Mar 22, 2021
International Tennis Hall of
Fame Museum director Doug Stark (The SPHAs: The Life and Times of
Basketball's Greatest Jewish Team) joins this week's 'cast
for an authoritative exploration of one of his first loves - pro
basketball's pioneering Philadelphia SPHAs.
Originally organized in 1918 as
a local amateur team by South Philadelphia High School grads Eddie
Gottlieb, Harry Passon and Hughie Black - and acronymically named
for their early uniform sponsors, the South Philadelphia Hebrew
Association - the SPHAs rose from a regional amateur league power
in the 1920s to become an early avatar for professional basketball
dominance in the 1930s & 40s.
With home games played in the
ballroom of Philly's Broadwood Hotel (replete with customary
singles dances afterwards), the SPHAs became a sensation in the
local Jewish social scene, and soon graduated (under the guidance
of Gottlieb) to winning titles in various early pro hoops leagues
like the Eastern League and Abe Saperstein's American Basketball
League - while beating legendary teams like Boston's Original
Celtics and New York's Renaissance Five along the way. In the
ABL alone, the SPHAs captured seven titles in their 13 years of
play between 1933-45, and were runners-up twice.
In 1946, the NBA-forerunning
Basketball Association of America debuted, and the ABL ceased to be
a major league. With Gottlieb establishing the Philadelphia
Warriors as his BAA franchise, the SPHAs continued with the minor
league ABL and as a touring opponent of the Saperstein's
barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters. Gottlieb sold the team in 1950
to former SPHAs star Red Klotz, who changed the name to the
Washington Generals.
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