Phil Jackson and Mendy Rudolph elected to Basketball Hall of Fame
April 2, 2007 - Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1) News Release
Albany, NY, April 2, 2007- The Continental Basketball Association announced today that former CBA Coach, Eastern League referee among seven inductees The Continental Basketball Association is pleased to announce that two of its alumni members, Phil Jackson and Mendy Rudolph, have been elected as members of the Class of 2007 into the James Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The duo join University of North Carolina coach Roy Williams, four-time WNBA championship coach Van Chancellor, coaches Fedro Ferradiz and Mirko Novosel, and the 1966 Texas Western NCAA Tournament championship basketball team.
Although Phil Jackson will be best known for his nine NBA championship rings earned as a head coach with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, his first coaching championship ring occurred in 1984, when he guided the Albany Patroons to the 1984 CBA Championship, defeating the Bay State Bombardiers and Puerto Rico Coquis in the playoffs, and triumphing in a best-of-five series win over the Wyoming Wildcatters. Jackson was named CBA Coach of the Year in 1985, was the winning coach in the 1983 and 1985 CBA All-Star Classics, and compiled a record of 117-90 in 4½ seasons as Patroons head coach.
Although Mendy Rudolph is best known for officiating over 2,100 NBA games in his career, having worked eight NBA All-Star games and 22 straight seasons of at least one appearance in the NBA finals, Rudolph got his start in the CBA, when the league was known as the Eastern Professional Basketball League. In the 1940's and early 1950's, Mendy Rudolph, along with his father Harry Rudolph (later to become Eastern League President 1956-1970), officiated hundreds of Eastern League contests, and kept the peace in a league where fistfights between opponents was not uncommon. Rudolph worked his first Eastern League President's Cup championship in 1948; he would also officiate in at least one game in every President's Cup playoff and finals series from 1949 to 1953.
Jackson and Rudolph are now the 15th and 16th people with CBA/Eastern League connections to be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame. They join the following players, owners and coaches listed below, along with their connections to the CBA/Eastern League: - Paul Arizin '78, EPBL Camden Bullets (player), 1962-65 - Rick Barry '87, CBA Fort Wayne Fury (coach), 1992-94 - Jim Boeheim '05, EPBL Scranton Miners (player), EBA Scranton Apollos (player), 1966-72 - Hubie Brown '06, EPBL, Rochester Colonels (player), 1958-59 - Pete Carril '97, EPBL Lancaster Red Roses (player), Easton-Phillipsburg Madisons (player), 1954-1958 - John Chaney '01, EPBL Sunbury Mercuries (player), Williamsport Billies (player, later coach), 1950's-1960's - Dave Cowens '91, CBA Bay State Bombardiers (coach), 1984-85 - George Gervin '96, CBA Quad City Thunder (player), 1990-91 - Hal Greer '82, CBA Philadelphia Kings (coach), 1980-81 - Buddy Jeannette '94, EPBL Baltimore Bullets (coach), 1958-61 - K.C. Jones '89, EPBL Hartford Capitols (player), 1966-67 - Jack Ramsay '92, EPBL Harrisburg Caps, Sunbury Mercuries (player), 1949-55 - Arnie Risen '98, EPBL Rochester Colonels (player-coach), 1958-59 - Isiah Thomas '00, CBA league owner 1999-2000
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Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from April 2, 2007
- CBA Weekly - CBA 1
- Phil Jackson and Mendy Rudolph elected to Basketball Hall of Fame - CBA 1
- Patroons launch internal investigation - Albany Patroons
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