Last November, I read two basketball biographies about Abe Saperstein and Red Klotz, and in both, Eddie Gottlieb was mentioned. I was intrigued about Gottlieb and everything he did for the NBA as well as Negro baseball.
He played, coached, and owned the Philadelphia SPHAS, one of the best semi professional basketball teams way before the NBA took control of the world.
He owned, coached, and was the GM of the Philadelphia Warriors in the National Basketball League. He won two championships. He drafted Wilt Chamberlain to play for the Warriors in the 1959 season. It was there when he had his 100-point game! He actually created a rule that the NBA ruled in favor to guarantee that the team can indeed draft Wilt. It was rescinded a few years later.
He sold the Philadelphia Warriors to a group who moved the team to San Francisco. It was Gottlieb’s experience and knowledge of basketball that helped make and keep them in San Francisco (it was him who told the GM to draft Rick Barry); later they become the Golden State Warriors.
Since Philadelphia was without a team, Gottlieb tried to work with some other NBA teams to come to Philadelphia, but those all fell through. He was aware of financial issues with the Syracuse Nationals and was friendly with the owner, Daniel Biasone and told him if he wanted to sell, I am here! The Syracuse Nationals were brought by close friends of Gottlieb and the team relocated to Philadelphia and became the 76ers.
In addition to everything I mentioned, Gottlieb was also an organizer and promoter for baseball and basketball teams in the Philadelphia area for a long time before the Warriors and 76ers. For baseball, he was also the owner of the Negro National League team, the Philadelphia Stars. He was a big lobbyist and on the baseball hall of committee that helped get the Negro stars elected to the hall of fame (Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson to name the most known).
He was also in charge of the NBA schedule for 30 years, doing everything by hand and this was way before computers.
He was more about getting people to watch the games than making money for himself. It was mentioned throughout the book that he carried his net worth in his pockets and those pockets paid the salaries for the players as well as daily per diem.
I enjoyed the stories of Gottlieb as told by him, players, and associates. This book is a great source of the history of Philadelphia sports. By far, this has been one of the best books I have read this year. He really was a Philadelphia sports legend and was often referred to as “the mogul.”
