(THREAD)Honored & humbled.Last episode ever of @NPR @OnlyAGameNPR ended with broadcast about my great uncle @LeoFerrisNBA.I hope he finally gets the recognition he deserves. Unbelievably he is not enshrined in @Hoophall even though deserved it decades ago https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2020/09/25/leo-ferris-update

To summarize the career of @LeoFerrisNBA, he had a direct hand in the following:

*Founding what is now the @ATLHawks
*Financially saving the Syracuse Nationals (now @sixers)
*Creating the shot clock
*Furthering racial integration in pro hoops
*Founding the @NBA itself in 1949

Helped integrate professional basketball by signing black players Pop Gates, Earl Lloyd, & Jim Tucker; established a player-owned franchise in Indianapolis & outwitted the New York Knicks to sign Dolph Schayes to the Syracuse Nationals.

A BIG issue is that the @NBA refuses to acknowledge their real birthday. So, @seankirst decided to interview the oldest living former NBA player & several respected historians that can corroborate that the #NBA turned 70 in 2019
The NBA has it wrong. https://buffalonews.com/opinion/columnists/on-the-nba-and-the-buffalo-linked-birthday-it-refuses-to-acknowledge/article_d386ed2f-9db0-5507-8fc8-a3a181e1926f.html

Here is Leo Ferris pictured with 12 players/coaches/executives that would become @hoophall Hall of Famers; Earl Lloyd, Al Cervi, Pop Gates, Maurice Podoloff, Walter Brown, Ned Irish, Dolph Schayes, Piggy Lambert,Joe Lapchick,Les Harrison, B. McDermott & Danny Biasone.Why not Leo?

Leo had a fatal genetic disorder called #HuntingtonsDisease that robbed him of the ability to fight for his name in sports history. Some have said it’s like having Alzheimer’s, ALS, & Parkinson’s,all at the same time. Even before his death family was lobbying for recognition.

Leo's daughter Jamie inherited Huntington's.Even as disease began stripping away her muscle function, she helped her mother Beverly with campaign to get Leo Ferris recognized. Here she is at the Naismith HOF & then later on a few yrs before her death in 2014 at age of 53.

This is for you uncle @LeoFerrisNBA
For years aunt Beverly & cousin Jamie felt gutted & cheated at the way the basketball establishment forgot, ignored, & erased Leo's accomplishments but we will always be are here to continue this fight for you. #saveferris #ferris4hof

So here we are 27 yrs after Leo's passing still waiting for @Hoophall recognition

Read his NYT obit, AP & Boston Globe crediting Leo for:
- Co-creating the NBA
- Founding the Atlanta Hawks -His innovative halftime shows -The shot clock that "saved"& "helped transform" the game.

Leo Ferris' name is already listed as shot clock co-creator in 3 different museums/exhibits;

- 24 Sec. Shot Clock Monument in Syracuse, NY
- Shot clock display inside Boston TD Garden Sports Museum
- Allen Fieldhouse Museum, University Kansas

When will @Hoophall join these 3?