Bagels and Basketball By David Meadow Whilst the Jewish contributions to such fields as Science and the Arts are well known, Jewish contribution to the sport of basketball is significant and far outweighs our numbers. Recently I was in a Taxi in Los Vegas driven by an African American. Whilst he knew I was an Australian he did not know that I was a Jew or a basketball junkie. Interestingly this distinguished gentleman began to engage me in a conversation about basketball and it soon became clear to him that this middle aged guy from Downunder shared his passion about the greatest game ever invented. He proceeded to tell me about his career with the Harlem Globetrotters in the early 70s, but then he really got my attention, when he asked me, do you know which people made this great game what it is today? I had expected him to talk about the great black basketball tradition and how they dominate the professional, college and high school ranks today. To my surprise he said, It was the Jews who made this game great and we can thank them for what basketball has become. Sure, I had heard of Abe Saperstein, the Jewish founder of the Harlem Globetrotters. Yes, I was aware that the NBA was run by a bunch of Jewish executives, such as David Stern, Adam Silver, Joel Litvin and many others. Additionally, I knew of many current and former NBA Team owners and GMs that were Jewish, such as Marc Cuban Dallas Mavericks, Jerry Reinsdorf & Jerry Krause Chicago Bulls, David Katzman Cleveland Cavaliers, the late Abe Pollin Washington Bullets/Wizards, Larry Weinberg Portland Trailblazers, Micky Arison - Miami Heat, Leslie Alexander- Houston Rockets, Senator Herb Kohl- Milwaukee Buck. The late William Davidson, Karen Davidson- Detroit Pistons, Ed Snider Philadelphia 76ers, Robert Sarver-Phoenix Suns, Larry Tanenbaum Toronto Raptors, Ernie Grunfeld GM Washington Wizards, the legendary late Arnold Red Auerbach Boston Celtics and the list goes on and on. Despite this I had never really thought about the Jewish contribution to basketball. My taxi driver explained to me during my short ride along the Los Vegas strip that not only had they run the game at an executive level but they had also dominated as players early on, both on the schoolyards and tenements of New York as well as High School, College and the NBA. Not only that, Jews played an integral part in the integration of African Americans into organised basketball, including College and the NBA. Abe Saperstein, the founder of the Harlem Globetrotters played a key role in the integration as did many other Jewish basketball figures For those interested do a Google search on, Jews of Brooklyn Irving Hooker Levine, the liberal Jewish activist who ran the Brooklyn Basketball League Competitions that saw blacks and Jews playing on the same teams. Red Auerbach of the Boston Celtics is responsible for drafting the first African-American NBA player. Recently when competing in Master s Basketball at the MAIGs (Maccabi Australia International Games) one of the players from the USA Team told me about a movie called the First Basket, which covers the history of Jewish Basketball in some detail. The movie was called The First basket as it was a Jew named Ossie Schectman, playing for the New York Knicks who scored the first basket in NBA competition. Unfortunately the movie has never been released in Australia and sourcing a copy is most difficult. There are, however many clips available on You Tube. I have also discovered another documentary movie on the Jewish Basketball Tradition called, The Jewish Basketball Hall of Fame. This film provides rare footage of all the Jewish Basketball legends, and there are literally hundreds of these. In a nutshell Jewish Basketball has its roots early in the 20 th century whereby young Jews from immigrant families in communities across cities such as New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore participated in places such their local schoolyards. For many young Jews, Basketball provided them with away to become inherently involved in American culture. These young Jews came to dominate Basketball at all levels. The legendary player, Boston Celtics Coach and GM, Red Auerbach believes Jews became so prominent in Basketball, as,
they had nothing else. The Jewish influence on the actual game of Basketball runs deep. David Vyorst, the creator of the First Basket says, There is uniqueness to the Jewish basketball historical experience... connections between the Jewish soul and basketball... it is a team game where the players produce together, comparable to a garment shop. Thus, Jews of the early 20th felt a connection to their lives in the sport. While this may be true, the connection that I m looking for runs deeper. There is a Talmudic maxim that posits that all Jews are responsible for one another. A sense of team has been hammered into the Jewish consciousness through centuries of persecution and exclusion. Whilst touring the USA in 1988, with an Australian Maccabi Team, we had the privilege of having legendary Jewish basketball Coach and player, Nat Holman (then 92) make a speech and throw the opening jump ball at the start of one of our games. Holman, coached City College in New York from 1920 1960. Vyorst says Holman, is credited with inventing the city game. epitomized by famous Jewish Basketball coach, Red Holzman s New York Knicks in the late 1960s and early 1970s which is, perhaps, the pinnacle of the type of basketball that is the essence of the team game. This style of game that has its roots in Lower East side settlement houses stressed team play, always passing, hitting the open man and everyone playing defense. Famous coach and NBA analyst, Hubie Brown refers to this fundamental style of basketball as, Jew Ball. There were several dominant Jewish teams in the 1910s/20s/30s, one of these was the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association SPHAs (pronounced "spas"), which dominated basketball in the 1920s and '30s. The team was coached by Eddie Gottlieb, who was also the owner of the most successful team in basketball history. In fact, the Hebrews as they were called, eventually morphed into the NBA's first champion, the 1946-47 Philadelphia Warriors, long before Gottlieb moved the team west to San Francisco in 1962. Other predominantly Jewish teams of this time included the New York Whirlwinds and the Cleveland Rosenblums. Today there are only 2 Jewish basketballers playing in the NBA. Omri Casspi from the Sacramento Kings is the first Israeli born NBA player, the other Jewish player is Jordan Farmer from the New Jersey Nets (ex LA Lakers and UCLA). All Star forward Amar e Stoudamire has also recently spoken of his Jewish roots and visited Israel. In the 1940s and 50s Jewish basketballers there were many Jewish ballers in the NBA. Some of the most famous NBA players and coaches have included: Red Auerbach - 9 times NBA Championship Coach, Irv Bemoras - The Milwaukee Hawks/St. Louis Hawks in the 50s. Larry Brown - ABA All Star and one of the greatest NBA and College coaches ever. Only coach to win both an NCAA and NBA title Hank Finkel - played for Los Angeles Lakers, San Diego Rockets, and Boston Celtics in the 60s& 70s Lawrence Frank - currently an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics. He formerly served as the head coach of the NBA's New Jersey Nets Marty Friedman - pro basketball (1908 27), mostly known for playing with the New York Whirlwinds. Dutch Garfinkel - 30s & 40s St Johns, ABL,NBL, New York State, BAA, (predecessor of the NBA), Philadelphia Sphas, Rochester Royals, original Boston Celtics Ernie Grunfeld - 70s and 80sMilwaukee Bucks, Kansas City Kings, New York Knicks, currently GM of Washington Wizards Edward Gottlieb - first coach and manager of the Philadelphia Warriors Art Heyman - New York Knicks, Cincinnati Royals, Philadelphia 76ers, Pittsburgh Pipers (ABA) Nat Holman - Original Celtics (NY), legendary coach City College of New York, greatest player of his day 1920s Red Holzman - Rochester Royals,, Milwaukee Hawks, legendary coach of the New York Knicks
Ralph Kaplowitz - BAA, Philadelphia Sphas, New York Knicks, Philadelphia Warriors Louis Klotz - Baltimore Bullets, Philadelphia Sphas, Washington Generals, first non-globetrotter to receive the Globetrotter's "Legend" award Harry Litwack - starred for the SPHAs in the 1930s before moving on to coach Temple University in Philadelphia for 21 years Lennie Rosenbluth - North Carolina, in 1957 named Collegiate Player of the Year, over Kansas's Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia Warriors, 1950s Barry Kramer - San Francisco Warriors, New York Knicks, New York Nets (ABA) 1960s Joel Kramer - Phoenix Suns, 1978-83 Steve Chubin - Anaheim Amigos, Los Angeles Stars, Minnesota Pipers, Indiana Pacers and New York Nets (1968-69), Nets, Pittsburgh Pipers, Pacers and Kentucky Colonels (all ABA teams) Rudy LaRusso - 5 time NBA All Star, Minneapolis Lakers & San Francisco Warriors 1960s Danny Schayes - Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic, Minnesota Timberwolves, (1981-99) son of Dolph Shayes Ossie Schectman - Philadelphia Sphas, member of original New York Knicks, scored first basket in the NBA against Toronto Huskies Dolph Schayes - 12 time NBA All Star, six-time All-NBA First-Team, All-NBA Second-Team six times possibly the greatest Jewish Player of all time, 1955 NBA champion Syracuse Nationals, Philadelphia 76ers Upon retirement in 1964, Schayes held the NBA records for career scoring (19,249 points), games played (1,059), minutes played, playoff games played, foul shots made, and personal fouls (3,667). In 1996, Schayes was selected as one of the 50 Greatest NBA players of all-time Barney Sedran - City College, New York Whirlwinds and Cleveland Rosenblums, one of the great early pro basketball players in the 1910s and 1920s Sid Tannenbaum - New York Knicks and Baltimore Bullets 1940s. Neal Walk - Phoenix Suns (drafted no.2 behind Kareem Abdul Jabbar), New Orleans Jazz (1969-74) Ron Watts - Boston Celtics 1960s Max Zaslofsky - St Johns, Chicago Stags, New York Knicks. Zaslofsky was named All-NBA First Team 4 years in a row including 1946 47 at the age of 21. (youngest player named such for near 60 years until he was surpassed by LeBron James). In 1956 he ended his career as 3rd leading scorer all-time Jewish women ball players have also enjoyed significant success. Nancy Lieberman is regarded as one of the greatest female basketballers of all time. Senda Berenson Abbot was the first person to introduce and adapt rules for women's basketball. She was a pioneer of women's basketball, authoring the first Basketball Guide for Women (1901 07) and has been inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Sue Bird is currently one of the top few players in the WNBA and a member of the U.S. Women s team. No mention of Jewish basketball would be complete without covering basketball in Israel, where the sport takes pride of place, particularly the Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club. Maccabi Tel Aviv has won 5 European Club Championships and has seen many great Jewish Basketball champion players. These players have included the father of Israeli basketball Tal Brodie who emigrated from America in (who I have the pleasure of meeting), Lou Silver another US expat, and Israeli born superstars such as Miki Berkovich, Doron Jamchi (who I have played against) and Tal Burstein. Finally, to Jewish Basketball in Australia, there is no doubt that Australian Jewish Basketball is currently in a golden age. The number of Maccabi players and teams in Victoria and NSW is at an all time high, as is the
standard. Rest assured that Australian Jewish Basketball also has a long and distinguished heritage. I have been fortunate to have played with or been coached by many great talents. Some of these names include, Rotstayn, Papo, Rubinstein, Smart, Tamir, Kahn, Shapiro, Perch, Gardos and many more. Australian Jewish Basketball has also seen some players in the NBL such as Potok and Rosen and Jewish NBL team owners such as Wrublewski and Kornhauser. Recently a Maccabi parent mentioned to me that his son was in two minds as to whether to pursue basketball or Australian Rules. My advice was simple, Basketball is a Jewish sport, and additionally you can play to an old age. The sport has allowed me to play in many places, from Albert Park and MSAC, the Ajax Maccabi court at 97 Alma Rd, to over 30 international games for Maccabi Australia. This has included trips the US to play against Jewish Teams at JCCs all over the U.S. and to Israel to play against Jewish teams from all over the world at the Maccabiah Games. I have also been fortunate to participate at the recent Maccabi Australia International Games and to a number of Interstate Maccabi Sports Carnivals, where Men s Basketball was always the highlight event. Jews are big on tradition and by playing basketball for Maccabi you are continuing and strengthening a great Jewish Basketball tradition.