Philadelphia Sphas

The Philadelphia Sphas, also stylized SPHAs or SPHAS (literal Jewish translation used for their jerseys during some of their seasons: ספהא (Hebrew alphabet: Samekh, Pe, He, Aleph)), were an American basketball franchise that existed as a professional, semi-professional, and exhibition team. For the majority of their existence, they played their home games in the ballroom of Philadelphia's Broadwood Hotel. The team's name is an acronym, derived from South Philadelphia Hebrew Association (the group that initially funded the team), and the team's players, at least in its earlier years, were primarily Jewish. Future Philadelphia Warriors owner Eddie Gottlieb founded the team as an amateur group shortly after he and some close friends of his (namely Herman "Chickie" Passon and Edwin "Hughie" Black) graduated from high school, and it later became a professional team after years of hard work on their end. The Sphas played in many leagues around both the Philadelphia area and within the East Coast, most notably within the Eastern Basketball League and the American Basketball League (ABL), between which the Sphas won 10 championships. The Sphas won a total of 12 championships, their first two coming from the early Philadelphia League and Philadelphia Basket Ball League.