Abe Saperstein

M. Abraham " Abe" Saperstein ( born July 4, 1902 in London, † March 15, 1966 in Chicago) was an American entrepreneur and manager of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Career

In 1927, Saperstein took the crew of the Savoy Big Five, and formed out of them, the Globetrotters. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Globetrotters were among the best professional teams in the United States. They toured the East Coast cities, without belonging to a league, since participation in the professional leagues was prohibited for African Americans until 1950. Following admission of African Americans in the NBA, the Globetrotters specializing in show basketball.

Saperstein founded in 1961 with the American Basketball League, a league competition for the NBA after the Minneapolis Lakers relocated to Los Angeles and Saperstein there thus not as hoped he could start his own NBA team. The League was only until 1963.

For his contributions to the Globetrotters Saperstein was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971 and 1979 Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in the sizes.