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’Tis the season for thrilling slam dunks and adrenaline-inducing three-point shots, as the National Basketball Association nears the crowning of its next champion. While fans certainly flaunt their fascination with contemporary stars, they and their heroes owe their opportunities for lauding and performing to numerous luminaries, including Eddie Gottlieb. The league and local figures honored the icon May 21 by unveiling a historical marker outside South Philadelphia High School, 2101 S. Broad St.
“We all agree that Gottlieb truly deserves this,” emcee Celeste Morello said of lionizing the 1916 alumnus of the Lower Moyamensing-situated school. “His accomplishments are testaments to finding a passion and maximizing involvement in it.”
The South Philly-based historian headed the endeavor to endow the Ukraine native, whose family flocked to the area early last century, with another impression of immortality. Already a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball, International Basketball and Philadelphia Jewish Sports halls of fame, he became the fifth sports-related entity to receive recognition through Morello, who learned of The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission’s favorable estimation of her application in the winter.
“This marker is a reminder of his glorious past,” representative Richard Sand, whose employer made Morello’s petition one of the few selections from a 57-nomination-strong pool, said. “Everyone came to him, he said, because he was the one who could connect everything from the beginning.”
That genesis essentially commenced with his ’14 introduction to hoops and lasted until his ’79 death at age 81. During that 65-year stretch, the man from humble beginnings elevated himself to recreational royalty, earning “The Mogul” and “Mr. Basketball” as nicknames.
“He was an absolutely fascinating character,” Rich Westcott, author of “The Mogul: Eddie Gottlieb, Philadelphia Sports Legend and Pro Basketball Pioneer,” said of the commended crusader. “He had many pursuits and certainly counts as a key figure in shaping our athletic identity.”
Though he fared extremely well as an owner of the Negro Leagues’ Philadelphia Stars, a wrestling promoter and a booking agent for such acts as entertainer and Whitman native Joey Bishop, Gottlieb garnered greatness as a basketball beacon. As the founder, coach and owner of the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association, which, Westcott noted, initially competed at Seventh Street and Snyder Avenue, he engendered envy from opponents by collecting titles in three leagues. The City of Brotherly Love owes him even more adulation for his 16-year affiliation with the Philadelphia, now Golden State, Warriors. One of 11 original teams in the Basketball Association of America, which Gottlieb helped to create in ’46, the Warriors proved a tremendous draw for local zealots, claiming titles in ’47, with Grays Ferry product Jerry Rullo, who attended last week’s tribute, a reliable contributor, and in ’56, with another native son, Paul Arizin, playing the star. The second championship came during the early years of the NBA, another organization with which Gottlieb will forever be linked.
“He had such a personality that you felt honored to know him,” Harvey Pollack, director of statistical information for the Philadelphia 76ers, said of his deceased colleague, who hired him in ’46 to serve as the Warriors’ statistician. “I have so many stories about him.”
The 92-year-old numbers guru recalled an occasion when Gottlieb, fraternizing with peers in a restroom as they devised NBA schedules, which he did for three decades, shooed away someone who wanted to use the space for its intended purpose. Such was his friend’s devotion to his vocation, Pollack said. In attempting to bulk up the league, Gottlieb also showed immense pride in the success of his adopted city’s initial franchise, arguing for approval to make Overbrook product Wilt Chamberlain, then a University of Kansas standout, a territorial draft choice, meaning a proper pick for the Warriors because Kansas lacked an NBA squad. Chamberlain ended up starring for the unit, its San Francisco incarnation and the 76ers from ’59 through ’68 on his way to attaining similar legendary status.
“He always sought to give his all in promoting the game,” Westcott said of Gottlieb, who helmed the rules committee for 25 years. “He was a driving force behind so much of what we enjoy today.”
That ingenuity includes the institution of the 24-second shot clock, a brainchild that has bred many successful waning-moments heaves from current and former 76ers, including Dikembe Mutombo. The eight-time All-Star, four-time Defensive Player of the Year and member of the 2001 Eastern Conference Champions served as the league’s global ambassador last week and began the late-morning experience by interacting with students from Our Lady of Hope Regional Catholic School, 1248 Jackson St., before joining Morello et al in galvanizing cheers for Gottlieb’s influence and legacy. The retired intimidator, who often wagged his right index finger at foes after blocking shots, showed off his signature gesture to the youngsters, but he mostly used the famous digit and its manual allies to clap for “Gotty.”
Noting the “genuine esteem of this legislative body,” First District Councilman Mark Squilla, representing City Council, continued the copious endowment of praise by reading a citation that Mutombo soon returned to the New York-situated headquarters of the NBA, which, through past commissioner David Stern and present head Adam Silver, is covering the cost of the 73-word tribute, a tab totalling nearly $1,900, with the permit and installation being $350.
“We in Philadelphia are proud to call him one of our favorite sons,” the first-term politician, of Front Street and Snyder Avenue, said of Gottlieb, whom Sam Chatis, Southern’s alumni association president, also acknowledged through a plaque entrusted to Mutombo.
Long a basketball-rich city, Philadelphia has seen its professional squad suffer setbacks recently, but supporters are seeking more victories next campaign thanks to guard Michael Carter-Williams, this season’s winner of the Rookie of the Year honor, dubbed, aptly enough, the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy. Regardless of the 76ers’ future, local and national hardwood action fans will still be able to witness hoops hoopla through the efforts of last week’s honoree. Thirty-five years after his death, “Mr. Basketball” lives on forever.
“He was a rarity,” Morello said, “and we’re fortunate to have this occasion to thank him.”
Contact Managing Editor Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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