Original Knick Benjamin “Ossie” Schectman, the man credited with scoring the first basket in NBA history died Tuesday, the team announced. Schectman was 94.
Born in Queens May 30, 1919, Schectman played at Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn and was an All-American at Long Island University, where he helped the Blackbirds win the NIT championship in 1939 and 1941. He was a first-team All-American in 1941.
Schectman, a 6-foot guard played in the American Basketball League with the Philadelphia Sphas – whose nickname came from the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association – before the Knicks signed him in 1946 to play in the new Basketball Association of America, which later became the NBA.
Reported by Al Iannazzone of New York Newsday
