Hall of Fame Basketball Figure. He earned the distinction of being employed by the NBA for sixty-nine years and was the last living figure associated with the league's inaugural season of 1946. He revolutionized stat keeping in the National Basketball Association, by devising such categories as blocked-shots and separation of offensive and defensive rebounds, which are standard in box scores today. Born Herbert Harvey Pollack, he attended Temple University where he kept track of statistics for the Owls' basketball games. Following service with the United States Army during World War II, Pollack was hired by Philadelphia Warriors' owner Eddie Gottlieb to serve as the team's stats keeper, when the Warriors were still in the Basketball Association of America. Philadelphia captured the first championship of the league in 1947. Within six years, he was elevated to head of media relations and in 1962, he recorded the stats for Wilt Chamberlain's historic 100 point night in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Pollack was the one who wrote number 100 on the card Chamberlain was holding in the famous photograph which captured the event. It is also widely believed Pollack coined the phrase "triple-double". He authored the annual "Harvey Pollack's Statistical Yearbook" which contained rare data and in-depth information. His body of work was acknowledged by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, when he was the recipient of the John Bunn Award in 2002. In January 2015, he sustained injuries in an automobile accident and never fully recovered.
Hall of Fame Basketball Figure. He earned the distinction of being employed by the NBA for sixty-nine years and was the last living figure associated with the league's inaugural season of 1946. He revolutionized stat keeping in the National Basketball Association, by devising such categories as blocked-shots and separation of offensive and defensive rebounds, which are standard in box scores today. Born Herbert Harvey Pollack, he attended Temple University where he kept track of statistics for the Owls' basketball games. Following service with the United States Army during World War II, Pollack was hired by Philadelphia Warriors' owner Eddie Gottlieb to serve as the team's stats keeper, when the Warriors were still in the Basketball Association of America. Philadelphia captured the first championship of the league in 1947. Within six years, he was elevated to head of media relations and in 1962, he recorded the stats for Wilt Chamberlain's historic 100 point night in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Pollack was the one who wrote number 100 on the card Chamberlain was holding in the famous photograph which captured the event. It is also widely believed Pollack coined the phrase "triple-double". He authored the annual "Harvey Pollack's Statistical Yearbook" which contained rare data and in-depth information. His body of work was acknowledged by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, when he was the recipient of the John Bunn Award in 2002. In January 2015, he sustained injuries in an automobile accident and never fully recovered.
Bio by: C.S.
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