Lenox Merchants were an American semi-professional basketball team based in
Lenox, Massachusetts
Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The town is based in Western Massachusetts and part of the Pittsfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,095 at the 2020 census. Lenox is the site of Shakespeare & Company and T ...
. Founded in 1949 by William "Butch" Gregory, it regularly played exhibition games against
NBA
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 ...
teams. During the 1954–1955 season, the Merchants beat the soon-to-be NBA champions, 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– ...
, twice, and scored victories against the
Minneapolis Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, predating the formation of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Founded in 1947, the Lakers are one of the NBA's most famous and successful franchises. As of summer 2012, th ...
and the
Milwaukee Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...
Gerald Calabrese
Gerald A. Calabrese (February 4, 1925 – April 13, 2015) was an American politician who served as Mayor of Cliffside Park, New Jersey continuously for 50 years, from 1965 to 2015. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Earlier in life, Cala ...
Ray Felix
Raymond Darlington Felix (December 10, 1930 – July 28, 1991) was an American professional basketball player. He was born in New York City. He played high school basketball at Metropolitan High School in New York and college basketball at Long I ...
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Billy Harrell
William Harrell (July 18, 1928 – May 6, 2014) was a reserve infielder in Major League Baseball who played between 1955 and 1961 for the Cleveland Indians (1955, 1957–1958) and Boston Red Sox (1961). Listed at , , Harrell batted and threw r ...
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Bob Knight
Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-ti ...
Al McGuire
Alfred James McGuire (September 7, 1928 – January 26, 2001) was an American college basketball coach and broadcaster, the head coach at Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball, Marquette University from 1964–65 Marquette Warriors men's bask ...
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Boris Nachamkin
Boris Alexander Nachamkin (December 6, 1933 – February 14, 2018) was an American professional basketball player.
Nachamkin was born in Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S ...
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Ronnie Shavlik
Ronald Dean Shavlik (December 4, 1933 – June 27, 1983) was an American professional basketball player. He was an All-American center for the NC State Wolfpack in the 1950s. He later played briefly for the New York Knicks of the National Basket ...