Jacob Louis Molinas (October 31, 1931 – August 3, 1975)[1] was an American professional basketball player, playing first for Columbia University, in New York City, and later briefly in the early National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Fort Wayne Pistons (then in Fort Wayne, Indiana and later relocated to Detroit, Michigan). He also played for multiple minor league franchises and teams after his brief NBA stint (mostly out in Pennsylvania, although he would play in the summer leagues, sometimes with other players that had controversial pasts as well) during the 1950s and early 1960s. During that period of time, he supposedly became an associate of the Genovese crime family due to his association with a couple of people there, and he later became a key figure in one of the most wide-reaching point shaving cheating scandals in college basketball history.
He attended Columbia University from 1950 to 1953 where he played basketball. In the 1952–1953 season he was the captain of Columbia's team and led the team in scoring. In 1953, he set a team record for most points scored in a game—a mark that was eclipsed a few years later by Chet Forte.[2] During his time in Columbia, he was measured to have a genius-level I.Q. of 175.[3] He also had some involvement in the CCNY point-shaving scandal back when he played college basketball, though he was never caught while he played for Columbia.[4]
Professional career
The Fort Wayne Pistons drafted him third in the 1953 NBA draft. He played in 32 games before the league banned him for wagering on Pistons games.[5] Molinas was selected for the 1954 NBA All-Star Game, but was suspended at the time of the game and was replaced by teammate Andy Phillip. He later sued the NBA for $3 million, claiming the league's ban was an unreasonable restraint of trade. Judge Irving Kaufman ruled against him in the case.[6] Molinas is the NBA career leader in All-Star games per number of regular season games played (1/32). Molinas would be the last active player to be banned from the NBA for gambling until 2024, 70 years later, when Jontay Porter was banned from the NBA for his own involvement in gambling on NBA games in which he played.[7][8][9]
Molinas played in the Eastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL) from 1954 to 1962 for the Williamsport Billies, Hazleton Hawks and Wilkes-Barre Barons. He was selected as the EPBL Most Valuable Player in 1956. Molinas was a five-time All-EPBL First Team selection (1955–1958, 1960) and two-time Second Team selection (1959, 1961).[10] He served as a player-coach for the Hawks during the 1960–61 season.[11] After his playing career was nearing its end, he entered the Brooklyn Law School, graduating with a law degree. Before his admission to law school, the Bronx County District Attorney investigated his case and concluded that he had not committed a crime. The bar association also reviewed his case and admitted him to the New York Bar.[5]
In 1973, authorities arrested and charged him with interstate shipment of pornography and furs in Taiwan (Republic of China) and was scheduled to stand trial on those charges at the time of his death.
Personal life
Match fixing
Molinas became the central figure in the 1961 point-shaving scandal. The gambling ring went on from 1957 to 1960 and involved 50 players from 27 colleges.[12] Two of the most notable players ensnared in the scandal were future Hall of FamersConnie Hawkins and Roger Brown. Molinas gave Hawkins $250 during his first year at Iowa but never encouraged him to throw games. Although Molinas never implicated Hawkins in any way, both Hawkins and Brown were effectively blackballed from both collegiate and professional basketball until signing with the upstart American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1967. Hawkins also played in the American Basketball League (ABL) for its entire existence (1961–63), and filed a lawsuit against the NBA in 1967 with the objective of being admitted to the league; the lawsuit was settled and Hawkins signed in 1969 with the Phoenix Suns. Meanwhile, Brown spent his entire professional career in the rival ABA, leading the Indiana Pacers to three ABA titles before retiring from basketball in 1975; the Pacers retired his number (No. 35) on November 2, 1985. In 1963, Molinas was convicted for his role in the scheme and was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison. He was paroled in 1968 after serving five years.[12][13] Molinas was said to have contacts with New York City mobsters Thomas Eboli and Vincent Gigante.[2] According to Molinas' attorney in the case, Jacob Evseroff, it was possible that he could have won his case had he taken the stand on his own behalf, yet he failed to do so since he notably lost his nerve (the only time he had done so during the case) in relation to members of organized crime and sports gambling.[14]
Death
At 2:00 am on August 3, 1975, at age 43, Molinas was killed while standing in the backyard of his home in Los Angeles. Eugene Connor fired five shots, with at least one shot being a bullet to the head, while standing in the yard of Molinas' neighbor using a long-barreled .22 caliber pistol steadied on the fence. Molinas was hit in the neck, and his girlfriend, Shirley Marcus, and dog were both wounded as well.[15][16] Police did not rule out a mob-related murder.[2] His business partner Bernard Gusoff had been beaten to death in November 1974.[12] Molinas and Gusoff both had life insurance policies worth $500,000 on each other due to them being partners in a fur-importing business at the time.[17]
^Figone, Albert (2012). Cheating the Spread: Gamblers, Point Shavers, and Game Fixers in College Football and Basketball. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN9780252037283., pg. 105
Formerly the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League (1946–48), Eastern Professional Basketball League (1948–1970), and the Eastern Basketball Association (1970–78)
