The SPHAs Basketball Team
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The South Philadelphia Hebrew Association was a dominant professional team from 1918 to 1959, winning 12 league championships. During its heyday in the 1930s, the team was all Jewish. Owner/coach Eddie Gottlieb was a seminal figure in the establishment of the NBA. Instrumental in the growth of pro basketball in its formative years, in later years the team toured with the Harlem Globetrotters. Home games were played here at the former Broadwood Hotel.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
From 1918 to 1959, the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association fielded one of professional basketball's dominant teams, the SPHAs, who racked up a dozen league titles from their home court at the old Broadwood Hotel. In the 1930s the roster was entirely Jewish, a source of pride in an era when the sport was still finding its footing. Owner and coach Eddie Gottlieb went on to help found the NBA, and in later years the team barnstormed alongside the Harlem Globetrotters.
Why it matters
The SPHAs capture a formative chapter in American pro basketball and the story of urban immigrant communities who found identity and belonging through sport.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- African American Museum in Philadelphia0.7 mi away · 701 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- National Constitution Center0.8 mi away · 525 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Independence Visitor Center0.8 mi away · 599 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Bridgette Mayer0.9 mi away · 709 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Liberty Bell Center0.9 mi away · 526 Market Street, Philadelphia
- Congress Hall0.9 mi away · Philadelphia, PA
Attractions
- Reading Terminal0.4 mi away
- Chinatown Friendship Gate0.5 mi away · 10th and Arch Street
- The Universal Sphere0.5 mi away
- Philly Gun Range0.5 mi away · North Percy Street
- One Liberty Observation Deck0.5 mi away
- U.S. Mint at Philadelphia Tour0.9 mi away
Food & drink
- Burger King0.7 mi away
- Philly Pretzel Factory0.8 mi away
- Dunkin'0.8 mi away · 634 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Munchie’s Cafe0.8 mi away · 728 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Time & Peace0.8 mi away · 36 South 7th Street, Philadelphia, PA
- El Azteca0.8 mi away
Places to stay
- Days Inn Philadelphia Convention Center - Philadelphia0.2 mi away · 1227 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Four Points by Sheraton Philadelphia City Center0.3 mi away · 1201 Race Street, Philadelphia
- Home2 Suites by Hilton Philadelphia - Convention Center, PA0.4 mi away · 1200 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Clarion Suites Philadelphia0.4 mi away · 1010 Race Street, Philadelphia
- The Notary Hotel0.4 mi away · 21 North Juniper Street, Philadelphia
- Sleep Inn Center City0.4 mi away · 1020 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA
Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Eddie Gottlieb
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Thomas E. Cahill (1828-1878)
Philadelphia, PA · est. 2009
Thomas E. Cahill rose from a poor immigrant family and, denied a secondary education himself, resolved that others would not be. His bequest founded Roman Catholic High School for Boys, which opened in Philadelphia in 1890 as the first free Catholic high school in the United States. The school became the seed of a diocesan high-school system that spread as a model across the country.
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA · est. 1982
William Penn laid out Philadelphia in 1682 on a rational grid between two rivers, envisioning a 'greene countrie towne' whose very name proclaimed brotherly love. Chartered as a city in 1701, it served as Pennsylvania's capital until 1799 and, during the founding era, as the capital of the United States until the government moved to Washington in 1800. The surrounding county, one of Pennsylvania's original three, was consolidated with the city in 1854.
Philadelphia Chinatown
Philadelphia, PA · est. 2010
Philadelphia's Chinatown took root in the 1870s as Chinese immigrants opened businesses and made homes in this district, building a community that sustained Chinese American life for generations. Through decades of exclusion laws and hardship, the neighborhood preserved Asian cultural traditions and a distinct ethnic identity. By the 1920s it stood as the only remaining Chinatown in Pennsylvania.
Anne Brancato Wood (1903-1972)
Philadelphia, PA · est. 1994
In an era when women had held the vote for barely a decade, Anne Brancato Wood — the daughter of Italian immigrants — broke into the rough world of Philadelphia Democratic politics in 1928 and won a seat in the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1932. As one of the very few women in Harrisburg through 1941, she championed social-reform legislation at a time when the New Deal was reshaping what government owed its citizens. Her business offices once stood at this South Philadelphia address.