Oscar Benjamin "Ossie" Schectman (March 30, 1919 – July 30, 2013) 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. He is credited with having scored the first basket in 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 ...

(BAA), which would later become 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 S ...

(NBA).

Early life and career

Schectman was born on March 30, 1919, in

Brooklyn 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 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. His parents were Jewish immigrants from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. He had three siblings. He played basketball and baseball while attending

Samuel J. Tilden High School Samuel J. Tilden High School is a New York City public high school in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City. It was named for Samuel J. Tilden, the former governor of New York State and presidential candidate who, although carryin ...

, New York, and played under coach

Clair Bee Clair Francis Bee (March 2, 1896 – May 20, 1983) was an American basketball coach who led the team at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York to undefeated seasons in 1936 and 1939, as well as two National Invitation Tournament titles in ...

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...

. He was a member of the team in 1939, when they won the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

and

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. He was named to the Converse

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n first team in 1941.

Professional career

Philadelphia Sphas (1941–1946)

After obtaining his degree from LIU, Schectman played for

Eddie Gottlieb Edward Gottlieb (born Isadore Gottlieb; September 15, 1898 – December 7, 1979) was a Jewish-Ukrainian professional basketball coach and executive. Nicknamed "Mr. Basketball" and "The Mogul", he was the first coach and manager of the Philadelphi ...

's Philadelphia Sphas in the American Basketball League. The Sphas joined the ABL in 1933 and won the league championship in 1942–43. He was second in the league in scoring with 199 points (10.5 average) in 1943–44. He played with the Sphas until 1946, when he joined 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

New York Knicks (1946–1947)

On November 1, 1946, in the first ever game of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) which later on became the NBA, Schectman made the first basket when the Knicks played the Toronto Huskies at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens. The Knicks won the game 68–66. Schectman's basket is considered the first in NBA history. Schectman played 54 games for the Knicks in his one season with the team. He suffered a serious internal injury in a game in Chicago in March, 1947. In that one season, Schectman averaged 8.1 points per game, ranking 39th in the league. This helped him have the highest win share for his team. Schectman ended his BAA career with 435 points.

Paterson Crescents (1947–1948)

Schectman joined the

Paterson Crescents The Paterson Whirlwinds were an American basketball team based in Paterson, New Jersey that was a member of the American Basketball League. After their first season, the team became known as the Paterson Crescents. During the 1st half of the 19 ...

of the ABL. The team won the league championship in 1947–48, and Schectman was named to the All-ABL first team.

Later life and death

He was made a member of the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1998Ossie Schectman at the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
/ref> and the Long Island University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. He was also inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame. Schectman appeared in the 2008 documentary film '' The First Basket''. On April 27, 2013, Schectman gave his very last autograph to young NBA fans who came to visit him in his home for the elderly in New City, New York. At the time of the visit Schechtman was watching the triple-overtime Game 4 of the first round NBA playoff series between the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets. On July 30, 2013, Schectman died at age 94 in Delray Beach, Florida. He was survived by his sons Stewart and Peter, his sister and two grandchildren.

BAA career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

*
The First Basket – Documentary Film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schectman, Ossie 1919 births 2013 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish American sportspeople Jewish men's basketball players LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's basketball players New York Knicks players Paterson Crescents players People from Kew Gardens, Queens Philadelphia Sphas players Samuel J. Tilden High School alumni Shooting guards Small forwards Sportspeople from Brooklyn Sportspeople from Queens, New York Burials at New Montefiore Cemetery 21st-century American Jews