Ossie Schectman

• 1. Introduction

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  Ossie Schectman scored the first basket in what would become the NBA, and he did it on the 1st of November, 1946, in Toronto. The New York Knicks were playing the Toronto Huskies at Maple Leaf Gardens. Nobody in the building that night could have known they were witnessing the opening moment of the sport's highest professional league. The questions that follow are worth sitting with: who was this man, how did he get there, and what happened to him after that one defining play?

• 2. New Jersey Roots

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  Oscar Benjamin Schectman was born on the 30th of March, 1919, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia, and he grew up with three siblings. He was a two-sport athlete, playing both basketball and baseball at Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn, New York. His early talent caught enough attention to earn him a place at Long Island University, where coach Clair Bee shaped his game. In 1939, Schectman was part of the LIU team that won both the National Invitation Tournament and the National Championship, giving him a taste of winning at the highest level available to college players at the time. By 1941, he had earned a spot on the Converse All-American first team, a formal recognition that he belonged among the country's best.

• 3. The Philadelphia Years

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  After earning his degree from Long Island University, Schectman signed with Eddie Gottlieb's Philadelphia Sphas in the American Basketball League. The Sphas were already a storied franchise; they had joined the ABL back in 1933, and they won the league championship in the 1942-43 season with Schectman on the roster. His individual play held up against the league's best: in the 1943-44 season, he finished second in scoring with 199 points and a 10.5 average. He stayed with the Sphas until 1946, building the professional foundation that made his next move possible.

• 4. One Night in Toronto

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  On the 1st of November, 1946, the Basketball Association of America tipped off its very first game. Schectman, now a New York Knick, made the first basket of that game against the Toronto Huskies at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Knicks won 68-66. That basket is now counted as the first in NBA history, since the BAA later became the NBA. His full season with the Knicks stretched across 54 games, and he averaged 8.1 points per game, placing him 39th in the league. His contributions gave him the highest win share on the team that year. In March 1947, a game in Chicago left him with a serious internal injury, and he finished the season with 435 total points before his time with New York came to a close.

• 5. Final Seasons and Legacy

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  Schectman moved to the Paterson Crescents of the American Basketball League for the 1947-48 season, and the team won the league championship that year. He was named to the All-ABL first team, a second league-level honor to go alongside his earlier Converse All-American recognition. Decades later, the honors kept arriving: he was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1998, the Long Island University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001, and the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2008, he appeared in the documentary film The First Basket, which took its name from the moment that defined his place in the sport's history. On the 27th of April, 2013, young NBA fans visited Schectman at his home for the elderly in New City, New York, and he signed what would be his very last autograph. He was watching the triple-overtime Game 4 of the first-round playoff series between the Chicago Bulls and the Brooklyn Nets at the time. He died on the 30th of July, 2013, in Delray Beach, Florida, at age 94, survived by his sons Stewart and Peter, his sister, and two grandchildren.