The SPHAS: The Life and Times of Basketball's Greatest Jewish Team

8. The Darlings of Philadelphia

8 THE DARLINGS OF PHILADELPHIA We were well loved. Even William Penn’s statue on the top of City Hall used to bow to us. Every time the SPHAS came by, he’d bow to us. —Shikey Gotthoffer, interview by Robert Peterson O n November 28, 1939, with the Thanksgiving holiday past and the 1939–1940 basketball season just underway, newspapers and radios across the country reported that James Naismith, the game’s founder, had died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 78 years old. The New York Times, in its obituary, noted that more than 20 million people were now playing the game worldwide. “The fast, sprightly, colorful basketball of today, enjoyed in many lands by the young of both sexes in college, school, club, association, and society gymnasiums and on professional courts, bears at least the same resemblance to the early game as that of a modern airliner to the Wright brothers’ first ‘flying machine.’ The father of basketball had the distinction of originating the only major sport created in the United States.”1 As games were played over the next several days, moments of silence were observed. Cities all across the country remembered Naismith. One such city was Troy in upstate New York, which had been one of the early hotbeds of basketball activity and had become a center for great teams and players. From 1905 through the 1915–1916 season, the Troy Trojans annually ranked as one of basketball’s top teams. First in the Hudson River League and later in the New York State League, Troy was a dominant team, winning numerous league titles. Ed Watcher, one of the best players during the pioneer years and Troy’s leader, was later inducted into the Naismith 116 • THE SPHAS Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. At the time of Naismith’s death, Troy fielded a team in the ABL, the Troy Haymakers, coached by one of the early game’s best players, Max (Marty) Friedman. The SPHAS’ first league game after Naismith’s death was on December 9 at home to the Troy Haymakers. The SPHAS had opened the season strong at 5–3, including wins over Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, Jersey, and Washington. Gottlieb’s big acquisition prior to the season’s start was Phil Rabin, an outstanding offensive player and one of the league’s best young talents. Born Phil Rabinowitz in 1913 in Paterson, New Jersey, Rabin—short, quick, and tough—was the epitome of a Jewish basketball player during the 1920s and 1930s. From the time he was old enough to run around with his brothers, Rabin could always be found with a basketball nearby. Growing up, we were very poor. There was no money in those days. Ninety percent of the people then were poor. We hung a peach basket in the backyard. My brothers and I would get wooden planks and put them on the ground so we could dribble the basketball. When I was 10 or 11, there was a playground nearby, and it had a basket. I went there to play basketball. I was short but very tough.2 Whenever time permitted, Rabin could be found playing basketball, perfecting his shooting, and holding his own on the playground. During his high school years, Paterson fielded a team in the first ABL. From 1928–1929 until 1930–1931, when the league folded, the Whirlwinds and later the Crescents played, usually finishing at the bottom of the standings. “There was a professional team called the Paterson Crescents. I would carry the bags for a few of the players. Later in life, I played for them,” Rabin recalled decades later.3 Phil Rabin, who grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, played briefly for the Philadelphia SPHAS. An exceptional scorer, Rabin led the American Basketball League in scoring on multiple occasions. (Courtesy of Bill Himmelman.) THE DARlINGS OF PHIlADElPHIA • 117 After high school, Rabin enrolled at Long Island University (LIU) to play for legendary coach Clair Bee. In 1936, I was playing for Long Island University. We were rated in the top three in the country. We played at Madison Square Garden on Saturdays and there would be 20,000 people who would come. Teams such as CCNY, Fordham, NYU, Manhattan, and LIU would play. At the time, I was playing professional basketball for the team in Atlantic City in the Eastern League. I was way ahead of my time in playing...