Henry Rosenstein (June 16, 1920 – February 27, 2010) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Rosenstein attended

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

before starring in AAU Basketball and being named MVP in the Eastern Jewish Center League in 1942–43. He became a member of the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

of the

Basketball Association of America 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 Ba ...

in 1946, playing with them in what is now considered the first NBA game, played in Toronto on November 1, 1946. On January 26, 1947, Rosenstein was sold to the

Providence Steamrollers The Providence Steamrollers were a Basketball Association of America team based in Providence, Rhode Island. As of 2022, the Steamrollers were the last professional sports franchise from one of the Big Four leagues to be based in Rhode Island. ...

. After the end of his stint with the Steamrollers, Rosenstein played for five seasons with the

Scranton Miners The Scranton Miners, known as the Scranton Apollos from 1970 to 1977, were a professional basketball team based in Scranton, Pennsylvania that was a member of the American Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association. Arthur Pacht ...

of the American Basketball League, playing on their championship teams in 1949–50 and 1950–51. In the latter year he led the team in scoring.Vincent M. Mallozzi
"Hank Rosenstein, Player in First N.B.A. Game, Dies at 89"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', March 3, 2010; page A27. Ronstein was Coach of the New York Tapers of the AAU

National Industrial Basketball League The National Industrial Basketball League was founded in 1947 to enable U.S. mill workers a chance to compete in basketball. The league was founded by the industrial teams (teams sponsored by the large companies and made up of their employees) be ...

in 1960–1961. Rosenstein was inducted into the

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, in Commack, New York, is dedicated to honoring American Jewish figures who have distinguished themselves in sports. Its objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics, and to commemo ...

on March 29, 1998. He died of heart failure on February 27, 2010, in

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

BAA career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

The first NBA game

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
1920 births 2010 deaths Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Boys High School (Brooklyn) alumni City College of New York alumni Eastern Basketball Association coaches Forwards (basketball) New York Knicks players Providence Steamrollers players Basketball players from Brooklyn Jewish American basketball players Jews from New York (state) {{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub