Louis, in 1955, where Hall of Famers Bob Pettit and Lenny Wilkens starred and, finally, to Atlanta, in 1968, where it has remained to this day as the Atlanta Hawks.įerris integrated the NBL – months before the Brooklyn Dodgers broke baseball’s color line with Jackie Robinson in April 1947 - by signing the Harlem Renaissance star guard, and future Hall of Famer, William “Pop” Gates to the Bisons in October 1946. He co-founded the Buffalo Bisons, while part of the National Basketball League, in 1946 - a franchise that moved to Moline, Ill., in 1949, where it became the Tri-Cities Blackhawks then to Milwaukee, in 1951, where the nickname was shortened to Hawks then to St. His consequential life in basketball has been resurrected somewhat in the last few years, but his family continues to wait for the honor it believes he most deserves: induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.įerris meets the criteria for selection as a contributor. At the time that letter was written, his role in helping shape and save the NBA had been all but erased. Leo Ferris, who died in 1993 of Huntington’s disease after battling the debilitating illness for more than two decades, had reason to be hurt. I could see the sad, hurt look in his eyes.” Whenever the 24-second clock was mentioned, and homage paid, Leo’s name was rarely, if ever, mentioned.
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“One of his few remaining pleasures was to watch basketball on TV and listen to games on the radio. “Leo … was bedridden for the past 10 years of his life,” his wife, Beverly, wrote in a letter to a relative in March 2005.
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