Jack "Dutch" Garfinkel (June 13, 1918 – August 14, 2013) was an American basketball player.
Garfinkel attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn and then nearby St. John's University to play for future Hall of Fame coach Joe Lapchick. In 1941, he won the Haggerty Award, given to the top player in the New York City metropolitan area.
After his college career was over, Garfinkel served in the United States Army during World War II. He then played for the Philadelphia Sphas of the American Basketball League, the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League (NBL), and finally settled in with the Boston Celtics of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), where he was a member of the franchise's first team in 1946–47. Garfinkel lasted three seasons with the Celtics, but his career ended prior to the NBL/BAA merger that formed the National Basketball Association in 1949.
After his playing days were over, Garfinkel became a basketball coach and official. He died on August 14, 2013. He was the last surviving player of the inaugural Celtics team.
BAA career statistics
Regular season
Playoffs
See also
List of select Jewish basketball players
References
1918 births
2013 deaths
American men's basketball players
Basketball players from New York (state) Boston Celtics players Jewish American sportspeople Jewish men's basketball players Philadelphia Sphas players Point guards Rochester Royals players St. John's Red Storm men's basketball players Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn) alumni United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American Jews
