Sid Tanenbaum

Sidney Harold Tanenbaum (October 8, 1925 – September 4, 1986) was an American professional basketball player.[1] He was twice a consensus first-team All-American (in 1946 and 1947) and twice a Haggerty Award winner (1946 and 1947). He went on to play professionally for the New York Knicks and the Baltimore Bullets.

Sid Tanenbaum
Personal information
Born(1925-10-08)October 8, 1925
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedSeptember 4, 1986(1986-09-04) (aged 60)
Queens, New York, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight160 lb (73 kg)
Career information
High schoolThomas Jefferson
(Brooklyn, New York)
CollegeNYU (1943–1947)
BAA draft1947: undrafted
Playing career1947–1949
PositionGuard
Number6, 9
Career history
1947–1949New York Knicks
1949Baltimore Bullets
Career highlights and awards
Career BAA statistics
Points633 (9.0 ppg)
Assists162 (2.3 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Early life

Tanenbaum was born in Brooklyn, New York, grew up in its Brownsville neighborhood, and was Jewish.[2] He was an all-scholastic player at Thomas Jefferson High School.[2] He met his wife, Bobbie Wolfson, in college when he was a junior.[3]

Basketball career

A 6' 0" guard/forward, Tanenbaum played college basketball at New York University, where he was captain of the team in 1947, and was a two-time All-American and two-time Haggerty Award winner as the outstanding player in the metropolitan area.[2][3][4][5] He also won the 1947 Bar Kochba Award, which honored him as the best Jewish American athlete in the nation, and was named first team All-Met in all four of his varsity seasons.[4][6][7] Wilbur Wood, the sports editor of the New York Sun, wrote of Tanenbaum in 1947: "He is the finest all-around basketball performer ever to don Violet livery."[5] He left NYU as the school's all-time leading scorer, with 992 points.[8][2] NYU annually awards its top student-athlete the Sid Tanenbaum Memorial Award.[7]

Tanenbaum played two seasons (1947–49) in the Basketball Association of America as a member of the New York Knicks and Baltimore Bullets.[2][7] On February 11, 1949, the New York Knicks traded him to the Baltimore Bullets for Connie Simmons.[9] He scored 633 points in 70 games and tallied 162 assists.[10] He was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame, and in 1997 into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[11][6]

Personal life

After his basketball career, Tanenbaum lived in Woodmere, New York, with his wife Barbara and sons Steven and Michael (an optometrist).[2][3] He owned a machine shop specializing in metal spinning and stamping in Far Rockaway, Queens, known as the Able Metal Spinning and Stamping.[3][7][12]

Murder

Tanenbaum was murdered on September 4, 1986, aged 60, when he was stabbed to death by a local 37-year-old woman in his shop.[3][12] Police described Tanenbaum as "something of a benefactor in his neighborhood" who often gave money to people living in the streets.[4] According to reports, he was stabbed because he decided to stop lending money to his attacker after assisting her many times in the past, and when he turned his back she attacked him.[4][13] His killer, Molly Dotsun, was sentenced to 21 years in prison.[3][12]

The basketball courts at the park in North Woodmere, New York, are named after Tanenbaum. Since 1986, they have hosted the Sid Tanenbaum Memorial Basketball Tournament that raises scholarship money for students in the Five Towns.[14]

BAA career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played  FG%  Field-goal percentage
 FT%  Free-throw percentage  APG  Assists per game
 PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season
Year Team GP FG% FT% APG PPG
1947–48 New York 24.250.8381.510.1
1948–49 New York 32.283.8442.28.0
1948–49 Baltimore 14.309.7913.99.6
Career 70.274.8302.39.0

Playoffs
Year Team GP FG% FT% APG PPG
1948 New York 3.333.7271.310.0
1949 Baltimore 3.2071.0003.35.7
Career 6.274.8132.37.8

See also

References
  1. "Sidney Harold Tanenbaum". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  2. Sam Goldaper (September 6, 1986). "SID TANENBAUM, 60, IS SLAIN; N.Y.U. BASKETBALL STAR IN 40'S". The New York Times.
  3. Ira Berkow (September 21, 2013). "Tanenbaum, Man and Player, Gets His Due". The New York Times.
  4. Gerald Sorin (1992). The Nurturing Neighborhood: The Brownsville Boys' Club and Jewish Community. ISBN 9780814779392 – via Google Books.
  5. Bernard Postal; Jesse Silver; Roy Silver (1965). "TANENBAUM, SIDNEY HAROLD". Encyclopedia of Jews in Sports. p. 124 – via Google Books.
  6. "Sidney Tannenbaum", Jewish Sports
  7. "Tanenbaum, Sidney Harold", Jewish Virtual Library
  8. Joseph Siegman. "Sidney Tannenbaum profile, Jewish Sports Legends. Brassey's 2000. pg. 38
  9. "Sid Tanenbaum", Basketball-Reference
  10. "Sid Tannenbaum". Basketball-Reference. Archived from the original on April 10, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2009.
  11. Ira Berkow (2013). Autumns in the Garden: The Coach of Camelot and Other Knicks Stories. Triumph Books. ISBN 9781600788666 – via Google Books.
  12. "Sidney Tannenbaum, Ex-Player", The New York Times, September 5, 1986, page A20
  13. Gerald Sorin. (1992). Nurturing Neighborhood. NYU Press. p. 192. ISBN 9780814779392 – via Google Books.
  14. Bessen, Jeff (June 1, 2016). "Honoring a legacy of giving". LI Herald. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
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