Philadelphia Warriors (ABL)

The Philadelphia Phillies were an American basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was a member of the American Basketball League.

During their first season, the team was renamed the Philadelphia Warriors (also known as the Quakers).

The Warriors were borne out of the Philadelphia SPHAs, (South Philadelphia Hebrew Association) and headed up by Eddie Gottlieb, a Philadelphia native who tried, through various leagues and teams, to bring about both national and Philadelphia-based basketball associations to the country. He was player-coach for a long time, eventually winning a title with the Warriors in the early days of the NBA.^[1] The ABL lasted only a few years before becoming defunct, leaving the Warriors without an organization for a short time, only to end up in the National Basketball Association with player like Paul Arizin and Wilt Chamberlain, eventually winning the city of Philadelphia's first ever basketball title.

The Warriors were a team primarily employing white players during the days of the ABL, although not exclusively. They benefited from the folding of the New York Rens, by far the most skilled team of the time, who were pushed out of professional basketball by the refusal of the league, and particularly the all-white New York Celtics (now the Boston Celtics) to play games against exclusively black teams.^[2] Philadelphia, as a city that is particularly heavily lived-in by black citizens, looked as basketball as both an opportunity for recognition and escape. Young men had "hoop dreams" and wanted to fight their way to the ABL, or NBA today, and having a local successful professional basketball team allowed for the observation of successful black men in a sport that they were interested in. This resulted also in a feeling of community in the city between black men, and contributed to the culture of racial minorities in Philadelphia that the city is known for. The Warriors factored heavily into the progress of young black athletes in the city, which has continued to this day with things like the Chosen League that occurs annually.^[3]

The Warriors also saw the rise of the jump shot from within when they entered the NBA, with the play and development of Hall Of Famer Paul Arizin. While the jump shot was used previously, it was not looked at as an efficient option, and was criticized. Arizin managed to find consistency in his jump shot, and used it to win two scoring titles and 10 All-Star selections and an MVP selection on 23 ppg with 109 career win shares.^[4] Arizin shot 42.1 percent from the floor in his career.

The NBA years also saw the rise of Wilt Chamberlain, a Hall of Famer, all-time great, seven-time scoring champion, averaging 30/22/4. Wilt debuted for the Warriors, becoming the highest paid player in the NBA. He followed the franchise to California before returning to play for the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Warriors, like all teams of the age, failed to compensate black athletes fairly relative to their white counterparts. While examples like Wilt Chamberlain skew averages, it is clear from documents at the time that white players were severely overpaid when compared to black players. While other teams were far more known for this, like the Celtics, the Warriors were no different. Most of the retired jerseys of the Warriors from this era are white players.^[5]

Eddie Gottlieb has been memorialized in the Philly Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ^[6] His role in creating the team, drafting and coaching Wilt Chamberlain, and helping Philadelphia to a title has been shown to be one of the greatest influences on Philadelphia basketball to date. He also is in the Naismith Professional Basketball Hall Of Fame, as Eddie "The Mogul" Gottlied.^[7]

Notable players

• Al Kellett
• George Artus
• Tom Barlow
• Harry Riconda
• Soup Campbell
• Lou Schneiderman
• Red Sherr
• Stretch Meehan
• Chick Passon
• Teddy Kearns
• George Glasco

References