Donald Goldstein (1937 – May 27, 2022), known as "Red", was an American college All-American and

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is hel ...

champion basketball player.

Early life

Goldstein was Jewish. His mother died when he was four. He grew up poor, in the Brooklyn ghetto of Brownsville, and attended Flatbush's

Samuel J. Tilden High School Samuel J. Tilden High School is a New York City public high school in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City. It was named for Samuel J. Tilden, the former governor of New York State and presidential candidate who, although carryin ...

, where he was an all-city basketball player and graduated in 1955.

College and Pan American Games

He attended the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one ...

on a scholarship that paid for room, board, and books, and played forward for the school from 1956 to 1959. He was , and . He said: "these guys never saw a Jew. They once asked me once with no malice how old I was when they cut off my horns. I never had a bad day ith my teammates I never heard one anti-Semitic remark in Louisville. If you could play, that was it." In 1959, Goldstein was named All-American and led Louisville to its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Final Four. Goldstein averaged 21.4 points and 10.0 rebounds in the NCAA tournament, and was named to the All-Mideast Regional Team and the All-Tournament Team. That same year, he won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

in basketball at the

1959 Pan American Games The 1959 Pan American Games were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959. Host city selection One city initially submitted a bid to host the 1959 Pan American Games that was recognized by the Pan Am ...

. In his three years at Louisville, Goldstein scored 1,019 points (the 10th Cardinal to score over 1,000 points) and had 838 rebounds (still 10th all-time in school history).

Draft and later life

Goldstein was the first pick in the second round (8th overall) of the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

in 1959, offered a $7,500 ($ in current dollar terms) salary and a $500 ($ in current dollar terms)

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

to buy a car, but he did not play in the NBA. Instead, he went to dental school, and was a dentist on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

. He lived in

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

Honors

In 1980, he was inducted into the Louisville Hall of Fame. The Basketball Old-Timers of America inducted him into its hall of fame. His jersey was retired in January 2000. In 2012, he was inducted into the

New York City Basketball Hall of Fame The New York City Basketball Hall of Fame is a hall of fame that celebrates over 120 years of basketball in New York by recognizing and honoring the best basketball players, coaches, referees, promoters and contributors in the history of New ...

. He is also a member of the

New York State Basketball Hall of Fame New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. In 2014, he was inducted into the

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, in Commack, New York, is dedicated to honoring American Jewish figures who have distinguished themselves in sports. Its objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics, and to commemo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldstein, Don 1937 births 2022 deaths American dentists American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1959 Pan American Games Basketball players from New York City Detroit Pistons draft picks Forwards (basketball) 20th-century American Jews Jewish men's basketball players Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in basketball People from Huntington, New York Samuel J. Tilden High School alumni Sportspeople from Brooklyn Sportspeople from Suffolk County, New York United States men's national basketball team players