Offered is an original 1951 Baltimore Bullets program vs the
Philadelphia Warriors neatly scored, tight binding, no missing pages.
Program is EX condition. The visiting Minneapolis Lakers would beat the
Bullets in Baltimore 90-80. HOF’er, George Mikan had 31 points, Jim
Pollard had 19, while Vern Mikkelsen and Whitey Skoog both tallied 14
points for the Lakers.
The program has been signed by 5 players on the cover (4 for the Bullets and 1 autographs from the Lakers).
Includes:
Don
Barksdale –(D 1993) was an American professional basketball player. He
was a pioneer as an African-American basketball player, becoming the
first to be named NCAA All-American, the first to play on a United
States men's Olympic basketball team, and the first to play in an
National Basketball Association All-Star Game. After college, he played
for the Oakland AAU team until the NBA began to integrate. While playing
professional basketball, he started a career in radio broadcasting. In
1948, he became the first black radio disc jockey in the San Francisco
Bay area. He also worked in television and owned a beer distributorship.
He became the first African-American beer distributor and the first
African-American television host in the Bay area with a show called
Sepia Review on KRON-TV. In 1951, he signed a lucrative contract with
the Baltimore Bullets and entered the NBA as a 28-year-old rookie. He
would be one of the first African-Americans to play in the NBA after
Nathaniel Clifton, Chuck Cooper, Earl Lloyd and Hank DeZonie had joined
the league in 1950. While with the Bullets, he became the first
African-American to appear in an NBA All-Star Game, in 1953. Shortly
afterward, he was traded to the Boston Celtics. Two years later, his
playing career was cut short by ankle injuries. Elected to the Naismith
Basketball Hall of Fame, posthumously.
Don Rehfeldt (D. 1980 at
age 53) was a two time Big Ten (then Western Conference) leading scorer
in 1949 and 1950 and the Big Ten MVP in 1950 at Wisconsin. He was also a
First Team All-American in 1950. Don is a charter member of the
University of Wisconsin–Madison Athletic Hall of Fame, elected in 1991.
He was most noted for his hook shot. Upon graduation in 1950, Rehfeldt
was the Badger all time leading scorer and held 14 other individual
records. He held the Badger record as its last All-American for 56 years
until Alando Tucker was named a First Team All-American in 2007.
Rehfeldt was the second overall pick in the 1950 NBA Draft by the
Baltimore Bullets. After graduation he also played in the "World Series
of Basketball" which was a nationwide tour that pitted the College
All-Americans against the Harlem Globetrotters. Don was the leading
scorer on that tour with other notable including top 50 all time NBA
players Paul Arizin and Bob Cousy. He also played on the 1951-52 with
the Milwaukee Hawks.
Pep Saul (D. 2019) Saul won four consecutive
NBA championships with the Rochester Royals in 1951 and with the
Minneapolis Lakers from 1952 to 1954. He, Steve Kerr and Patrick McCaw
are the only three players in NBA history who won three championships
with two different teams in consecutive seasons, with him and Kerr
winning four times in a row. Saul was known as "Pep Saul" during his
career
Jim (Red) Owens (D. 1988 at the age of 63 played from
1949-52 for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, Anderson Packers, Bullets, and
Milwaukee Hawks.
Jim Pollard (D. 1993) was a smooth shooter
whose game was graced with finesse and class, possessed a deadly jump
shot that was nearly perfect from the corner. Nicknamed "The Kangaroo
Kid" because of his extraordinary leaping ability, it was reported that
he could touch the top of the backboard and dunk from the foul line,
predating today's athletic players. The 6-foot-5 Pollard starred for
Hall of Fame coach Everett Dean at Stanford University in a career
interupted by military service. After World War II, Pollard was named
AAU All-America twice before joining the Minneapolis Lakers. An integral
member of six championship Lakers teams in three different professional
leagues, Pollard, a 13.1 point per game scorer, teamed with Hall of
Famers George Mikan, and Vern Mikkelsen to form one of the NBA's
best-ever frontcourts. In 1952, Pollard was named the best player of the
era by the Basketball Association of America. Member of the Basketball
HOF.
LOA - Richard Albersheim of Albersheims and formerly of PSA/DNA
Guaranteed to pass authentication by PSA/DNA, JSA, and/or BAS
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