1947-1948 FT WAYNE ZOLLNER PISTONS 8X10 TEAM PHOTO

Description: 1947-48 ZOLLNER PISTONS TEAM 8X10 PHOTO. THIS IS NOT THE ORIGINAL PHOTO Photo will be mailed in high quality photo mailer. The winning bidder pays for shipping and handling (international shipping is by country and determined at checkout). Delivery confirmation is free. IF ORDERING MORE THAN 1 ITEM AND WOULD LIKE A SHIPPING DISCOUNT, PLEASE ALLOW US TO SEND YOU AN INVOICE BEFORE CHECKING OUT. FOR MULTIPLE ITEMS PURCHASED ONLY ONE PAYMENT MUST BE MADE FOR ALL ITEMS.Fred Zollner was called "Mr. Pro Basketball" as the founder and owner along with his sister Janet of the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (now the Detroit Pistons) and a key figure in the merger of National Basketball League and Basketball Association of America into the National Basketball Association in 1949. He was inducted as a contributor into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Zollner, an industrialist, was born in Little Falls, Minnesota and received a degree from the University of Minnesota in 1927. Zollner Corporation, formed in 1912, was a Tier-1 supplier of pistons to companies such as Ford, General Motors, International Harvester (now Navistar), John Deere and Outboard Marine.The Zollner Pistons began playing in 1939 as an independent and in 1941 joined the National Basketball League, which was just shaking off its roots as an industrial league. In 1974, he recalled that, "Instead of making friends, we made enemies, because no one could beat us." He personally recruited his players, including later Hall of Famers Andy Phillip, Bob McDermott, Bob Houbregs, Buddy Jeannette and George Yardley. The Zollner Pistons were a very popular franchise, winning the world championship in 1944 and 1945, and reaching the NBA Finals in 1954 and 1955, losing both times. He was the first pro basketball team owner to hire a bench coach.Zollner brought together leaders of the NBL and the BAA to meet at his house in 1949. Sitting around his kitchen table, they agreed to merge, forming the NBA.It soon became apparent that the NBA had outgrown small cities like Fort Wayne. In 1957, Zollner moved the team to Detroit, a much larger city that had previously had an NBA franchise, the Detroit Falcons, which failed after the 1946–47 season, the NBA's (BAA's) first. Since Detroit was the center of the automobile industry, the name Pistons still fit. However, they were nowhere near as successful as they had been in Fort Wayne; they would only tally two winning seasons in the next 17 years.By 1974, the Pistons' lackluster performance on the court was starting to hurt Zollner's bottom line; the team had never turned a profit since moving to Detroit. Even the best regular season in franchise history at the time was not enough to stop the bleeding. After the season, Zollner sold the Pistons to glass magnate William Davidson for $7 million (equal to $36 million in 2018). Zollner and Davidson remained the only two majority owners in the history of the NBA's second-oldest team until the death of Davidson in March, 2009. WIKIPEDIA, 2019

Price: 8.95 USD

Location: Chicago, Illinois

End Time: 2024-12-26T20:43:29.000Z

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