Frank Lubin

Frank Lubin

Frank Lubin during EuroBasket 1939
Personal information
Born	(1910-01-07)January 7, 1910 Los Angeles, California
Died	Glendale, California
Nationality	American / Lithuanian
Listed height	6 ft 5 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	232 lb (105 kg)
Career information
High school	Lincoln (Los Angeles, California)
College	UCLA (1928–1931)
Position	Center
Medals Men's basketball Representing the United States Olympic Games 1936 Berlin Team competition Representing Lithuania FIBA EuroBasket 1939 Kaunas Team competition

Frank John Lubin (Lithuanian: Pranas Jonas Lubinas; January 7, 1910 – July 8, 1999) was an American-Lithuanian basketball player.

Lubin was born on the east side of Los Angeles, California, to a family of Lithuanian immigrants and died in Glendale, California. A veteran with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, Lubin was buried at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California. His father Konstantinas Lubinas was from Vilkaviškis, while his mother Paulina Vasiliauskaitė was from Vabalninkas.

Playing for the UCLA Bruins from 1928 to 1931, Lubin, a 6-foot 7-inch center, earned All-Pacific Coast Conference honors in his senior season. Following his college career, he joined the Twentieth Century Fox AAU team, which earned the right to represent the US as part of the first Olympic basketball tournament in 1936 in Berlin, winning the gold.

During the Olympics, Lubin was invited to come to Lithuania and became their first national coach. They won the EuroBasket title in 1937, using American-born players of Lithuanian heritage. When the team hosted the tournament in 1939, they again won the title, this time with Lubin playing and coaching. Lubin undoubtedly was the MVP of EuroBasket 1939, however he was unable to receive this award because he was taller than 1.90 meter. At that time, FIBA had a rule which prohibited from giving the MVP or the All-Tournament Team award to players taller than 1.90 meter. His participation in the competition was also questioned because the same rule also prohibited taller than 1.90 meter players to compete. Though, the rule was remade just one day before the tournament start and never was used practically.

Lubin fled Lithuania to California with his family in the face of the Russian invasion in 1939.

Lubin continued to play for the Twentieth Century Fox team until he was 54 years old.

For his contributions and for introducing the now basketball-mad country to the sport, Lubin is often called the "grandfather of Lithuanian basketball".

In 1997, Lubin was inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Helms Sports Hall of Fame.

References

• Vidas Mačiulis, Vytautas Gudelis. Halė, kurioje žaidė Lubinas ir Sabonis. 1939–1989 – Respublikinis sporto kombinatas, Kaunas, 1989

External links

• sports-reference.com
• Pictures of Frank Lubin and his grave
• Olympic Oral History interview with Frank Lubin (1988)
• Frank Lubin page on Hoopedia.NBA
• Los Angeles Times Interview with Mary Agnes Lubin
• "Captain of the United States Olympic Basketball Team in 1936 was Frank Lubinas" - U.S. Ambassador John A. Cloud