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Philadelphia area, a number of them religious. In their single season in the Manufacturer's League, the team (known as Philadelphia Passon, Gottlieb, Black since they competed through Passon and Black's sporting goods store) turned in an overall 8β6 record, finishing 3rd in the first half of that season and 6th (out of 8) in the second half. Their first season in the Philadelphia League was a disappointing one, turning in an 8β11 record and finishing 2nd in the first half of the season, but last in the second half at 1β8. The Sphas' next season in the Philadelphia League would prove more fruitful (due in part to the increased number of games), as the Sphas turned in a 25β15 record, overcoming a first-half slump of 14β13 (5th out of 8) to finish first in the second half of the season with an 11β3 record. They went on that year to defeat the Tri-Council Caseys 2β0 for their first championship.
261:. The Sphas defeated the Original Celtics 2β1 and swept the Rens, 2β0. The team's victories over these top barnstorming teams gave them increased notability in the burgeoning professional basketball community. Riding the wave of victories his team achieved against the ABL and barnstorming teams, Gottlieb entered the Sphas in the ABL, rechristening them the Philadelphia Warriors. During their two years in the ABL as the Warriors, the team performed moderately well, finishing third (14β7) and then fourth (10β11) in the 1926β27 season. For the 1927β28 season, the ABL split into two divisions (Eastern and Western). The Warriors played in the Eastern Division and finished third with a 30β21 record. This allowed them entry into the playoffs, where they lost to the New York Celtics 2β0.
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212:(Χ‘Χ€ΧΧ) across the front. Again, their sponsorial relationship was short-lived, as the SPHA withdrew their sponsorship shortly after for an unspecified reason. The men had better financial solvency this time around, as they opened a sporting goods store, calling it P.G.B. Sporting Goods. With the store, they created new uniforms, but kept the Sphas moniker as a way of paying tribute to their upbringing. Douglas Stark, author of
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be repeat champions that season, winning 2β1 again over Tri-Council. Due to the success of the Sphas against teams in the
Philadelphia area, and frustration with playing in the "poorly managed" Eastern League in 1924β25, owner Eddie Gottlieb set up games against professional teams from the newly-formed
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For the 1924β25 season, the
Philadelphia League reconstituted itself as the Philadelphia Basket Ball League, dropping the number of teams in the league to six. The Sphas continued a strong spate of play, finishing 1st in the first half of the season, and third in the second half. They would go on to
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took place in the
American League of Philadelphia, a minor league that comprised six area teams. They were sponsored by the Young Men's Hebrew Association of South Philadelphia and were called Philadelphia YMHA for that season. The team turned in a 4β11 record, tied for last in the league that year.
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The team continued to play in the
American League of Philadelphia after losing their partnership with the SPHA, and played in two different leagues during 1922β23 season: The Manufacturer's League, containing teams from area companies, and the Philadelphia League, which consisted of teams from the
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to create a separate exhibition team because the Sphas had beaten the
Globetrotters on more than one occasion. After creating the Generals, Klotz sold the Sphas to one of his players, Pete Monska, who coached the team "for a year or two until it disbanded " The Sphas played their last game as the
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After losing their sponsorship from the YMHA, Gottlieb, Passon, and Black approached the South
Philadelphia Hebrew Association about sponsoring the team. The association agreed to sponsor the men and provided funding for uniforms to the team. The new uniforms featured the acronym SPHA in Hebrew
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founded the team as an amateur group shortly after he and some close friends graduated from high school, and it later became a professional team. The Sphas played in many leagues around the
Philadelphia area and the East Coast, most notably the Eastern Basketball League and the
273:, the immediate predecessor of the NBA, the ABL became a minor-league, and the Sphas would remain there as a semi-professional team until 1949. 1949 would be the last year the Sphas were affiliated with a league, but thanks to Gottlieb's friendship with
153:, were an American basketball franchise that existed in professional, semi-professional, and exhibition forms. They played their home games in the ballroom of Philadelphia's Broadwood Hotel. The team's name is an
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Philadelphia YMHA (1917), Philadelphia Sphas (1918β1921, 1922β1926, 1927β1933, 1937β1959), Philadelphia Passon, Gottlieb, Black (1921β1923 in
American League of Philadelphia and Manufacturers League),
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original team on
October 17, 1959, losing to the Globetrotters in a double-header exhibition game. The Sphas were then reconstituted as the Baltimore Rockets, another Globetrotters exhibition team.
170:(ABL), between which the Sphas won 10 championships. The Sphas won a total of 12 championships, their first two coming from the early Philadelphia League and Philadelphia Basket Ball League.
249:, and a team from New York's Metropolitan League, the Paterson Legionaires. The Sphas won five out of six games in this series, and Gottlieb subsequently scheduled games against two top
157:, derived from South Philadelphia Hebrew Association (the group that initially funded the team), and the team's players, at least in its earlier years, were primarily Jewish. Future
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281:, the Sphas lived on as one of the exhibition teams that the Globetrotters would play, although they would retain only the franchise name, not the Jewish makeup of the team.
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Radel. Abe.βSouth Philadelphia Hebrew Association,β in The Reach Official Basket Ball Guide, 1926β27, ed. William Phillips (Philadelphia: A. J. Reach, 1926), 222.
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469:, who replaced the Brooklyn Arcadians. They took the name Brooklyn Celtics, then changed to New York Celtics for the 1927 season.
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Philadelphia Warriors (1926β1928 in the American Basketball League), Philadelphia Hebrews (1933β1937), Atlantic City Tides (1949)
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After this season, each YMHA withdrew its support for the team, citing dissatisfaction with the game's violent nature.
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The Sphas' existence began in 1917 as an amateur team by neighborhood friends
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Despite popular wisdom, the Sphas did not directly evolve into the
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The SPHAS: The Life and Times of Basketball's Greatest Jewish Team
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The SPHAS: The Life and Times of Basketball's Greatest Jewish Team
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The SPHAS: The Life and Times of Basketball's Greatest Jewish Team
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Former American basketball team composed largely of Jewish players
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1 in Philadelphia Basket Ball League, 3 in EBL, 7 in ABL)
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233:. The Sphas played a six-game stretch against the
46:American Basketball League (1933β1949, as Sphas)
586:Defunct basketball teams in the United States
183:Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
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345:. Temple University Press. pp. 267β287.
207:Change to Sphas and "Wandering Jews" period
30:American League of Philadelphia (1917β1922)
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314:Philadelphia Sphas all-time roster
303:List of Philadelphia Sphas seasons
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271:Basketball Association of America
288:. Instead, Saperstein had asked
34:Philadelphia League (1923β1925)
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465:This team was in reality the
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269:With the 1946 advent of the
82:Broadwood Hotel (after 1933)
32:Manufacturer's League (1923)
54:1917 (as Philadelphia YMHA)
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231:American Basketball League
168:American Basketball League
133:(1 in Philadelphia League,
118:Eddie Gottlieb (1917β1927)
91:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
38:American Basketball League
36:Eastern League (1925β1926)
297:Season-by-season records
40:(1926β1927, as Warriors)
571:Jewish-American history
525:Stark, Douglas (2011).
478:Stark, Appendix B, 275.
409:Stark, Appendix B, 272.
400:Stark, Appendix B, 271.
341:Stark, Douglas (2011).
42:Independent (1928β1929)
581:Sports in Philadelphia
423:Stark, Appendix B, 273
253:teams of the day, the
247:Washington Palace Five
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159:Philadelphia Warriors
576:Sports entertainment
498:"A Basketball Carol"
279:Harlem Globetrotters
259:New York Renaissance
243:Cleveland Rosenblums
286:Washington Generals
556:Philadelphia Sphas
235:Brooklyn Arcadians
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143:Philadelphia Sphas
22:Philadelphia Sphas
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539:Stark, xiv.
487:Stark, xiv.
331:Stark, xiv.
265:Later years
97:Team colors
550:Categories
508:2018-01-11
456:Stark, 20.
435:Stark, 19.
391:Stark, 15.
379:Stark, 14.
367:Stark, 13.
355:Stark, 13.
319:References
115:Head coach
27:Conference
290:Red Klotz
87:Location
308:Players
185:marker.
174:History
155:acronym
69:History
51:Founded
161:owner
61:Folded
151:SPHAS
147:SPHAs
79:Arena
257:and
141:The
149:or
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