From Brooklyn Courts to the Birth of ProBasketball

Les Rothman: From Brooklyn Courts to the Birth of Pro Basketball

In the bustling post-Depression neighborhoods of New York City, sports weren’t just a pastime. They were a way up, a way out, and a source of pride. For Lester B. Rothman, born August 12, 1926, in the city’s working-class enclaves, that meant chasing basketballs down blacktop courts and dreaming bigger with every bounce. Rothman’s life was one of movement, between sports, teams, and roles, but always driven by a deep passion for athletics and community.

New York in the 1930s and 1940s was a breeding ground for talent. The city’s Jewish neighborhoods, particularly in Brooklyn and the Lower East Side, had strong basketball cultures rooted in settlement houses, community centers, and high schools. Les Rothman grew up during this golden era, eventually attending Stuyvesant High School, where he first gained recognition for his athleticism and scoring ability.

After high school, Rothman enrolled at Long Island University (LIU), then one of the country’s premier basketball programs under coach Clair Bee. LIU was known for pioneering tactics and for producing tough, city-bred players. Rothman played from 1943 to 1946 and was the team’s second-leading scorer his final year, earning All-Metropolitan Honorable Mention. It was a crucial period for college basketball, which was then America’s premier level of organized ball, preceding the dominance of the NBA by several years.

In an era when multi-sport athletes were still common, Rothman pursued professional baseball before fully committing to the hardwood. In 1945, he played outfield for the Norfolk Tars and Wellsville Yankees, two Class D minor league affiliates of the New York Yankees. Baseball was still “America’s pastime,” and Jewish players like Hank Greenberg had paved the way for young athletes like Rothman to dream big in the sport.

Yet Rothman’s real future lay on the court. The professional basketball world was in its infancy, fragmented across various leagues trying to find financial footing and popular traction in postwar America.

Les Rothman’s first professional basketball appearances came in the American Basketball League (ABL), a regional, East Coast league that predated the NBA and was especially popular in urban Jewish and Italian neighborhoods. He played for the Paterson Crescents during the 1945 to 1946 season, averaging a solid 8.2 points per game. This was an impressive feat in an era when games were slower-paced and scores lower than today's standards.

Rothman later played for the Elizabeth Braves, another ABL squad, continuing to put up reliable numbers. But it was in 1946 that he made his brief jump to the National Basketball League (NBL), which, along with the Basketball Association of America (BAA), would eventually merge to form today’s NBA.

He suited up for the Chicago American Gears, a team made famous by superstar George Mikan. Rothman played just one game for the Gears before joining the Syracuse Nationals, where he appeared in 13 games during the 1946 to 1947 season and averaged 4.5 points per game. That may sound modest today, but considering the average team scored around 50 points per game, Rothman’s contributions were significant.

The Nationals, based in a passionate small-market town, would eventually become the Philadelphia 76ers, making Rothman part of the origin story of one of the NBA’s most storied franchises.

While Les Rothman never became a household name in basketball, his post-athletic life was equally impactful. He returned to New York, dedicating decades of service to public education as a vocational high school principal. He also spent summers directing Camp Louemma and Camp Willoway, places that combined athletics, community, and personal growth, values that mirrored Rothman’s own journey.

Rothman lived a long and meaningful life, passing away on July 27, 2022, just weeks shy of his 96th birthday. His obituary honored not just his athletic exploits, but also his warmth, humor, and commitment to youth and education.

Les Rothman’s story may not be filled with slam dunks and All-Star appearances, but it represents something deeper, a moment in time when professional basketball was still being invented, when Jewish athletes from New York helped build its foundation, and when dedication and grit mattered as much as fame.

He played in a fractured, passionate, grassroots version of pro ball, a version we can barely imagine today. And while he never made headlines, he deserves to be remembered as part of the game’s early tapestry, a kid from Brooklyn who made it to the big leagues (twice), and then gave back to the very world that raised him.

~Blog by Deirdre Mooney Poulos

Work Cited:

Basketball-Reference.com. Les Rothman NBL Stats.

 https://www.basketball-reference.com/nbl/players/r/rothmle01n.html

Peach Basket Society. "Les Rothman." Peach Basket Society Blog, 2016.

https://peachbasketsociety.blogspot.com/2016/01/les-rothman.html

StatsCrew.com. "Les Rothman Minor League Baseball and Basketball Statistics."

https://www.statscrew.com/basketball/stats/p-rothmle01

Pro Basketball Encyclopedia. "Les Rothman – Career https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/les-rothman/

Jews in Sports Online. "Les Rothman.

https://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=basketball&ID=266