Maurice Podoloff

Maurice Podoloff (born August 18, 1890 in Elizabethgrad (Russia) and died on November 24, 1985) was an American lawyer and administrator of basketball and ice hockey. He was the first NBA commissioner, serving the league from 1946 to 1963. Profile

Jewish, he emigrated very young to the United States, graduating in law from Yale University in 1915. In 1946, when he was already president of the American Hockey League, he was also appointed to the same position in the newly formed Basketball Association of America (BAA), becoming the first commissioner to take charge of two leagues of different sports at a time.

After getting the league to several of the leading teams of the National Basketball League, in 1949 got the merger of both leagues, thus creating the NBA. For 17 years as commissioner, Podoloff expanded the league to 17 teams. In his honor, the MVP of the NBA Season is awarded today with a trophy that bears his name.

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