Boxed out of the NBA: Remembering the Eastern Professional Basketball League

This book tells the story of the Eastern Professional Basketball League, a pro basketball institution for over 30 years. The league featured top players who just couldn’t make the NBA—many because of scandals or because of unofficial quotas on Black players—with games played in tiny gyms across the northeast.

ISBN-13: 9781538145029

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers - Inc.

Publication Date: 04-14-2021

Pages: 240

Product Dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

Syl Sobel is the author of five children's books on U.S. history and government. He is an award-winning journalist, attorney, contributor to the op ed page of various newspapers, and was for many years the director of publications for a federal government agency. Jay Rosenstein was a reporter for the newspaper American Banker and a financial writer for a federal government agency for many years. He now writes books for adults and children. The authors grew up together in Scranton, PA, home to one of the Eastern League's anchor franchises, the Scranton Miners and Apollos. Rosenstein was a statistician for the team.

Table of Contents

Foreword Preface Acknowledgments Chapter I – Welcome to the Eastern League: A Brief History and the Influences that Shaped It Chapter II – Stars of the Early Years (1946-53) Chapter III – The Fixers. .. and One Frustrated Superstar Chapter IV –Blackballed: Race, the NBA, and the Rise of the Eastern League Chapter V – The Glory Years (1954-67): The Second-Best League Around Chapter VI – Stars of the Glory Years (1954-67) Chapter VII – Tough Guys, Characters, and Urban Legends Chapter VIII – Life in the Eastern League Chapter IX – The Towns, the Gyms, the Fans: Big-Time Basketball on a Small Scale Chapter X – The Impact of the ABA and the Beginning of the End Chapter XI – Stars of the ABA Era and the Eastern League’s Final Years (1967-78) Chapter XII – The Coaches Chapter XIII – The Refs Chapter XIV – The CBA and the End of the Eastern League Chapter XV – Legacy of the Eastern League Chapter XVI – Epilogue: Life After the Eastern League Notes Bibliography Index About the Authors Show More