The First Basket
From Hoopedia
The First Basket is a documentary film by David Vyorst. It refers to Ossie Schectman making the first basket of the first Basketball Association of America game on November 1, 1946. (The BAA evolved into the NBA.)
The First Basket is about:
- Basketball as a reflection of the inner city. The documentary will examine the inner-city social factors that led urban Jewish youths to basketball, and their notable success in basketball from the 1920s through the early 1950s;
- The role of basketball as a middle ground for second-generation eastern European immigrants as they established their own American identities, and the corresponding conflicts between old world tradition and American culture;
- Anti-Semitism and Jewish stereotypes in the face of Jewish success in basketball from the 1920s through the early 1950s;
- The declining presence of Jews in professional basketball from the early 1950s onwards and the CCNY point shaving scandals of 1951, both against the backdrop of 1950s America, and the success of Jews in sports management, the globalization of basketball, and its immense popularity in Israel.
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