21 Facts About Joe Lapchick

1.

Joseph Bohomiel Lapchick was an American professional basketball player, mostly known for playing with the Original Celtics in the 1920s and 1930s.

2.

Joe Lapchick is commonly regarded as the best center of his era, overshadowed in his later years only by Tarzan Cooper.

3.

Joe Lapchick coached the Knicks until 1957, leading them to three consecutive NBA Finals appearances.

4.

Joe Lapchick returned to St John's, coaching them until 1965.

5.

From star player to successful coach to popular author to respected dignitary, Joe Lapchick played a variety of roles in his more than 50 years in the game of basketball.

6.

Joe Lapchick was an eminently influential figure who helped nurture the sport from its crude beginnings into its modern form.

7.

Joe Lapchick was rangy at 6-foot-5, making him a valuable commodity at a time when a jump ball was held after every basket.

8.

Still a young man, Joe Lapchick re-formed the Celtics with Dutch Dehnert, Davey Banks, Nat Hickey, Johnny Beckman, Carl Husta and him.

9.

In 1936 Joe Lapchick landed the coaching job at St John's University, New York City.

10.

Overwhelmed by stress, Joe Lapchick fainted during the second half of the 1944 final game.

11.

Landing Joe Lapchick was a big boost to the league, which was in only its second year of operation.

12.

Joe Lapchick lived every second of every game as though it were the last tick of the clock.

13.

Joe Lapchick was respected for his motivational coaching style, which focused less on mechanics than on eliciting peak performances from his players.

14.

Joe Lapchick rested for only a month before returning to St John's, where in nine more seasons he led the Redmen to two more NIT crowns, giving them a record four titles.

15.

Joe Lapchick died of a heart attack in Monticello, New York, in 1970 at age 70.

16.

Joe Lapchick married Elizabeth Sarubbi in 1931; they had one daughter and had two sons.

17.

Barbara Joe Lapchick was one of the original Ford models and graduated from Barnard College.

18.

Dr Richard Joe Lapchick is a human rights activist working for racial equality, an internationally recognized expert on sports issues, a scholar and an author.

19.

Joe Lapchick is the Endowed Chair and Director of the DeVos Sport Business Management Program at the College of Business Administration, University of Central Florida.

20.

Joseph Joe Lapchick graduated from the USMA and took a commission in the USAF.

21.

Joe Lapchick was superintendent of schools in Aspen, Colorado, and later an area superintendent in Philadelphia.