Abe Saperstein

Abe Saperstein
Saperstein, circa 1950s
Born	(1902-07-04)July 4, 1902 London, England
Died	March 15, 1966(1966-03-15) (aged 63)
Occupation	Coach, basketball executive, businessman
Known for	Owner of the Harlem Globetrotters and Commissioner of the American Basketball League
Awards	Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971 Inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame

Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971

Abraham ("Abe") Michael Saperstein (July 4, 1902 – March 15, 1966) was the founder, owner and earliest coach of the Harlem Globetrotters. He was born in the East End of London, England, to a Jewish family originally from Lomza, Poland. Saperstein was a leading figure in black basketball and baseball in the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s, primarily before those sports were racially integrated.

Saperstein revolutionized the game of basketball and took the Globetrotters from an unknown team touring small farm towns in the Midwest during the height of the Depression to a powerhouse that went on to beat the best team in the all-white National Basketball Association. Saperstein also introduced the three-point shot, which went on to become a mainstay of modern basketball.

Saperstein was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971 and, at 5 ft. 3 in (1.65 m), is its shortest male member. In 1979, Saperstein was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. In 2005, Saperstein was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Saperstein’s family moved from London to Chicago in 1907, when Abe was five years old. They settled just north of the city’s Jewish area, often called the “Poor Jews’ quarter” because of the many struggling immigrants living there. Saperstein’s father, Louis, who had been an apprentice tailor in Poland, saw an ad for a tailor on Chicago’s North Side in a predominantly German, Irish, and Swedish neighborhood. The ad warned, “No Jews allowed,” so Louis Saperstein changed his surname to the more German-sounding Schneider, which is German for 'tailor'. After buying the business from the owner several years later, Louis Saperstein dropped the facade and changed the name of the store to Louis Saperstein’s Tailor Shop.

At age 10, Abe Saperstein discovered a lifelong love of sports, playing basketball at the Wilson Avenue YMCA and second base for a parochial school team, though he attended the public Ravenswood Elementary School. At Lake View High School, he played nine different sports, including baseball, basketball, football and boxing. He also ran track. Saperstein attended the University of Illinois, but dropped out to help support his family. He decided not to follow his father into tailoring. Instead, his dream was to pursue a career in sports, though he realized that his athletic abilities and height were not going to take him far.