Hank Rosenstein, who played for a mostly Jewish New York Knicks team that took part in what is considered the NBA’s first game in 1946, died Feb. 27 in Boca Raton, Fla., of heart failure. He was 89.
Rosenstein is a member of the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. At 6 feet, 4 inches, he played in the frontcourt and was one of eight Jewish Knickerbockers when they beat the Toronto Huskies 68-66 in Toronto on Nov. 1, 1946 in the debut of the new Basketball Association of America. He scored five points.
The BAA merged with the National Basketball League in 1949 to form the National Basketball Association and considers the Knicks-Huskies game its first.
Rosenstein was traded to the Providence Steamrollers and then helped the Scranton Miners of the American Basketball League to championships in 1949-50 and 1950-51. In the latter season, he led the team with an average of 11.7 points per game.
He later became a coach in the semipro Eastern Pro League.
Rosenstein, who also starred at Boys High School in Brooklyn and City College, was inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1998 and the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007. — jta