For Eddie Gottlieb, known as “Mr. Basketball”, he was a promoter from the early going. At age 19, Isadore Gottlieb changed his name to Eddie Gottlieb and his love for basketball saw him organize a Jewish-based team in his home town of Philadelphia that was sponsored by the Young Men’s Hebrew Association. That sponsorship ran for three years until Gottlieb and his players joined up with the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association, which then led to the team being called the Philadelphia Sphas. What started out as a social gathering with weekly Saturday games, eventually spawned a more competitive team that ultimately grew into one of the power teams of the East. Gottlieb eventually put his energy into establishing the Philadelphia Warriors, which is now the Golden State Warriors.

      Offered in this lot are two documents relating to the official creation of the Philadelphia Sphas. The club had gone through the American Basketball League in 1926 until the leagues closure in 1931 due to The Great Depression. These two documents, both on 8 ½ x 11 inch paper are done through the “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania”. The first document is dated December 1938 and it certifies that “EDWARD GOTTLIEB” will be “Carrying on or conducting business under the assumed or fictitious name, style or designation of” “SPHAS 509 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pa.” This toned document has two folds and red seal of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas which dated it February 28, 1939.

      The second document is also from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from the “Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth” and certified that “EDWARD GOTTLIEB” will be “carrying on or conducting business under the assumed or fictitious name, style, or designation of” “SPHAS”. This toned 8 ½ x 11 inch document with two folds was filed on March 1, 1939 and has the gold “Secretary of the Commonwealth Pennsylvania” seal on the bottom left corner. These documents derive from the Eddie Gottlieb Estate.

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