Jewish Sports Heritage Association
Director Alan Freedman, center, with
former NFL players Mitchell and Geoff
Schwartz Photo by Gene Lesserson
The Philadelphia SPHAs 
nent could get back. They would often
score without the ball touching the court.

Moe Goldman was the athletic cen-
ter that started the break. Red Wolfe
and Louis “Inky” Lautman would help
Goldman control the paint. Shikey
Gotthofer, Gil Fitch and Harry Litwack
(the future Temple University coach)
would handle the ball and score. And
Cy Kaselman and Red Rosan used
their old-school two-handed set shots
to keep opponents honest from the
outside. “They were very talented,” Stark said.

Courtesy of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
But as talented and successful as they
were, the SPHAs did not reap the kinds
of benefits you would expect for profes-
sional athletes.

Jay Rosan, a Philadelphia resident
and Red Rosan’s son, said his father
made $25 or $50 a game. He was a tile
contractor when he wasn’t playing.

Later, Jay wanted to put up a basket-
ball net at their house, and his father
wouldn’t let him. He felt that basket-
ball didn’t leave him with much; so
he didn’t want his son to fall in love
with it.

“He wanted me to have a profession,”
Jay Rosan said.

The SPHAs are not mentioned among
the great teams in basketball history,
but history hasn’t forgotten them: They
have a photo exhibit in the Naismith
Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in
Springfield, Massachusetts, and are the
subject of Stark’s book. But it has not
fully appreciated them, either.

That’s why both Rosan and Stephen
Goldman, Moe Goldman’s son,
attended this latest hall of fame cer-
emony via Zoom. Both sons feel it’s
important to help the SPHAs live on.

“Most people aren’t aware of it, and
I think it’s important to keep alive,”
Goldman said. “When my friends say
‘What did your dad do? And I say,
‘He was this great professional bas-
ketball player,’ at first they think I’m
kidding.” JE
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