Morris Meyer "Mickey" Fisher (1904/1905 – April 15, 1963) was an American basketball coach. Fisher was the basketball coach of the

Boys High School Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

Kangaroos in Brooklyn for 23 years and of the Israel national basketball team preparing it for the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

, and was the

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , ...

acting athletic director. ''

The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' described him as "The incomparable Mickey Fisher." '' Newsday'' and '' The Jewish Post'' described Fisher as "legendary." ''

The 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 ...

'' called him "the most successful high school basketball coach" in New York City.

Biography

Fisher was a native of

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 ...

, lived in

West Newton, Massachusetts West Newton is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Among the oldest of the thirteen Newton villages, the West Newton Village Center is a National Register Historic District. ...

, and was Jewish. He was 5' 8" (1.73 m) tall. He attended Boy's High School in Brooklyn, was on its soccer team in 1921, and graduated in 1922. He graduated from St. Johns University ('28 L) with two law degrees, and from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

degree. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he entered the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

as a private, and rose to captain. He and his wife, Hermine, had a son, Philip. He practiced law briefly. Fisher was the basketball coach of the

Kangaroos in Brooklyn for 23 years in the 1940s, 1950s, and into the 1960s. Five of the teams he coached won the New York City

Public School Athletic League The Public Schools Athletic League, known by the abbreviation PSAL, is an organization that promotes student athletics in the public schools of New York City. It was founded in 1903 to provide and maintain a sports program for students enrolled i ...

basketball championship, four of them in the six years from 1957 to 1962. In one stretch his teams won 60 games, and lost 2. Among those players he coached were future NBA players Sihugo Green (#1 pick in the

1956 NBA draft The 1956 NBA draft was the tenth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 30, 1956, before the 1956–57 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball pla ...

Lenny Wilkens Leonard Randolph Wilkens (born October 28, 1937) is an American former basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, first in 1989 as ...

(Hall of Famer), and

Connie Hawkins Cornelius Lance "Connie" Hawkins (July 17, 1942 – October 6, 2017) was an American professional basketball player. A New York City playground legend, "the Hawk" was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992. Early ye ...

(Hall of Famer), as well as future

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

All Star player Tommy Davis (two-time NL batting champion). At the same time, Fisher was known for guiding and developing his players, taking interest in their schoolwork, home lives, and friends. He took a one-year leave of absence in 1960, as he was sent to Israel by the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

to train the Israel national basketball team and to coach it in the

in Rome. In 1962, Fisher became the

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , ...

acting athletic airector. In April 1963 he died at 58 years of age in Brooklyn Jewish Hospital of a heart attack. In 1994 he was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame."McGuire Picks Up a New York Honor,"
''The New York Times'', June 26, 1994, p. 14.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Mickey 1963 deaths 20th-century American lawyers Basketball coaches from New York (state) Jewish American sportspeople Sportspeople from Brooklyn Sportspeople from Newton, Massachusetts American men's basketball coaches Brandeis Judges athletic directors St. John's University (New York City) alumni St. John's University School of Law alumni Lawyers from Brooklyn New York University alumni United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II Jewish American military personnel Jewish American attorneys Year of birth uncertain