Louis Klotz
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 21, 1920 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | July 12, 2014 (aged 93) Margate City, New Jersey |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
| Listed weight | 150 lb (68 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school |
South Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) |
| College | Villanova (1941–1942) |
| Playing career | 1947–1948 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Number | 20 |
| Career history | |
| 1947–1948 | Baltimore Bullets |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Louis Herman "Red" Klotz (October 21, 1920 – July 12, 2014) was an American professional basketball player. He was a National Basketball Association (NBA) point guard with the original Baltimore Bullets, and he was best known for forming the teams that play against and tour with the Harlem Globetrotters: the Washington Generals and the New York Nationals. He was the oldest-living NBA world champion.
Over Klotz's professional basketball career, he coached or played in over 14,000 games during eight decades and in over 100 countries.
Klotz was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, into a Jewish family. He began playing basketball at age 12. He attended South Philadelphia High School where he led the school team to city basketball championships in 1939 and 1940, both times earning Philadelphia Player of the Year honors.
He attended Villanova University on an athletic scholarship, playing on the undefeated freshman basketball team. He left college for World War II, serving stateside.
Klotz "played for a number of teams in those early and turbulent days of professional basketball", according to Joe Posnanski of Sports Illustrated. Klotz played with the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association (the Philadelphia Sphas) of the American Basketball League (ABL) as a point guard in the 1940s. In an exhibition game, the Sphas defeated the Harlem Globetrotters , Klotz's first game against them. He played with the Sphas until 1947.
Klotz played during the 1948 season on the Baltimore Bullets team, the year they won the Basketball Association of America championship. He played in 11 games, scoring 15 points. He also played in six playoff games, scoring six points.
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