Since the dawn of time, people have been unfairly treated with prejudice. This is discrimination, and it is a major problem in our world. Discrimination not only exists in the workplace, at school and in religion, but it is also a problem in professional sports. Although there are still many examples of discrimination in sport, improvements have been seen in the areas of racial, gender and sexual orientation discrimination. To begin with, for nearly 200 years in the United States, the nation was plagued by slavery. In 1865, slavery ended, but professional sports were booming and racism was a serious problem. In 1946, there were no African-American athletes in Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, or the National Football League; until Jackie Robinson, of course. The 29-year-old African-American from Cairo, Georgia, became Major League Baseball's first-ever black professional player. From the time Jackie Robinson first stepped onto a baseball field until 30 years later in the 1980s, the percentage of black players in MLB skyrocketed. During the 1987 season, 28 percent of major league players were African American (Kahn). In addition to being one of the most important figures in MLB history, Jackie excelled in almost every college sport, participating in 4 of them (Salem Press 2336). Jackie Robinson is perhaps the most influential figure in sports history, forever changing the landscape of racism. Another dramatic shift in the direction of racism in sports occurred within the National Basketball Association, also known as the NBA. In the 1940s, there were no black players in the NBA, but by the 1980s, 74 percent of professional basketball players... middle of paper ... main reason why this is increasing so quickly is that discrimination is omnipresent. decreased. Everyone can play, watch and support, without feeling excluded, and equality has become a necessity in all sports around the world. Donald Sterling, the owner of the NBA team, the Los Angeles Clippers, was recently banned for life by league commissioner Adam Silver after making racist comments. In the 1950s, most people would have made fun of it and not even cared, but today there is no place for people like that in sport because the commissioners of league, players and fans will generally not tolerate such behavior. Discrimination in sports is a less common phenomenon these days, but unfortunately it still exists; That said, many improvements have been made to end racial, gender, and sexual orientation discrimination in professional athletics in the modern era..