Max "Slats" Zaslofsky was an American professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player and coach.

Biography

Zaslofsky attended Thomas Jefferson High School

Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn, New York)

Thomas Jefferson High School is a former high school in the East New York section of Brooklyn, New York. The New York City Department of Education closed the school and broke it into several different schools in 2007, owing to low graduation rates....

 in Brooklyn, and St. John's University. He was Jewish.

While playing for the Chicago Stags

Chicago Stags

The Chicago Stags were a National Basketball Association team based in Chicago, Illinois, U.S..- Franchise history :The Chicago Stags were founded in 1946 and folded in 1950. Despite their short history, they were able to acquire the draft rights to a young Bob Cousy in a trade with the Tri-Cities...

, Zaslofsky was named All-NBA First Team 1946–47 at the age of 21. He held the distinction of being the youngest player named such for near 60 years until he was surpassed by LeBron James

LeBron James

LeBron Raymone James is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association . Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a...

 (2005–06). The next season, he led the league in scoring. In 1949–50 he led the league in free throw percentage.

After the Stags broke up, Zaslofsky joined the New York Knicks

New York Knicks

The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

. In 1956 he ended his career as 3rd leading scorer all-time (up to that point), behind George Mikan

George Mikan

George Lawrence Mikan, Jr. , nicknamed Mr. Basketball, was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League and the Minneapolis Lakers of the NBL, the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball Association...

 and Joe Fulks

Joe Fulks

Joseph Franklin "Jumping Joe" Fulks was an American professional basketball player, sometimes called "the first of the high-scoring forwards". He was one of the first players, albeit posthumously, enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978...

. In addition to his 1946–47 All-NBA First Team honors, Zaslofsky was named to the All-NBA First Team in 1947–48, 1948–49, and 1949–50. He also played in the 1952 NBA All-Star Game

1952 NBA All-Star Game

The 1952 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on February 11, 1952 at Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, home of the Boston Celtics. The game was the second edition of the National Basketball Association All-Star Game and was played during the 1951–52 NBA season. The...

.

He would later coach for two seasons in the American Basketball Association

American Basketball Association

The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...

, with the New Jersey Americans/New York Nets

New Jersey Nets

The New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

.

External links

• List of Individual NBA Scoring Champions
• BasketballReference.com: Max Zaslofsky (as coach)
• BasketballReference.com: Max Zaslofsky (as player)