Forgotten Superstars: Max Zaslofsky

Max Zaslofsky was born to Russian immigrants on December 7th, 1925. He grew up in Brooklyn in a Jewish household alongside his parents and two older brothers, Irving and Abe. Neither of them played basketball.

Growing up, Zaslofsky would spend hours at Brooklyn playground, trying to perfect his two-handed shot. Zaslofksy would go to Thomas Jefferson High School, where he would be selected as an All-Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) selection for basketball. The PSAL was a New York City organization that promoted student-athletes. In addition to basketball, he also played basketball while in high school!

Zaslofsky would later attend St. Johns University (SJU), where he played Shooting Guard. During his freshman, and only season with SJU, he would average:

7.8 Points

3.3 Field Goals

1.2 Free Throws and 2.1 Free Throw Attempts (57.9 FT%)

SJU would end that season with a 17-6 record. Within the Metropolitan New York Conference, SJU and New York University tied at first place with the same Win/Loss record (5-1). As a result, SJU and NYU were crowned as Regular Season Champions.

And after his freshman season, Zaslofsky would enter the newly established NBA.

Fun Fact: Max Zaslofsky's nickname was 'Slats.' Unfortunatley, I have no idea why that was his nickname.

Fun Fact 2: When Max Zaslofsky first started his professional basketball career, he was only paid $5 to $10 per game.

Chicago Stags (1946-50)

1946-47:

As a freshman, Max Zaslofsky immediately became the best player on the Chicago Stags. He averaged:

14.4 Points

32.9 FG%, 73.7 FT%

61 Games

Zaslofsky led the team in all categories: points, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and even games played!