Frank John Lubin (; January 7, 1910 – July 8, 1999) was a

Lithuanian-American Lithuanian Americans refer to Americans, American citizens and residents of Lithuanians, Lithuanian descent or were born in Lithuania. New Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has the largest percentage of Lithuanian Americans (20.8%) in its population ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

from 1928 to 1931. In 1997, Lubin was inducted into the

UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

. He was also inducted into the Helms Sports Hall of Fame.

Early life

Lubin was born on the east side of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, to a family of Lithuanian immigrants, and he died in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

. A veteran with the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Lubin was buried at

Riverside National Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers . It has been the most active cemetery in the system since 2000, based on the n ...

, in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

. His father, Konstantinas Lubinas, was from

Vilkaviškis Vilkaviškis () is a city in southwestern Lithuania, the administrative center of the Vilkaviškis District Municipality. It is located northwest from Marijampolė, at the confluence of and rivers. The city got its name from the Vilkauj ...

, while his mother, Paulina Vasiliauskaitė, was from Vabalninkas.

Basketball career

High school

When Lubin grew up to a height of at Lincoln High School, classmates encouraged him to try out for the basketball team. Gangly and uncoordinated, Lubin struggled to improve his game, but was eventually named to the All-City Second Team as a senior in 1927.

College career

While playing

at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, from 1928 to 1931, Lubin earned All-Pacific Coast Conference honors in his senior season with the

Bruins Bruin, (from Dutch for "brown"), is an English folk term for brown bear. Bruin, Bruins or BRUIN may also refer to: Places * Lake Bruin, ox-bow lake of the Mississippi River located in northeastern Louisiana ** Lake Bruin State Park * Bruin, K ...

U.S. national team

Following his college career, he worked as a

stagehand A stagehand is a person who works backstage or behind the scenes in theatres, film, television, or location performance. Their work includes setting up the scenery, lights, sound, props, rigging, and special effects for a production. General ...

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, and joined the studio's AAU team, which earned the right to represent the U.S. as part of the first Olympic basketball tournament in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

, where he won the gold.Frank Lubin, a Big Man in Two Countries
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Lithuanian national team

During the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

, Lubin was invited to come to

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, and he became their first national team

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

. They won the

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

title in

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

, using American-born players of Lithuanian heritage. When the team hosted the EuroBasket in

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

, they again won the title, this time with Lubin, acting as a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. Lubin the de facto

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

of EuroBasket 1939, however he was unable to receive the award, because he was taller than , and

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

had a rule at the time, which prohibited the award to be given to players at such a height. When

broke out in 1939, Lubin was in Italy, coaching a Lithuanian women's team. Given that

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

was directly on the path back to Lithuania, Italian officials had to help the team to get back, through train and boat, avoiding Germany. Afterwards, Lubin fled Lithuania to California with his family, in the face of the upcoming Soviet invasion that happened one year later. Lubin continued to play for the 20th Century Fox team until 1955, when knee problems prompted him to retire. For his contributions and for introducing the now basketball-mad country of Lithuania to the sport, Lubin is often called the "grandfather of Lithuanian basketball". sports-reference.com

References

Footnotes Bibliography * Vidas Mačiulis, Vytautas Gudelis. Halė, kurioje žaidė Lubinas ir Sabonis. 1939–1989 – Respublikinis sporto kombinatas, Kaunas, 1989

External links

* *
Olympic Oral History interview with Frank Lubin (1988)

Frank Lubin page on Hoopedia.NBA

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubin, Frank 1910 births 1999 deaths Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players American people of Lithuanian descent Basketball players at the 1936 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Los Angeles Burials at Riverside National Cemetery FIBA EuroBasket–winning coaches FIBA EuroBasket–winning players Lithuanian men's basketball players Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball UCLA Bruins men's basketball players United States men's national basketball team players Centers (basketball)