Original Knick Ossie Schectman dead at 94
Former Toronto Huskies players, from left, Dick Schulz, Gino Sovran, Harry Miller and Ray Wertis try to steal the ball from former Knick Ossie Schectman, the first person to ever score a basket in the NBA during an event to commemorate the original 1946 game teams in Toronto. Credit: AP, 1996
Original Knick Oscar 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.
On Nov. 1, 1946, Schectman scored the first basket of the Knicks’ game against the Toronto Huskies at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Schectman played just one season and 54 games with the Knicks. He averaged 8.1 points and was third in the league with 2.0 assists.
