Sid Tanenbaum

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Sid Tanenbaum

| image =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1925|10|8}}

| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1986|9|4|1925|10|8}}

| death_place = Queens, New York, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 0

| weight_lb = 160

| high_school = Thomas Jefferson
(Brooklyn, New York)

| college = NYU (1943–1947)

| draft_year = 1947

| draft_league = BAA

| career_start = 1947

| career_end = 1949

| career_number = 6, 9

| career_position = Guard

| years1 = 1947–1949

| team1 = New York Knicks

| years2 = 1949

| team2 = Baltimore Bullets

| highlights =

2× Consensus first-team All-American (1946, 1947)
2× Haggerty Award winner (1946, 1947)

| stats_league = BAA

| stat1label = Points

| stat1value = 633 (9.0 ppg)

| stat2label = Assists

| stat2value = 162 (2.3 apg)

| stat3label =

| stat3value =

}}

Sidney Harold Tanenbaum (October 8, 1925 – September 4, 1986) was an American professional basketball player.{{cite web |title=Sidney Harold Tanenbaum |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/tanenbaum-sidney-harold |website=Jewish Virtual Library |access-date=August 25, 2021}} Playing college basketball for the NYU Violets, he was twice a consensus first-team All-American (in 1946 and 1947) and twice a Haggerty Award winner (1946 and 1947). He went on to play professionally for the New York Knicks and the Baltimore Bullets.

Early life

Tanenbaum was born in Brooklyn, New York, grew up in its Brownsville neighborhood, and was Jewish.{{cite news|author=Sam Goldaper|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/06/obituaries/sid-tanenbaum-60-is-slain-nyu-basketball-star-in-40-s.html |title=SID TANENBAUM, 60, IS SLAIN; N.Y.U. BASKETBALL STAR IN 40'S|work=The New York Times|date=September 6, 1986}} He was an all-scholastic player at Thomas Jefferson High School. He met his wife, Bobbie Wolfson, in college when he was a junior.{{cite news|author=Ira Berkow|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/21/sports/basketball-tanenbaum-man-and-player-gets-his-due.html |title=Tanenbaum, Man and Player, Gets His Due|work=The New York Times|date=September 21, 2013|url-access=subscription}}

Basketball career

A 6' 0" guard/forward, Tanenbaum played college basketball at New York University, where he was captain of the team in 1947, and was a two-time All-American and two-time Haggerty Award winner as the outstanding player in the metropolitan area.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kGUTCgAAQBAJ&q=tanenbaum |title=The Nurturing Neighborhood: The Brownsville Boys' Club and Jewish Community|author= Gerald Sorin|year=1992 |isbn=9780814779392 |via=Google Books}}{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AgmDAAAAMAAJ&q=Sid+Tanenbaum+brooklyn |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Jews in Sports|author1= Bernard Postal|author2=Jesse Silver|author3=Roy Silver|title=TANENBAUM, SIDNEY HAROLD|year=1965 |page=124|via=Google Books}} He also won the 1947 Bar Kochba Award, which honored him as the best Jewish American athlete in the nation, and was named first team All-Met in all four of his varsity seasons.[http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/SidneyTannenbaum.htm "Sidney Tannenbaum"], Jewish Sports[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/tanenbaum-sidney-harold "Tanenbaum, Sidney Harold"], Jewish Virtual Library Wilbur Wood, the sports editor of the New York Sun, wrote of Tanenbaum in 1947: "He is the finest all-around basketball performer ever to don Violet livery." He left NYU as the school's all-time leading scorer, with 992 points.Joseph Siegman. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=lvszXWxqAR4C&pg=PA38&dq=%22sid+tannenbaum%22#PPA38,M1 Sidney Tannenbaum profile], Jewish Sports Legends''. Brassey's 2000. pg. 38 NYU annually awards its top student-athlete the Sid Tanenbaum Memorial Award.

Tanenbaum played two seasons (1947–1949) in the Basketball Association of America as a member of the New York Knicks and Baltimore Bullets. On February 11, 1949, the New York Knicks traded him to the Baltimore Bullets for Connie Simmons.[https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/tanensi01.html "Sid Tanenbaum"], Basketball-Reference He scored 633 points in 70 games and tallied 162 assists.{{cite web|url=http://www.basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=TANNESI01 |title=Sid Tannenbaum|website=Basketball-Reference |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070410045409/http://basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=TANNESI01 |archivedate=2007-04-10|accessdate=April 5, 2009}} He was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame, and in 1997 into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZaVuAAAAQBAJ&dq=Sid+Tanenbaum+brooklyn&pg=PT206 |title=Autumns in the Garden: The Coach of Camelot and Other Knicks Stories|author=Ira Berkow|publisher=Triumph Books |isbn=9781600788666 |date=2013 |via=Google Books}}

Personal life

After his basketball career, Tanenbaum lived in Woodmere, New York, with his wife Barbara and sons Steven and Michael (an optometrist). He owned a machine shop specializing in metal spinning and stamping in Far Rockaway, Queens, known as the Able Metal Spinning and Stamping."Sidney Tannenbaum, Ex-Player", The New York Times, September 5, 1986, page A20

Murder

Tanenbaum was murdered on September 4, 1986, aged 60, when he was stabbed to death by a local 37-year-old woman in his shop. Police described Tanenbaum as "something of a benefactor in his neighborhood" who often gave money to people living in the streets. According to reports, he was stabbed because he decided to stop lending money to his attacker after assisting her many times in the past, and when he turned his back she attacked him.{{cite book|author=Gerald Sorin.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ELXtKHGRZIUC&dq=%22benefactor+in+the+neighborhood%22&pg=PA192 |title=Nurturing Neighborhood|publisher=NYU Press|date=1992|page=192| isbn=9780814779392 |via=Google Books}} His killer, Molly Dotsun, was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

The basketball courts at the park in North Woodmere, New York, are named after Tanenbaum. Since 1986, they have hosted the Sid Tanenbaum Memorial Basketball Tournament that raises scholarship money for students in the Five Towns.{{cite web |last1=Bessen |first1=Jeff |title=Honoring a legacy of giving |url=https://liherald.com/stories/honoring-a-legacy-of-giving,80351 |website=LI Herald |access-date=August 25, 2021 |date=June 1, 2016}}

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:#f2f2f2; border:1px solid black;"\| Bold \| Career high

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:#f2f2f2; border:1px solid black;"| Bold

| Career high

=Regular season=

Year ! Team ! GP ! FG% ! FT% ! APG ! PPG
class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
style="text-align:left;"\| 1947–48 \| style="text-align:left;"\| New York \| 24	.250	.838	1.5	10.1
style="text-align:left;"\| 1948–49 \| style="text-align:left;"\| New York \| 32	.283	.844	2.2	8.0
style="text-align:left;"\| 1948–49 \| style="text-align:left;"\| Baltimore \| 14	.309	.791	3.9	9.6
style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"\|Career \| 70	.274	.830	2.3	9.0

=Playoffs=

Year ! Team ! GP ! FG% ! FT% ! APG ! PPG
class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
style="text-align:left;"\| 1948 \| style="text-align:left;"\| New York \| 3	.333	.727	1.3	10.0
style="text-align:left;"\| 1949 \| style="text-align:left;"\| Baltimore \| 3	.207	1.000	3.3	5.7
style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"\|Career \| 6	.274	.813	2.3	7.8