Max Zaslofsky was a leader of the Chicago Stags and was selected as one of the top players of the first 25 years of the NBA.
Max Zaslofsky was the best Jewish professional basketball player in Chicago. He played for the Stags from 1946-1950. During the first three years of his career, the Stags played in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), a rival league founded to compete with the already established National Basketball League in 1946. The two leagues merged at the end of the 1948-49, and became the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Chicago Stags played one year as an NBA team, folding the franchise after the 1949-50 season, and letting its players be picked up in a dispersal draft.
A guard, Zaslofsky had a great two-handed set shot. He played one collegiate year at St. John’s in his hometown of New York, and then signed on with the new Stag franchise, who had Arthur Wirtz in its ownership group. The team played at Wirtz’s Chicago Stadium.
Zaslofsky had four outstanding seasons with he Stags. He led them in the BAA Finals in his rookie year, but the team lost the title to the Philadelphia Warriors. Zaslofsky’s 877 points that year was the fourth highest total in the League. One of his fellow backcourt players for the Stags was another Jewish player, Chicago’s Mickey Rottner, who played played high school hoops at Tuley and collegiate basketball at Loyola.
Zaslofsky was a prolific scorer, by the professional standards of the time, scoring over 1,000 points per season for the Stags for the next three years. He was picked up by the New York Knicks in the dispersal draft, and he had three productive years for the Knicks. He played for three other teams in the NBA before ending his career in 1956. Read the rest of this entry →
In 1953 Chicago native Johnny Lattner won the Heisman Trophy.
Chicago native, Johnny Lattner, who is now 87 years old, went on to have a distinguished collegiate career at Notre Dame from 1951-53. During his three years with the Irish, Lattner was a two-way player, a running back and a defensive back. The legendary journalist Jimmy Breslin said that Lattner in 1952 “was the best two-way player in the business.”
In 1953, Lattner had a great year generating 1279 yards of total offense. As a T-formation halfback, he rushed for 651 yards and caught 204 yards worth of passes. He ran eight kickoff returns for 321 yards, returning two for touchdowns. He also returned ten punt returns for 103 yards. Lattner also intercepted four passes on defense. Lattner won the Heisman Trophy that year and was elected to the College Hall of Fame in 1979.
Lattner was the Steelers first-round draft pick in 1954. He had a decent rookie year, rushing for 237 yards, with 305 yards of pass receptions. He returned kickoffs and punts, and gained 413 and 73 yards respectively. He scored seven touchdowns.
He served in the Air Force for two years after his rookie year, and he severely hurt his knee in a service game. This injury prevented him from ever playing in another NFL game.
In 2005 the White Sox claimed the first World Series title for the city since 1917.
With the first decade of the 21st Century coming to a close, we look back at 10 memorable sports moments for Chicago area sports teams during the last 10 years.
What Was the Greatest Sports Moment of the Decade in Chicago Sports?
White Sox Win World Series (50%, 8 Votes)
Blackhawks Play In Winter Classic at Wrigley Field (19%, 3 Votes)
Bears Reach Super Bowl XLI (13%, 2 Votes)
2003 NL Championship Series (6%, 1 Votes)
Blackhawks Reach 2009 NHL Semifinals (6%, 1 Votes)
Tiger Woods Wins PGA at Medinah (6%, 1 Votes)
Buehrle's Perfect Game (0%, 0 Votes)
Bulls Reach Second Round of 2007 Playoffs (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 16
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(10) Cub –Yankee Game—June 7, 2003
In interleague play, the Yankees return to Wrigley Field for the first time since the 1938 World Series. The atmosphere at the ballpark is electric, as Kerry Wood outduels Roger Clemens to secure a Cub victory.
(9) Bulls-Celtics Playoff Series-April -May, 2009
The Bulls surprise the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs with their tenacious play and amazing shooting accuracy. The teams set an NBA record playing four overtime games in a playoff round, but eventually Boston triumphs in game seven to win the series. Read the rest of this entry →
In honor of the 70th birthday of “Iron Mike” Ditka, Chicago Sports Then and Now takes a look at some of the great YouTube videos featuring Da Coach of Da Bears.
Gale Sayers was a potential highlight film every time he touched the football.
In a new Chicago Sports Then and Now regular feature, we are going to periodically scan YouTube and share some of the best videos and slideshows that highlight the best players and moments from the present and past in Chicago sports.
There is no player in Chicago sports history better suited to video than Gale Sayers. In one of those chicken and the egg questions you can debate whether NFL Films, which came to prominence in the 1960s, is responsible for Sayers reputation as a gamebreaker or if having Sayers amazing moves to present to a wide audience helped establish the value of NFL Films.
Enjoy some of the amazing moves of the Kansas Comet.
Is Walter Payton is greatest athlete in Chicago sports history?
Measuring greatness across generations is always a tough challenge. While athletes grow in size, stature and athletic ability, does it mean the athletes of today are greater than those of 30 years ago and were those athletes better than the stars of the 1920s and 1930s?
Chicago has been blessed with a plethora of great stars over the generations.
From the legends that helped Chicago teams win eight pennants and four World Series titles between 1905 and 1919, to the larger than life superstars that have built the legacy for one of the NFL’s original teams, and the all-time greats that have helped the city claim championships in hockey and create a dynasty in basketball, Chicago has been home to more than its share of “special” athletes.
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