Irving S. Kosloff (May 10, 1912,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

February 19, 1995,

Merion, Pennsylvania Merion Station, also known as Merion, is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It borders Philadelphia to its west and is one of the communities that make up the Philadelphia Main Line. Merion Station is part of Lower M ...

) was an American businessman and sportsman.

Early life and education

He was born in Philadelphia, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants Lillian and Louis Kosloff. He had two brothers, Carl and Charles Kosloff. He graduated from

South Philadelphia High School South Philadelphia High School is a public secondary high school located in the Lower Moyamensing neighborhood of South Philadelphia, at the intersection of Broad Street and Snyder Avenue. The school serves grades 9 through 12 and is part of th ...

in 1930, where he played football and basketball as an offensive center and middle linebacker. Initially, Irv set out to be a dentist. However, after a knee injury, he lost his athletic scholarship to

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

, which he had attended for approximately two years but had to drop out and search for a job for lack of funds. He found a job in the traffic department of the Container Corporation of America in

Manayunk, Philadelphia Manayunk ( ) is a neighborhood in the section of Lower Northwest Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania. Located adjacent to the neighborhoods of Roxborough and Wissahickon and also on the banks of the Schuylkill River, Manayunk contains the fir ...

. In 1932, he founded the Roosevelt Paper Company on State Road near Cottman Avenue in Philadelphia. The company grew to become one of the largest paper merchants in the country.

Career

In May 1963, Kosloff, with the inspiration and aid of high-school classmate attorney

Ike Richman Isaac Richman (1913-1965) was an American lawyer and sports executive. He was the personal attorney for National Basketball Association player Wilt Chamberlain and a co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers from 1963 until his death in 1965. Biography ...

, purchased the

Syracuse Nationals The Philadelphia 76ers are an American basketball team currently playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 76ers are third in NBA history in wins and playoff appearances. 1946– ...

of 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) from

Danny Biasone Daniel Biasone (22 February 1909 – 25 May 1992) was the founding owner of the Syracuse Nationals, an NBA team now known as the Philadelphia 76ers. Biasone, who was a childhood immigrant to the United States from Italy, was mostly known for advo ...

, brought them to Philadelphia, and changed the team's name to the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

.76ers Ownership Timeline
at NBA.com Richman ran the day-to-day operations of the team, with Kosloff, busy with his growing paper business, remaining the silent partner. On December 4, 1965, Richman died of a heart attack at a 76ers-

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 ...

game. Kosloff brought in

Jack Ramsay John Travilla Ramsay (February 21, 1925 – April 28, 2014) was an American basketball coach, commonly known as "Dr. Jack" (as he held an earned doctorate). He was best known for leading the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA championship, a ...

to manage the team. During Kosloff's tenure as owner, the Sixers won an NBA championship in 1966–67. Kosloff sold the 76ers to

Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr. Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr. (August 14, 1923 – August 2, 2006) was an American educator, sportsman, and philanthropist. Early life He was the son of banker Fitz Eugene Dixon Sr. and Eleanor Widener (1891-1966), a member of the wealthy Widener family ...

for $5 million on May 28, 1976.Goldaper, Sam. "Motta to Coach Bullets," ''The New York Times'', Saturday, May 29, 1976.
Retrieved December 4, 2020

Death

Kosloff died of leukemia at his home in

in 1995.

References

External links

Entry
at the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame

at 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 ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kosloff, Irving 1912 births 1995 deaths Basketball players from Philadelphia Players of American football from Philadelphia Sportspeople from Philadelphia Businesspeople from Philadelphia National Basketball Association executives Philadelphia 76ers owners American people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century American businesspeople Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania Deaths from leukemia Burials in Pennsylvania South Philadelphia High School alumni