The First Basket | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | David Vyorst |
Produced by | David Vyorst |
Starring | Ossie Schectman Red Auerbach Peter Riegert |
Narrated by | Peter Riegert |
Edited by | Carol Slatkin |
Music by | Roberto Juan Rodriguez |
Distributed by | Laemmle/Zeller Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 86 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The First Basket is a 2008 documentary film on professional basketball's influence on Jewish culture.
It is narrated by Peter Riegert. The film includes interviews and narratives provided by, and footage of, well known Jewish basketball personalities including Ossie Schectman, Red Auerbach, Sidney Hertzberg, and Edward Gottlieb as well as other Jewish basketball players.
The movie is broken into four parts. The first part focuses on the 1946–47 New York Knickerbockers, and players such as Ossie Schectman, Sonny Hertzberg, Leo "Ace" Gotlieb, Ralph Kaplowitz, and Hank Rosenstein. The second part centers on how "Basketball Meant Being American," and the third part on professional basketball's development, including the start of the BAA and the NBA, the South Philadelphia Hebrew All Stars (SPHAs), basketball teams at City College of New York, Long Island University, and St. John's, and players including Nat Holman, Sammy Kaplan, Barney Sedran, Nat Krinsky, Red Saracheck, Red Holzman, and Red Auerbach. The last part centers on the beginning of the BAA and the NBA, Nat Holman, CCNY, and the 1951 CCNY point shaving scandal and its impact on the NBA, and Maccabi Tel Aviv. [1]
It premiered at the FilmFest DC International Film Festival, and was shown at over 25 other film festivals. [2]
The First Basket received generally excellent reviews from critics. As of October 2010, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 67% of nine professional critics had given the film a positive review. [3]
The Village Voice reviewer Ella Taylor, said of The First Basket:
The First Basket is more than a triumphalist screw-you to those who think Jews don't play sports. . . David Vyorst's clear-eyed, jaunty documentary briskly walks us through the history of American Jews in basketball. [4]
Film Journal International reviewer Lewis Beale, said of The First Basket:
An important historical document. . . engrossing and fun. [5]
The First Basket: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
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Soundtrack album by | |
Released | February 29, 2009 |
Length | 44:43 |
Label | Tzadik Records |
Producer | John Zorn |
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Roberto Juan Rodriguez was the Musical Director and Composer on The First Basket: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. He is a musician who synthesizes Cuban music and Jewish music. [7]
Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach was an American professional basketball coach and executive. He served as a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Boston Celtics. Auerbach was also the head coach of the Washington Capitols and Tri-Cities Blackhawks. As a coach, Auerbach set NBA records with 938 wins and nine championships. After his coaching retirement in 1966, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death. As general manager and team president of the Celtics, he won an additional seven NBA titles for a grand total of 16 in a span of 29 years, the most of any individual in NBA history, making him one of the most successful team officials in the history of North American professional sports.
The Toronto Huskies were a team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which was a forerunner of the National Basketball Association (NBA), during the 1946–47 season. They were based in Toronto. The team compiled a 22–38 win–loss record in its only season before disbanding in the summer of 1947.
Nat Holman was an American professional basketball player and college coach. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and is the only coach to lead his team to NCAA and National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championships in the same season.
Sidney "Sonny" Hertzberg was an American professional basketball player.
Oscar Benjamin "Ossie" Schectman was an American professional basketball player. He is credited with having scored the first basket in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which would later become the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Norm Drucker was a major influence in professional basketball officiating for over 35 years. His NBA and ABA officiating career as both a referee and Supervisor of Officials spanned the careers of all-time pro basketball greats, from George Mikan, Bob Cousy, Dolph Schayes and Bob Pettit in the 1950s, to Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Bill Russell in the 1960s, to Julius Erving, Rick Barry, Bill Bradley and Walt Frazier in the 1970s and to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980s.
The 1946–47 BAA season was the inaugural season of the Basketball Association of America. The league launched with 11 teams playing a 60-game schedule. The postseason tournament at its conclusion, ended with the Philadelphia Warriors becoming the first BAA Champion, beating the Chicago Stags 4 games to 1 in the BAA Finals.
Edward Gottlieb was a Jewish-Ukrainian professional basketball coach and executive. Nicknamed "Mr. Basketball" and "The Mogul", he was the first coach and manager of the Philadelphia Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and later became the owner of the team from 1951 to 1962. A native of Kiev, Ukraine, he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor on April 20, 1972. The NBA Rookie of the Year Award, the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy, was formerly named after him.
Barney Sedran was an American professional basketball player in the 1910s and 1920s who is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
The 1950 NBA draft was the fourth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). This is the first draft after the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was renamed the NBA. The draft was held on April 25, 1950, before the 1950–51 season. In this draft, 12 remaining NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. In each round, the teams select in reverse order of their win–loss record in the previous season. The Chicago Stags participated in the draft but folded prior to the start of the season. The draft consisted of 12 rounds comprising 121 players selected.
Ralph Kaplowitz was an American professional basketball player. Kaplowitz played in the first two seasons of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), now known as the National Basketball Association (NBA), and was, at the time of his death, the oldest living person to have played for the New York Knicks.
The CCNY point-shaving scandal of 1950–51 was a college basketball point-shaving gambling scandal that involved seven American schools in all, with four in the New York metropolitan area, two in the Midwest, and one in the South. However, most of the key players in the scandal were players of the 1949–50 CCNY Beavers men's basketball team.
City Dump: The Story of the 1951 CCNY Basketball Scandal is a 1998 American documentary film about the City College of New York basketball point-shaving scandal. It was produced by George Roy and Steven Hilliard Stern. It was made for HBO.
The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The 1949–50 CCNY Beavers men's basketball team represented the City College of New York. The head coach was Nat Holman, who was one of the game's greatest innovators and playmakers. Unlike today, when colleges recruit players from all over the country, the 1949–50 CCNY team was composed of "kids from the sidewalks of New York City," who had been recruited by Holman's assistant coach Harold "Bobby" Sand from Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) schools such as Taft, Clinton, Boys, Erasmus, and Franklin High Schools.
Bernard Fliegel was an American standout basketball player for the City College of New York (CCNY) during the late 1930s, and later, a professional in the American Basketball League. As a senior in 1937–38, he received the Haggerty Award, given to the best men's basketball player in the New York City metropolitan area, and remains the only winner from CCNY in the award's long history.
Nathan Militzok was an American professional basketball player. He played the forward position for various teams, including the New York Knicks.
Morris C. Spahn was an American basketball player.
Alvin "Fats" Roth was an American professional basketball player known for his playing days at the City College of New York (CCNY) between 1949–50 and 1950–51. Roth was a contributing member of the only basketball team in NCAA history to win both the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and NCAA Tournament in the same season. Roth was one of four sophomore starters on the CCNY squad that defeated Bradley in both championship games.
Morris "Tubby" Raskin was an American basketball player and coach. He played for the Brooklyn Arcadians in the American Basketball League (ABL). He later coached the men's basketball team at Brooklyn College, the Hartford Hurricanes in the ABL, the Israel men's national basketball team for Israel at the 1952 Summer Olympics, and the U.S. basketball team to a gold medal in the 1953 Maccabiah Games.