, a year after leading Louisville Male High School to a state championship. Houston Sr. won two NCAA national championships at Louisville as an assistant coach.
“It was great being back in Louisville and hearing about my grandfather’s legacy at the place where he started his coaching career and where my dad was born and made a name for himself,” Houston III said. “Both were great leaders and men of faith. It’s an honor to carry that legacy. I am excited to carry out and carry forward the values of faith, integrity, sacrifice, leadership, and legacy as I enter the next chapter of my life.”
Houston trained both of his sons to realize the same thing his dad taught him: It’s always bigger than the sport.
Houston’s days playing at Madison Square Garden for the Knicks might be over, but his days of planting seeds in the garden of FISLL are just now starting. Myles Dawson is a junior marketing major at Howard University, where he serves as a FISLL campus ambassador. Houston has mentored Dawson for several years.
“Mr. Houston has been a mentor and guide for me in many facets of my life,” Dawson said. “He’s been a huge inspiration spiritually, in the fashion industry, sports, and everything he puts his hands on. Because of FISLL, I am constantly thinking about how I can make an impact in the spaces I am in. I am in photography and now when I take pictures, I am thinking what about the story I am telling with these pictures will be impactful, and FISLL introduced me to this mindset.”
Houston’s legacy is rooted in helping young men mature, and the FISLL Black History Collection continues that legacy.
“Black history is not only about the past but about what we need moving forward, and that’s what FISLL represents,” Houston said. “We are in a world where everyone is a brand, and I want that to work for our young people for the good. When a young person is willing to step up, go against the grain, and stand out, it’s inspiring, because it’s not easy.
“That’s why the Black History Collection is crucial. I wanted to attach values to apparel, something that means something to the culture and makes young people question who they really are and what value they can bring to the world. These values were here way before me, and they will be here way after, and that brings me hope for this younger generation. It’s about who will grab onto them and use them.”
