Willie Naulls, a four-time All-Star forward with the Knicks, a member of three consecutive N.B.A. championship teams with the Boston Celtics and one of pro basketball’s early black stars, died on Thursday at his home in Laguna Niguel, Calif. He was 84.

The cause was respiratory failure resulting from Churg-Strauss syndrome, a rare condition that can restrict blood flow to vital organs and tissues, his wife, Dr. Anne Van de Water Naulls, said.

A fine outside shooter and a rugged rebounder at 6 feet 6 inches and 225 pounds or so, Naulls was an All-American at U.C.L.A. in 1956, his senior season, playing for the future Hall of Fame coach John Wooden. He was a second-round draft pick of the St. Louis Hawks.

But on joining the Hawks Naulls was distraught over the racial climate of St. Louis; his family had moved from Dallas to Southern California to escape segregation.