The First Basket - DVD Review

By Cyril Pearl -- Video Business, 6/22/2009

LAEMMLE/ZELLER
Available now
> Fun, upbeat look at the history of Jews and basketball.

That classic vaudeville joke about a book on Jewish sports legends (it’s the thinnest tome on the shelf) is debunked in The First Basket, which offers a breezy examination of the lesser-known history of American Jews and basketball. Though it was invented in Massachusetts at the turn of the century, basketball really thrived in New York, particularly on the Lower East Side and amongst urban Jewish kids looking to get outside (and away from their parents, no doubt). With copious stills and footage, First Basket traces the emergence of b-ball from American Jewish communities in the ’20s to subsequent Jewish involvement in the NBA. It also contains a bunch of interviews with great Jewish players from yesteryear as well as archival interview clips with such characters as legendary coach Red Auerbach and a man named Ossie Schectman, who made the first-ever basket for the New York Knicks back in 1946.

Shelf Talk: The First Basket streeted a couple weeks back, a few days before the L.A. Lakers won the NBA Championship, which proved to be a well-timed release date. For those looking for a dose of basketball now that the season has ended, this one makes for an entertaining, offbeat choice. And it’s sure to draw some interest with its placement on both sports and documentary shelves.

Documentary, color, NR (nothing offensive), 86 min., DVD $24.99
Extras: none
Director: David Vyorst
First Run: L, Oct. 2008, $1 mil.