1954 NBA FINALS - Game 1

Minneapolis Lakers vs. Syracuse Nats on DVD

Rare Sportsfilms, Inc. is the rights owner of this DVD

            This is the first DVD ever made of an early 1950’s NBA pro basketball game – and it’s an NBA Championship Game to boot!   Now on DVD is Game 1 of the 1954 NBA Finals, played at Minneapolis Auditorium, with the fabulous Lakers, NBA Champions 4 four of the last five years, vs. the Syracuse Nationals!   Narrated by sportscaster Dick Enroth, the recently discovered original 27-minute B & W film includes two tennis shoe commercials by Boston Red Sox baseball star Ted Williams for P.F. Canvas Shoes!   This DVD shows one of the great NBA basketball teams of all time, the Minneapolis Lakers, which won five world championships in six years.   The presentation is pretty much a play-by-play style of narration, however Enroth does give nice historical briefs during the game on several topics, such as the history of the Lakers, where they ranked in the league defensively in 1954, past playoff history, how coach Al Cervi’s injury-riddled Nationals got to the finals, league rules, etc.   Throughout the DVD you’ll see the pro game as it was played 70 years ago (with underhand free throw shooting and two-hand set shots) - even then played by the greatest players in the world!

     Also included on this new DVD are two other chapters, “Basketball Fundamentals, as demonstrated by the Minneapolis Lakers”, and “Meet The Champs” (The 1952-1953 Lakers season highlights) – a total of 75 minutes of vintage NBA basketball on this one DVD!!    

     The fabulous Laker starting lineup features the first great “big man” in NBA history, 6’10” center George Mikan (playing in his last NBA series), Vern Mikkelsen and Jim Pollard at the forwards, with Slater Martin and Whitey Skoog at guard.   Starters for Syracuse are rookie Jim Neal at center, Wally Osterkorn and Bill Kenville at the forwards, with George King and captain Paul Seymour at guard.   Nats HOF’er Dolph Schayes is injured and does not start, however he does appear in the game.   You’ll see 6’9” rookie center Clyde Lovellette (Kansas) who would replace the retired Mikan in the Laker lineup at the pivot position the following season.   Clyde has an excellent game, finishing as leading scorer with 16 points!   Also in action for the Lakers are Dick Schnittker, Jim Holstein and Pep Saul.   Playing for Syracuse are Bob Lavoy (high scorer for the Nats with 15), Bill Gabor, Al Masino and the only black player on the floor, Earl Lloyd, who plays with a broken hand suffered during the Eastern Finals against the Boston Celtics!

     Whitey Skoog’s great first half has the Lakers leading at intermission 34-31, and this is one of the greatest games of his career!   Midway through the third quarter, Clyde Lovellette’s hook shot puts the Lakers ahead to stay, and after three quarters the score is 56-50.

     Of course, no NBA games were ever televised until late in the decade, with the oldest known NBA TV broadcast still in existence being 1960.   So, this DVD is the closest thing to an actual TV play-by-play broadcast of an NBA game that you will ever see from this vintage!

NOTE:  This is NOT a DVD-R, (most DVD’s you find on eBay are cheaply made by burning, replicated disks).   This is an actual DVD made from a GLASS MASTER!   These are very high-quality and very expensive to make!   You’ll be amazed to see the picture quality of this new DVD!!  Rare Sportsfilms, Inc. (baseball1a) is the Intellectual Property Rights holder of all material on this DVD!

             Be sure to bookmark my eBay user ID: (baseball1a) for future listings of more vintage sports on genuine Rare Sportsfilms DVDs!