Jack Molinas
Jacob Louis Molinas (October 31, 1931 – August 3, 1975[1]) was an American professional basketball player and a key figure in one of the most wide-reaching point shaving scandals in college basketball.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 31, 1931 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 3, 1975 (aged 43) Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Listed weight | 200 lb (91 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Stuyvesant (New York City, New York) |
| College | Columbia (1950–1953) |
| NBA draft | 1953: 1st round, 3rd overall pick |
| Selected by the Fort Wayne Pistons | |
| Playing career | 1953–1962 |
| Position | Small forward / power forward |
| Number | 6 |
| Coaching career | 1960–1961 |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1953–1954 | Fort Wayne Pistons |
| 1954–1959 | Williamsport Billies |
| 1960–1961 | Hazleton Hawks |
| 1961–1962 | Wilkes-Barre Barons |
| As coach: | |
| 1960–1961 | Hazleton Hawks |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 370 (11.6 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 228 (7.1 rpg) |
| Assists | 51 (1.6 apg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Early life edit
Molinas grew up in Brooklyn and attended Stuyvesant High School. His parents owned a bar on Coney Island.
College career edit
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]
Professional career edit
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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5][6][7]
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).[8] He served as a player-coach for the Hawks during the 1960–61 season.[9]
After his playing career, 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.[3]
Career statistics edit
| 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 edit
| 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 edit
| 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 | ||||||
Legal issues edit
In 1973, authorities arrested and charged him with interstate shipment of pornography and furs in Taiwan. He was due to stand trial on those charges at the time of his death.
Personal life edit
Match fixing edit
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.[10] 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 freshman 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 Indianapolis Pacers to three ABA titles before retiring from basketball in 1975; the Indiana Pacers retired his number (#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.[10][11] Molinas was said to have contacts with New York City mobster Thomas Eboli.[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'd do so during the case) in relation to members of organized crime and sports gambling.[12]
Death edit
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.[13][14]
Police did not rule out a mob-related murder.[2] His business partner Bernard Gusoff had been beaten to death in November 1974.[10] 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.[15]
See also edit
References edit
- 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.
- ^ "Molinas, Jack". JewsinSports.org. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
- ^ a b c Konigsberg, Eric (2002-03-03). "Double Dribbling". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-11-02.
- ^ 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. 1961-01-03.
- ^ "Molinas Loses Antitrust Suit". New York Times. 1961-01-12.
- ^ "Jontay Porter banned from NBA for violating league's gaming rules". NBA.com. April 17, 2024. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
- ^ David Purdum (April 17, 2024). "NBA bans Raptors' Jontay Porter for gambling violations". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
- ^ Vardon, Joe (April 17, 2024). "NBA bans Jontay Porter for violating gambling rules". The Athletic. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
- ^ "Jacob Molinas minor league basketball statistics". Stats Crew. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
- ^ "Jack Molinas minor league basketball coaching statistics". Stats Crew. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Molinas's Past Sifted For Clues". New York Times. 1975-08-06.
- ^ Goldstein, Joe (November 19, 2003). "Explosion II: The Molinas period". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
- ^ 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
- ^ "ESPN Classic - Explosion II: The Molinas period". www.espn.com. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
- ^ Kudler, Adrian Glick (2011-08-16). "House Where Point Shaver/Pornographer Jack Molinas Was Killed". Curbed LA. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
- ^ Goldstein, Joe (November 19, 2003). "Explosion II: The Molinas period spread". ESPN Classic.