John Edward Phelan (November 6, 1925 – March 20, 2021) was an American basketball player who was a
forward in the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
. He played with the
Waterloo Hawks and
Sheboygan Red Skins
The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) was a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–1950 season.
History Overview
The Redskins played in th ...
during the
1949-50 NBA season.
Career
Phelan played for the
DePaul University Blue Demons from 1943 to 1945, playing on the
1945 NIT Championship team before enlisting in the Navy. He returned to the team from 1947 to 1949, playing forward and back-up center to the man voted the best basketball player of 1900–1950,
George Mikan
George Lawrence Mikan Jr. (; June 18, 1924 – June 1, 2005), nicknamed "Mr. Basketball", was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Minneapolis Lakers of ...
. Mikan had a scar on his elbow made by teeth he knocked out of Jack's mouth in a practice the day they left for the NIT Tournament. Jack played part-time from 1951 to 1955 as a fill-in player against the
Harlem Globetrotters. They were variously billed as the Chicago Majors, the Philadelphia Sphas, the Boston Whirlwinds, the KC Monarchs, and the House of David, among other names.
Phelan went on to a career as a salesman and manager with the Nalco Chemical Company. He then settled in
Bradenton, Florida, where he died on March 20, 2021.
Career statistics
NBA
Source
Regular season
Playoffs
References
1925 births
2021 deaths
American men's basketball players
Basketball players from Chicago
DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball players
Forwards (basketball)
Sheboygan Red Skins players
Undrafted National Basketball Association players
Waterloo Hawks players
{{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub