- Ralph Kaplowitz
infobox NBA Player
name = Ralph Kaplowitz
position =Shooting guard
height_ft = 6 | height_in = 2 | weight_lbs = 170
birth_date = birth date and age|1919|5|18
birth_place =The Bronx ,New York City
nationality = USA
career_start = 1946
career_end = 1951
college =New York University
former_teams =Philadelphia Sphas (1946)New York Knicks (1946–47) Philadelphia Warriors (1947–48)Hartford Hurricanes (1948–1950)Bridgeport Roesslers (1950–1951)Ralph Kaplowitz (born
May 18 ,1919 inThe Bronx ,New York ) is a retired American basketball player. Kaplowitz played in the first two seasons of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), now known as theNational Basketball Association (NBA), and is the oldest living person to have played for theNew York Knicks .Background
Kaplowitz attended
DeWitt Clinton High School and led his team to aPSAL championship. After graduating from Clinton, he attendedNew York University . He joined NYU's varsity team as a sophomore in 1939-40, was the team's second-leading scorer with 183 points, and was named to the "Collier's Magazine " All-America first team. In his junior year, Kaplowitz did lead NYU in scoring, and to a winning record of 13-6. At the start of his senior year he was named team captain, but was drafted into theU.S. Army as an aviation cadet. After his basketball career, Ralph went on to thrive in other athletics. He is noted as winning multiple club championships at Old Westbury Golf and Country Club.Professional career
Philadelphia Sphas
After the end of
World War II , Kaplowitz was released from the Army, and he returned to NYU to finish his degree in education. After that, he signed with thePhiladelphia Sphas (South Philadelphia Hebrew Association) of the American Basketball League, and averaged 10.6 points per game in the latter end of the 1945-46 season, facing the Baltimore Bullets in the championship round, but losing.New York Knicks
In August 1946, Kaplowitz received a telegram from the
New York Knicks ownerNed Irish which read "Interested in having you play with New York professional basketball team next season. Please telephone me." Kaplowitz did join the Knicks, signing a one-year contract for $6,500.cite news | url = http://www.radiodiaries.org/transcripts/OtherDocs/startingfive.html | title = The Starting Five | date =June 5 ,1997 | work =All Things Considered | publisher =National Public Radio | last = Richman | first = Joe | accessdate = 2007-07-11 ]On
November 1 ,1946 inToronto ,Canada , the 27-year-old Kaplowitz appeared in the starting lineup of the very first game of NBA/BAA history, alongside fellow KnicksOssie Schectman ,Sonny Hertzberg , Jake Weber, andLeo Gottlieb . Together, they beat theToronto Huskies 68-66.Kaplowitz and his teammates, many of them
Jew s, recall an increased level of anti-Semitic heckling by fans atMadison Square Garden as the season progressed. Halfway through the season, the Knicks traded Kaplowitz to thePhiladelphia Warriors , which were then coached and owned byEddie Gottlieb . In a 1997 interview of the team, Hertzberg said that by the end of the 1946-47 season, he was only Jewish player left on the Knicks' roster, but even he was traded during the league's first off-season break. [cite web | url = http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/22018/ | title = Court Jews: Pro Basketball's Forgotten History | date =June 27 ,2007 | first = Jason | last = Maoz | accessdate = 2007-07-11 | work =The Jewish Press ]Philadelphia Warriors
Kaplowitz played the second half of the 1946-47 season for the Warriors, who Kaplowitz' former team the Knicks in the playoffs, and swept that series to advance to the Finals. Then, they beat
Max Zaslofsky and theChicago Stags (4-1 series) to claim the first BAA championship.In the 1947-48 season, the Warriors advanced to the Finals again, but Kaplowitz was once again beaten by Baltimore, in the Bullets' first season as a BAA team. After losing this series, Kaplowitz retired from the BAA after only two seasons, returning once again to the ABL, where he would play two seasons for the
Hartford Hurricanes and one for theBridgeport Roesslers .Notes
References
*cite web | url = http://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=basketball&ID=162 | title = Kaplowitz, Ralph | publisher = jewsinsports.org | accessdate = 2007-07-11
ee also
*
List of Jewish American sportspeople External links
*basketball-reference
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