Maurice Podoloff was a Russian-American lawyer who served as the 1st commissioner of the NBA. He was originally the commissioner of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) until it merged with the National Basketball League to form what we now know as the National Basketball Association.
Podoloff was born somewhere in Russia sometime in August 1890, though the specifics are not known for sure. On this Podoloff said " I was born on either Aug. 18 or Aug. 31, and it was somewhere in Russia, possibly near Odessa." A a young man the Podoloff family migrated to Connecticut. In 1915, he graduated from Yale with a law degree.
Podoloff was a well established and highly respected attorney, who while simultaneously serving as President of the American Hockey League, was appointed President of the BAA. He was the person who first installed the collegiate draft in the BAA and oversaw the merger with the NBL. While serving as NBA Commissioner, he introduced the 24 second shot clock and greatly introduced national interest in basketball by landing the sport's first TV contract.
Podoloff stepped down in 1963 after a 19 year run that saw incredible growth in popularity in basketball. He is highly regarded by basketball historians as one of the key people in the rise of the NBA and is memorialized by the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, given to the Leagues Most Valuable Player.
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