Gottlieb, "Eddie" (Edward)
Basketball
b. Sept. 15, 1898, Kiev, Russia
d. Dec. 7, 1979
His parents brought him to the United States when he was a young child, and Gottlieb was involved with basketball for most of the rest of his life. He began playing in 1910 with the Combine Club, a group of Jewish grade school boys. Many of them later played for South Philadelphia High School and, after graduating, with a team Gottlieb organized under the auspices of the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association.
Known as the Sphas, the team wore jerseys emblazoned with the Hebrew letters samech, pey, hey, and aleph. No longer a player, Gottlieb managed, coached, and promoted the team. Since they had no home court, they were sometimes called the "Wandering Jews."
In 1926, the Sphas beat the Original Celtics twice in a three-game series. They also beat the great Harlem Renaissance team twice and defeated three American Basketball League teams, though they lost to the league champion Cleveland Rosenblums.
Renamed the Philadelphia Warriors and no longer all-Jewish, the team joined the ABL in 1926. Two years later, they moved into the Eastern League and in 1933 they joined a new American Basketball League.
In addition to his involvement with the Warriors, Gottlieb promoted black major-league baseball and did scheduling for both the Negro National League and the Negro American League. He served as a business adviser to the Harlem Globetrotters and arranged their post-war international tours, and he also promoted professional wrestling.
When the new Basketball Association of America was organized in 1946, Gottlieb's Philadelphia Warriors joined the league and won the first championship. He coached the team and was part owner from 1946 through 1953, when he acquired full ownership. After selling the team to San Francisco owners in 1963, he became a consultant and schedule maker for the National Basketball Association.
Chairman of the NBA Rules Committee for twenty-five years, Gottlieb was instrumental in the adoption of the 24-second clock, the rule against zone defenses, and the bonus penalty shot.