Professional Basketball Player. He played for the New York Knicks in the first-ever NBA game. Raised in the Bronx, he attended New York University (NYU) after his graduation from DeWitt Clinton High School. There, he was to earn Collier's Magazine All-America honors, but was drafted into the U.S. Army prior to his senior year. After his release from the Army in 1946, he returned to NYU, obtaining his degree in education. He also began playing for the Philadelphia Sphas of the American Basketball League (ABL), but was soon offered a job (at $6,500 per year) by the New York Knicks of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), as the NBA was then called. On November 1, 1946, in Toronto, he helped the Knicks win the first game in BAA history. Midway thru the first season, Kaplowitz, and most of the Knicks' other Jewish players, were traded-away due to anti-Semitic heckling by the New York fans. He then joined the Philadelphia Warriors, who went on to win the first BAA championship over the Chicago Stags. He left the NBA after two seasons, returning to the ABL, where he played for the Hartford Hurricanes, before finishing his career in 1951 with the Bridgeport Roesslers. In 105 NBA games, he scored 592 points. In 2000, Mr. Kaplowitz was named to the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.
Professional Basketball Player. He played for the New York Knicks in the first-ever NBA game. Raised in the Bronx, he attended New York University (NYU) after his graduation from DeWitt Clinton High School. There, he was to earn Collier's Magazine All-America honors, but was drafted into the U.S. Army prior to his senior year. After his release from the Army in 1946, he returned to NYU, obtaining his degree in education. He also began playing for the Philadelphia Sphas of the American Basketball League (ABL), but was soon offered a job (at $6,500 per year) by the New York Knicks of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), as the NBA was then called. On November 1, 1946, in Toronto, he helped the Knicks win the first game in BAA history. Midway thru the first season, Kaplowitz, and most of the Knicks' other Jewish players, were traded-away due to anti-Semitic heckling by the New York fans. He then joined the Philadelphia Warriors, who went on to win the first BAA championship over the Chicago Stags. He left the NBA after two seasons, returning to the ABL, where he played for the Hartford Hurricanes, before finishing his career in 1951 with the Bridgeport Roesslers. In 105 NBA games, he scored 592 points. In 2000, Mr. Kaplowitz was named to the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
Inscription
KAPLOWITZ
"WE CARED FOR EACH OTHER"
RALPH KAPLOWITZ
BELOVED HUSBAND, FATHER
AND GRANDFATHER
MAY, 1919 - FEB. 2, 2009
Family Members
Spouse
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See more Kaplowitz memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
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