The Originals

by Nelson, Murry R.

• ISBN13: 9780879727949
• ISBN10: 0879727942
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-06-01
• Publisher: Popular Pr of Bowling Green State

Summary

Was there really professional basketball before the NBA? Indeed there was. It was a rugged game but one that continued to evolve swiftly from its invention in 1891. The original Celtics were at the vanguard of this creation and development. The team began as a local group of young Irishmen from the Hell's Kitchen area of New York City in 1914. Through shrewd acquisitions of top players, they were transformed into the most powerful basketball team of their time. In the period from 1919 to 1928 the Celtics won over seven hundred games with fewer than sixty losses. This book chronicles the team, the players, the league seasons and the early era of professional basketball.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction-April 1921	1	(6)
New Immigrants, New Sport---The Cultural Symbiosis of Basketball and Ethnic Groups	7	(16)
Contracts and Conveyances	23	(18)
How They Played The Game	41	(16)
The Celtics---A Brief History	57	(24)
The 1920-21 Season---New Successes, New Problems	81	(20)
Eastern League Romance---The First Great Celtics Squad 1921-22	101	(16)
Barnstorming	117	(8)
The Original Celtics and the 1926-27 American Basketball League	125	(14)
Celtics Reprise 1927-28	139	(16)
The Measure of Greatness	155	(10)
The Original Celtics after 1928	165	(22)
Appendices
1 Celtic Players	183	(1)
2 Careers of Celtics Players (1912-28)	184	(3)
Notes	187	(26)
Bibliographic Sources and References	213	(14)
Index	227