Wikipedia

Jack Molinas

Jacob Louis Molinas (October 31, 1931 – August 3, 1975)[1] was an American professional basketball player, playing first for Columbia University, in New York City, and later briefly in the early National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Fort Wayne Pistons (then in Fort Wayne, Indiana and later relocated to Detroit, Michigan). He also played for multiple minor league franchises and teams after his brief NBA stint (mostly out in Pennsylvania, although he would play in the summer leagues, sometimes with other players that had controversial pasts as well) during the 1950s and early 1960s. During that period of time, he supposedly became an associate of the Genovese crime family due to his association with a couple of people there, and he later became a key figure in one of the most wide-reaching point shaving cheating scandals in college basketball history.

Jack Molinas
Personal information
Born(1931-10-31)October 31, 1931
New York City, U.S.
DiedAugust 3, 1975(1975-08-03) (aged 43)
Hollywood, California, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High schoolStuyvesant
(New York City)
CollegeColumbia (1950–1953)
NBA draft1953: 1st round, 3rd overall pick
Selected by the Fort Wayne Pistons
Playing career1953–1962
PositionSmall forward / power forward
Number6
Coaching career1960–1961
Career history
As player:
1953–1954Fort Wayne Pistons
1954–1959Williamsport Billies
1960–1961Hazleton Hawks
1961–1962Wilkes-Barre Barons
As coach:
1960–1961Hazleton Hawks
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points370 (11.6 ppg)
Rebounds228 (7.1 rpg)
Assists51 (1.6 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Early life

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Molinas grew up in Brooklyn and attended the then all-boys premier academic selective specialized Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan of New York City. His parents owned a bar on Coney Island, the ocean-side resort in Brooklyn.

College career

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He attended Columbia University from 1950 to 1953 where he played basketball. In the 1952–1953 season he was the captain of Columbia's team and led the team in scoring. In 1953, he set a team record for most points scored in a game—a mark that was eclipsed a few years later by Chet Forte.[2] During his time in Columbia, he was measured to have a genius-level I.Q. of 175.[3] He also had some involvement in the CCNY point-shaving scandal back when he played college basketball, though he was never caught while he played for Columbia.[4]

Professional career

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The Fort Wayne Pistons drafted him third in the 1953 NBA draft. He played in 32 games before the league banned him for wagering on Pistons games.[5] Molinas was selected for the 1954 NBA All-Star Game, but was suspended at the time of the game and was replaced by teammate Andy Phillip. He later sued the NBA for $3 million, claiming the league's ban was an unreasonable restraint of trade. Judge Irving Kaufman ruled against him in the case.[6] Molinas is the NBA career leader in All-Star games per number of regular season games played (1/32). Molinas would be the last active player to be banned from the NBA for gambling until 2024, 70 years later, when Jontay Porter was banned from the NBA for his own involvement in gambling on NBA games in which he played.[7][8][9]

Molinas played in the Eastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL) from 1954 to 1962 for the Williamsport Billies, Hazleton Hawks and Wilkes-Barre Barons. He was selected as the EPBL Most Valuable Player in 1956. Molinas was a five-time All-EPBL First Team selection (1955–1958, 1960) and two-time Second Team selection (1959, 1961).[10] He served as a player-coach for the Hawks during the 1960–61 season.[11] After his playing career was nearing its end, he entered the Brooklyn Law School, graduating with a law degree. Before his admission to law school, the Bronx County District Attorney investigated his case and concluded that he had not committed a crime. The bar association also reviewed his case and admitted him to the New York Bar.[5]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA regular season

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1953–54 Fort Wayne 32 29.9 .390 .759 7.1 1.6 11.6
Career 32 29.9 .390 .759 7.1 1.6 11.6

EPBL regular season

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1954–55 Williamsport 28 22.7
1955–56 Williamsport 26 27.3
1956–57 Williamsport 29 26.5
1957–58 Williamsport 26 32.2
1958–59 Williamsport 19 26.1
1958–59 Williamsport 19 26.1
1959–60 Williamsport-Hazleton 22 66.8 7.4 3.6 25.0
1960–61 Hazleton 22 77.9 9.5 2.6 30.0
1961–62 Wilkes-Barre 7 69.8 4.4 2.9 17.7
Career 157 27.0
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In 1973, authorities arrested and charged him with interstate shipment of pornography and furs in Taiwan (Republic of China) and was scheduled to stand trial on those charges at the time of his death.

Personal life

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Match fixing

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Molinas became the central figure in the 1961 point-shaving scandal. The gambling ring went on from 1957 to 1960 and involved 50 players from 27 colleges.[12] Two of the most notable players ensnared in the scandal were future Hall of Famers Connie Hawkins and Roger Brown. Molinas gave Hawkins $250 during his first year at Iowa but never encouraged him to throw games. Although Molinas never implicated Hawkins in any way, both Hawkins and Brown were effectively blackballed from both collegiate and professional basketball until signing with the upstart American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1967. Hawkins also played in the American Basketball League (ABL) for its entire existence (1961–63), and afterwards appealed towards the NBA in allowing him to play again, starting in 1969 with the Phoenix Suns. Meanwhile, Brown spent his entire professional career in the rival ABA, leading the Indiana Pacers to three ABA titles before retiring from basketball in 1975; the Pacers retired his number (No. 35) on November 2, 1985. In 1963, Molinas was convicted for his role in the scheme and was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison. He was paroled in 1968 after serving five years.[12][13] Molinas was said to have contacts with New York City mobsters Thomas Eboli and Vincent Gigante.[2] According to Molinas' attorney in the case, Jacob Evseroff, it was possible that he could have won his case had he taken the stand on his own behalf, yet he failed to do so since he notably lost his nerve (the only time he had done so during the case) in relation to members of organized crime and sports gambling.[14]

Death

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At 2:00 am on August 3, 1975, at age 43, Molinas was killed while standing in the backyard of his home in Los Angeles. Eugene Connor fired five shots, with at least one shot being a bullet to the head, while standing in the yard of Molinas' neighbor using a long-barreled .22 caliber pistol steadied on the fence. Molinas was hit in the neck, and his girlfriend, Shirley Marcus, and dog were both wounded as well.[15][16] Police did not rule out a mob-related murder.[2] His business partner Bernard Gusoff had been beaten to death in November 1974.[12] Molinas and Gusoff both had life insurance policies worth $500,000 on each other due to them being partners in a fur-importing business at the time.[17]

See also

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References

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  • Rosen, Charley (2003). The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball. New York: Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1-58322-562-5.
  1. ^ "Molinas, Jack". JewsinSports.org. Retrieved March 12, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c Konigsberg, Eric (March 3, 2002). "Double Dribbling". New York Times. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
  3. ^ "The Wizard of Odds".
  4. ^ Goldstein, Joe. "Explosion II: The Molinas period" – ESPN – November 19, 2003
  5. ^ a b "Molinas Presses $3,000,000 Case; Ex-Court Ace Sues N.B.A. for Banning Him After He Bet on Own Team". New York Times. January 3, 1961.
  6. ^ "Molinas Loses Antitrust Suit". New York Times. January 12, 1961.
  7. ^ "Jontay Porter banned from NBA for violating league's gaming rules". NBA.com. April 17, 2024. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  8. ^ David Purdum (April 17, 2024). "NBA bans Raptors' Jontay Porter for gambling violations". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  9. ^ Vardon, Joe (April 17, 2024). "NBA bans Jontay Porter for violating gambling rules". The Athletic. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  10. ^ "Jacob Molinas minor league basketball statistics". Stats Crew. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  11. ^ "Jack Molinas minor league basketball coaching statistics". Stats Crew. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  12. ^ a b c "Molinas's Past Sifted For Clues". New York Times. August 6, 1975.
  13. ^ Goldstein, Joe (November 19, 2003). "Explosion II: The Molinas period". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  14. ^ Figone, Albert (2012). Cheating the Spread: Gamblers, Point Shavers, and Game Fixers in College Football and Basketball. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252037283., pg. 105
  15. ^ "ESPN Classic – Explosion II: The Molinas period". www.espn.com. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  16. ^ Kudler, Adrian Glick (August 16, 2011). "House Where Point Shaver/Pornographer Jack Molinas Was Killed". Curbed LA. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  17. ^ Goldstein, Joe (November 19, 2003). "Explosion II: The Molinas period spread". ESPN Classic.
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