*Nat Holman* The Man, His Legacy, and CCNY

THE 1920s

Holman was a member of the Original Celtics from 1921 until their dispersion in 1928. In seven years the Celtics won more than 1000 games and lost less than 100. Selling out arenas, armories, and dance halls wherever they played, the Celtics as a barnstorming team played anyone, any time and anywhere. They averaged 188 games per season, most of them on the road. On February 22, 1922, the Celtics drew a record crowd of 23,000 people in Cleveland. In 1921-1922 the Celtics went on an unbelievable winning streak of 93 straight games. After the team disbanded in 1928 for lack of competition, Holman was sent to play for the New York Hakoahs along with Chris Leonard, while the rest of his teammates where shipped to the Cleveland Rosenblums. Holman played for five more years with the Syracuse All-Americans (1929-1930) and the Chicago Bruins (1930-1933).

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Holman retired from actively playing basketball in 1933 at the age of 37 to coach full-time and continue as the physical education director at the 92nd Street YMHA (a job he held from 1930-1939). At the time of his retirement, he was the highest paid professional in the country, averaging $2000 a month for five or six games a week. With some of his earnings from playing pro basketball he invested in a 250-acre summer camp with his oldest brother Jacob (Camp Scatico in Elizaville, NY; family owned since 1920).

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Nat Holman's Professional
Basketball Career

1917	New York Knickerbockers Interstate League Hoboken

1918-1919	Bridgeport Blue Ribbons

1919-1920	Jersey City Skeeters New York League Albany Senators Eastern League Scranton Miners Eastern League Germantown Gs

1920-1921	New York Pittsfield Hillies New York Whirlwinds Connecticut League Norwalk Company K

1921-1928	Original Celtics

1928-1929	New York Hakoahs

1929-1930	Syracuse All-Americans

1930-1933	Chicago Bruins