Sidney "Sonny" Hertzberg (July 29, 1922 – July 25, 2005) 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.

Early life

Hertzberg was 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 ...

, grew up in Crown Heights, and was Jewish.From Set Shot to Slam Dunk: The Glory Days of Basketball in the Words of ... - Charles Salzberg - Google Books
/ref>Hertzberg, Sonny : Jews In Sports @ Virtual Museum
/ref> Hertzberg played at

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 ...

and

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 ...

, where he was a teammate of longtime Knicks coach

Red Holzman William "Red" Holzman (August 10, 1920 – November 13, 1998) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is best known as the head coach of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1967 to ...

Professional career

Hertzberg began his professional career in 1946, signing with his home team

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 ...

. He played with the team in the inaugural

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 ...

season in 1946–47. He played five games with the team in the 1947–48 before being released. Hertzberg signed with the

Washington Capitols The Washington Capitols were a former Basketball Association of America (forerunner of the National Basketball Association) team based in Washington, D.C. from 1946 to 1951. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerbach ...

, and played for two seasons with the team under future

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

coach

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. He served as a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Boston Celtics. ...

. On September 28, 1949, Hertzberg was traded to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

for

Chick Halbert Charles Pinkney "Chick" Halbert IV (February 27, 1919 – March 4, 2013) was an American professional basketball player. A 6'9" center from West Texas A&M University, Halbert played five seasons (1946–1951) in the Basketball Association ...

."Sonny Hertzberg Stats"
Basketball Reference. Accessed on June 21, 2017. Hertzberg was reunited with former Washington coach Auerbach in his second season with Boston in 1950–51. Auerbach and rookie point guard

Bob Cousy Robert Joseph Cousy (, born August 9, 1928) is an American former professional basketball player. Cousy played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969–70 season. A 13-time N ...

referred to Hertzberg as "the second coach on the floor", and he was respected for his playmaking and court savviness. After playing five seasons of professional basketball, Hertzberg served as a scout and broadcasting commentator for the Knicks. He is a member of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame, the Old-Timers Basketball Hall of Fame, the City College Hall of Fame, and 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 ...

Later life and death

Hertzberg went on to become a managing director of

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession, and was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The compa ...

, an investment banking and brokerage firm. Hertzberg died of heart failure on July 25, 2005 at his home in

Woodmere, New York Woodmere is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 17,554 at the 2016 census. Woodmere is one of the Long Island communities known as the Five Towns, w ...

BAA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

Knicks.com – Remembering Sonny

''The First Basket'' – Documentary Film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hertzberg, Sidney 1922 births 2005 deaths American men's basketball players Bear Stearns people Boston Celtics players CCNY Beavers men's basketball players Jewish American sportspeople Jewish men's basketball players New York Knicks announcers New York Knicks players Sportspeople from Brooklyn Washington Capitols players Samuel J. Tilden High School alumni Guards (basketball) 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews