Isaac Walker Duffey (May 31, 1906 – April 4, 1967) was an American businessman and sports executive known for his significant contributions to the development of professional basketball in the United States. Duffey organized the Anderson Chiefs, a highly successful barnstorming team, and later acquired a National Basketball League franchise, naming it the Anderson Packers. The Packers played in the National Basketball League for three years, winning the final NBL championship, and later spent time in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

and National Professional Basketball League. Duffey was the interim coach of the Packers for three games in the 1949–50 season, going 1–2 before turning the reins over to former NBL coach Doxie Moore. Duffey and his brother John founded Duffey's Inc., a prominent meatpacking company, and owned the Hughes-Curry Packing Co. of Anderson from 1946 to 1949. Following his venture into basketball, Duffey was president of the Central Indiana Railway from 1951 until his death from cancer in 1967. Duffey also attended Marion Normal College (now called

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

) in the 1920s.

Head coaching record

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References

* 1906 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American railroad executives Anderson Packers coaches Anderson Packers Ball State University alumni Businesspeople in the meat packing industry Deaths from cancer in Indiana NBA owners National Basketball League (United States) owners {{US-business-bio-1900s-stub