Max "Slats" Zaslofsky (December 7, 1925 – October 15, 1985) was an American professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
player and coach. He was first-team All- NBA in the league's first four seasons. In the
1947–48 BAA season
The 1947–48 BAA season was the second season of the Basketball Association of America. The 1948 BAA Playoffs ended with the Baltimore Bullets winning the BAA Championship, beating the Philadelphia Warriors in 6 games in the BAA Finals.
Altho ...
, at 21 years of age, he led the BAA in scoring, and in the 1949–50 NBA season, he led the league in
free throw percentage
In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...
(.843).
Early life
Zaslofsky, who was
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, was the son of Russian immigrant parents, Morris and Ida. He had two older brothers, Irving and Abe. He grew up in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
, attended
cheder
A ''cheder'' ( he, חדר, lit. "room"; Yiddish pronunciation ''kheyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language.
History
''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th ...
until he had his bar mitzvah, and spent many hours as a child on the playgrounds trying to perfect his two-handed set shot. Raised on Riverdale Street in the predominantly Jewish section of Brownsville, he attended Thomas Jefferson High School, where he was an All- PSAL selection in basketball and also played for the baseball team. He graduated from high school in 1943, and then spent two years in the U.S. Navy during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
College career
He attended
St. John's University St John's University may refer to:
*St. John's University (New York City)
**St. John's University School of Law
**St. John's University (Italy) - Overseas Campus
*College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, St. Joseph, Minnesota and Col ...
, where he played basketball for one season. The 20-year-old Zaslofsky started at guard and averaged 7.8 points per game. He was named honorable mention All-Metropolitan as St. John's posted a 17-5 record and played in the postseason
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...
(NIT).
Professional career
After his freshman season, he left St. John's to join the Chicago Stags of the newly organized
Basketball Association of America
The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...
, the forerunner of the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...
.
While playing for the Chicago Stags, Zaslofsky was named All-NBA First Team 1946–47 at the age of 21. He was the youngest player to hold that distinction for nearly 60 years until he was surpassed by
LeBron James
LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest pl ...
in 2005–06. In 1947–48, he led the league in scoring. At 22 years, 121 days old, he was the youngest player to lead the league in scoring until 2010, when
Kevin Durant
Kevin Wayne Durant ( ; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for t ...
broke his mark. In 1949–50, he led the league in
free throw percentage
In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...
(.843).
After the Stags broke up, Zaslofsky joined the
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associa ...
. During the 1951 NBA Playoffs, Zaslofsky played 14 games and averaged a postseason career-best 17.9 points, as well as 4.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists, as the Knicks made it to the NBA Finals before losing a seven game series to the Rochester Royals. The following year, he led the Knicks to the 1952 NBA Finals, where they lost to the
Minneapolis Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, predating the formation of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Founded in 1947, the Lakers are one of the NBA's most famous and successful franchises. As of summer 2012, t ...
, again in a seven game series. On August 24, 1953, he was traded by the Knicks with Jim Luisi and Roy Belliveau to the Baltimore Bullets for
Jim Baechtold
James E. Baechtold (December 9, 1927 – August 29, 2011 . Retrieved on September 1, 2011.) was an American . On November 25, 1953, he was traded by the Bullets to the
Milwaukee Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...
for
Bob Houbregs
Robert J. Houbregs (March 12, 1932 – May 28, 2014) was a Canadian professional basketball player. Houbregs was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987.
Basketball career
A 6-foot 8-inch, 225-pound forward-centre, from Quee ...
. On December 21, 1953, he was traded by the Hawks to the
Fort Wayne Pistons
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
for Chuck Share. In 1956 he ended his career as the league's third-leading scorer of all-time, behind George Mikan and Joe Fulks. In addition to his 1946–47 first-team All-NBA honors, Zaslofsky was named to the All-NBA first team in 1947–48, 1948–49, and 1949–50. He also played in the
1952 NBA All-Star Game
The 1952 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on February 11, 1952, at Boston Garden in Boston, home of the Boston Celtics. The game was the second edition of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game and was pl ...
.
He later coached for two seasons in the
American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...
with the New Jersey Americans/New York Nets. He went 53-103 in two seasons with the club before resigning in March 1969.
Zaslofsky was nominated for the NBA 25th Anniversary Team in 1971. He is one of only two members nominated to the team that are ''not'' elected in the
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...
.
Personal life
Zaslofsky is a member of the
International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame ( he, יד לאיש הספורט היהודי, translit=Yad Le'ish HaSport HaYehudi) was opened July 7, 1981 in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere aroun ...
and the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.
Zaslofsky died in 1985 at age 59 due to complications from
leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
. He was survived by his wife, Elaine, two daughters, a son, and two grandchildren.
List of National Basketball Association annual scoring leaders
In basketball, Point (basketball), points are accumulated through free throws or Field goal (basketball), field goals. The National Basketball Association's (NBA) scoring title is awarded to the player with the highest points per game average in ...