Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The Eastern Professional Basketball League was fast and physical, often played in tiny, smoke-filled gyms across the northeast and featuring the best players who just couldn't make the NBA--many because of unofficial quotas on black players, some because of scandals, and others because they weren't quite good enough. In Boxed Out of the NBA: Remembering the Eastern Professional Basketball League, Syl Sobel and Jay Rosenstein tell the fascinating story of a league that was a pro basketball institution for over 30 years, showcasing top players from around the country. During the early years of professional basketball, the Eastern League was the next-best professional league in the world after the NBA. It was home to big-name players such as Sherman White, Jack Molinas, and Bill Spivey, who were implicated in college gambling scandals and were barred from the NBA, and some of the top Black players such as Hal "King" Lear, Julius McCoy, and Wally Choice, who could not make the NBA due to an unwritten quota of two African-American players per team. Featuring interviews with some 40 former Eastern League players, coaches, referees, and fans--including Syracuse University coach Jim Boeheim, former Temple University coach John Chaney, former Detroit Pistons player and coach Ray Scott, former NBA coach and ESPN analyst Hubie Brown, and former NBA player and coach Bob Weiss--this book provides an intimate, first-hand account of small-town professional basketball at its best.
Synopsis
This book tells the story of the Eastern Professional Basketball League, a pro basketball institution for over 30 years. The league featured top players who just couldn't make the NBA--many because of scandals or because of unofficial quotas on Black players--with games played in tiny gyms across the northeast.