Leo Gottlieb
{{Short description|American basketball player}}
{{For|another person|Leo Gottlieb (lawyer)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Leo Gottlieb
| image =
| number = 9
| position = Guard
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 11
| weight_lb = 180
| birth_date = {{birth date|1920|11|28}}
| birth_place = New York City, New York
| death_date = {{death date and age|1972|8|16|1920|11|28}}
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| high_school = DeWitt Clinton (Bronx, New York)
| college =
| career_start = 1939
| career_end = 1948
| years1 = 1939–1940
| team1 = Philadelphia Sphas
| years2 = 1940–1942
| team2 = New York Jewels
| years3 = 1943–1944
| team3 = New York Americans
| years4 = 1945–1946
| team4 = New York Gothams
| team5 = New York Knicks
| highlights =
| bbr = gottlle01
}}
Leo "Ace" Gottlieb (November 28, 1920 – August 16, 1972) was an American professional basketball player.{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gottlle01.html |title=Leo Gottlieb NBA & ABA Statistics |publisher=Basketball-Reference.com |date= |access-date=August 11, 2011}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MBl7RgfuhusC&pg=PA36 |title=From Set Shot to Slam Dunk: The Glory Days of Basketball in the Words of Those Who Played It|publisher=U of Nebraska Press |author=Charles Salzberg |year=1998 |isbn=0803292503|access-date=August 11, 2011}}
Early and personal life
Gottlieb, who was German Jewish, was born in New York City, New York.{{cite web|url=http://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=basketball&ID=156 |title=Gottlieb, Leo 'Ace' |date= |access-date=August 11, 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishsports.org/jewishsports/detail.asp?sp=32 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227162909/http://www.jewishsports.org/jewishsports/detail.asp?sp=32 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=February 27, 2010 |title=Jewish Sports Hall of Fame |publisher=Jewishsports.org |date=March 29, 1998 |access-date=August 11, 2011}} He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx, New York.
Gottlieb was the uncle of Ron Rothstein, first coach of the Miami Heat.
Basketball career
Gottlieb played guard. He played for the Philadelphia Sphas in the ABL in 1939–40, the New York Jewels in 1940–42, the New York Americans in 1943–44, and the New York Gothams in 1945–46.
He made his debut in the National Basketball Association on November 1, 1946.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/magnificentseaso0000sham |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/magnificentseaso0000sham/page/193 193] |quote=leo gottlieb basketball. |title=The magnificent seasons |year=2004 |publisher=Macmillan |author=Art Shamsky, Barry Zeman |isbn=9780312333584 |access-date=August 11, 2011}} He played for the New York Knicks in the first game in NBA history, on November 1, 1946, scoring (14 points). He played for the Knicks from 1946 to 1948.
BAA career statistics
| class="toccolours" style="font-size: 90%; white-space: nowrap;" |
| colspan="6" style="background:#f2f2f2; border:1px solid #aaa;"| Legend |
|---|
| style="background:#f2f2f2; border:1px solid black;"| GP
| Games played | style="background:#f2f2f2; border:1px solid black;"| FG% | style="padding-right: 8px" | Field-goal percentage |
| style="background:#f2f2f2; border:1px solid black;"| FT%
| Free-throw percentage | style="background:#f2f2f2; border:1px solid black;"| APG | Assists per game |
| style="background:#f2f2f2; border:1px solid black;"| PPG
| Points per game | style="background-color: #F2F2F2; border: 1px solid black" | Bold | Career high |
=Regular season=
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" | ||||
| Year
! Team ! GP ! FG% ! FT% ! APG ! PPG | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="text-align:left;"| 1946–47
| style="text-align:left;"| New York | 57 | .302 | .655 | .4 | 5.9 |
| style="text-align:left;"| 1947–48
| style="text-align:left;"| New York | 27 | .259 | .619 | .4 | 4.9 |
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 84 | .288 | .645 | .4 | 5.5 |
=Playoffs=
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Philadelphia Sphas 1939–40 ABL champions}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gottlieb, Leo}}
Category:American men's basketball players
Category:DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
Category:New York Knicks players
Category:Philadelphia Sphas players
Category:Basketball players from the Bronx
Category:20th-century American Jews
Category:Jewish American basketball players