John Isaacs

This article is about the Hall of Fame basketball player. For the current basketball player, see Jonathan Isaac. For other people, see John Isaacs (disambiguation).

John Isaacs

Personal information
Born	(1915-09-15)September 15, 1915 Rio Sidra, Panama
Died	January 26, 2009(2009-01-26) (aged 93) Bronx, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school	Textile (Manhattan, New York)
Position	Guard
Career history
1935–1936	St. Peter Claver Penguins
1935–1936	New York Harlem Giants
1936–1937	New York Collegians
1936–1943	New York Rens
1941–1942	Philadelphia Toppers
1941–1947	Washington Bears
1942–1945	Long Island Grumans
1943–1944	Harlem Globetrotters
1946–1947	Hazleton Mountaineers
1946–1947	Orange
1947–1949	Utica Olympics
1948–1949	Brooklyn Gothams
1949	Dayton Rens
1950–1951	Saratoga Harlem Yankees
1950–1951	Glen Falls / Saratoga
Career highlights and awards
2× WPBT champion (1939, 1943)
Basketball Hall of Fame

John William Isaacs (September 15, 1915 – January 26, 2009) was a Panamanian-American professional basketball player. Born in Panama but raised in New York City, he was a member of the New York Renaissance, the Washington Bears, and various other teams.

Life and career

Isaacs was born in 1915 in Panama to a Jamaican father and a Panamanian mother. He grew up bilingual in Harlem, speaking English. Isaacs was a 6'3", 190 lbs. guard who led the basketball team at Textile High School (later Charles Evans Hughes High School) to a title in the 1935 New York City High School Basketball championship with all-City honors for himself. Offered a professional contract by Bob Douglas, owner of the Harlem-based, all-African American New York Renaissance basketball team, he accepted the offer, but only after getting approval from his mother.

With the Rens, Isaacs led the team to season records of 122–19, 121–19, and 127–15. The team won the first World Professional Basketball Tournament, held in 1939 at Chicago Stadium and sponsored by the Chicago Herald American, with the team making it to the finals by beating the Harlem Globetrotters of Chicago 27–23, to face the Oshkosh All-Stars, who lost to the Rens 34–25 in the tournament final. Isaacs won a second title in 1943 with the Washington Bears, again defeating Oshkosh. Isaacs scored a game-high 11 points to lead the Bears to a 43–31 win and their first title. Paid $175 per month, plus expenses, to play basketball. Isaacs supplemented his professional salary with jobs on the assembly line at Grumman Aircraft and at New York Life Insurance during the off season.

Isaacs played with several other all-black professional basketball teams after his time with the Rens and Bears, including the Manhattan Nationals, Hazleton Mountaineers of the Eastern Professional Basketball League, and Utica Olympics of the New York State Professional Basketball League), and in the American Basketball League with Brooklyn and Saratoga. He became a coach and mentor after he retired. Chris Mullin admitted that he was one of his disciples.

Long after retiring from professional sports, Isaacs won medals at the New York State Senior Games in tennis, Frisbee, softball throwing, as well as in basketball.

On February 14, 2015, Isaacs was announced as a member of that year's induction class of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He formally entered the Hall on September 11.

External links

• "John Isaacs, Star for Rens Basketball, Dies at 93," New York Times, February 4, 2009