Malamed, Lionel

Malamed played at City College of New York before playing professionally in the NBA in 1948-49. He is a member of the CCNY Athletic Hall of Fame, and CCNY's Alumni Varsity Association annually awards a Lionel Malamed Scholarship .

Birth and Death Dates:
b. Nov. 15, 1924 - d. Sept. 17, 1989

Career Highlights:
A graduate of James Monroe High School in New York City, Malamed was described by the New York Times, as a "chunky sharp-shooter," (March 7, 1946) and was considered a speedy forward while at City College of New York in the mid-1940s. After starring on the freshman team in 1943, he spent two years in the Army during World War II before returning to City College as a sophomore in 1945-46. Joining the varsity mid-season (along with guard Hilton Shapiro), Malamed teamed with junior forward (and team captain), Paul Schmones, and led City College to a record of 12-4 as the regular season drew to a close.

With two games remaining, the Beavers needed to win both of them in order to play in the postseason. Malamed scored a team-high 15 points against Drexel Tech (61-30 victory), and added nine more in City�s upset win over archrival NYU (49-44); NYU had been 18-1 and ranked No.1 in the country entering the game. Although they had a 14-4 record, CCNY found themselves disappointed when the NIT invited Rhode Island instead, in what many saw as a political move to keep the participation of New York City schools to a minimum in the tournament.

In 1947, Malamed returned to his team as a junior and started at guard as the Beavers had a regular season record of 15-4 and were ranked No. 15 in country. In the season finale, the Beavers handed NYU their worst loss in history, 91-60, as Malamed scored 15 points. Following their convincing win over NYU, City College played Syracuse University in a playoff to determine which team would receive the final at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Malamed scored 13 points in the playoff, as CCNY won 61-59, and accepted the bid to the NCAA (the school refused to consider the NIT after being snubbed the previous year).

In the first round of the East Regional against Wisconsin, Malamed, who had been named second team All-Metropolitan prior to the tournament, scored 13 points in City's 70-56 win over their Big Ten opponent. In the East Regional Final, Malamed was held to only three points, and CCNY lost 60-45 to eventual champion Holy Cross (led by Hall of Famer Bob Cousy). In the National consolation game (there were only two regions in the tournament), Malamed scored six points as the Beavers lost to Texas 54-50 to finish in fourth place.

In 1948, Malamed captained the CCNY team and returned as the team's starting guard. With a record of 17-3 and one game remaining on their schedule, City was shocked to learn that they were not invited to either the NIT or the NCAA postseason tournaments. They took out their frustration on NYU, their final opponent, and upset the Violets 60-57, although Malamed was held scoreless; NYU went on to play in the NIT championship game and finished second. Despite his poor game against NYU, Malamed was named second team All-Met for the second consecutive year and was the MVP of the East-West All-Star Game.

Following his college career, Malamed played one season in the NBA. After being drafted by the Rochester Royals in 1948, he began the 1948-49 season with the Royals (45-15) before being traded midseason to the Indianapolis Jets (18-42). That year, he played in 44 games (nine with Rochester), scored 258 points, and had 61 assists. Although that was Malamed�s sole season in the NBA, his career as a professional player was not over.

In 1949-50, he joined the Paterson Crescents of the American Basketball League. The ABL had been the top professional league in the East before the NBA was founded in 1946. Malamed played one season in the ABL and appeared in 22 games for the Crescents, which finished 17-18 and missed the playoffs; Malamed averaged 3.8 points per game.

Origin:
New York

Career Dates:
Malamed played guard at CCNY from 1946-1948. He played in the NBA with the Indianapolis Jets and the Rochester Royals in 1948-49. He then played in the ABL for the Paterson Crescents in 1949-50.

Physical description:
5'9", 150 pounds

Career Statistics:
In the NBA:
Games: 44
Points: 258
Points Per Game: 5.9

Field Goals Made: 97
Field Goals Attempted: 290
Field Goal Percentage: .334

Free Throws Made: 64
Free Throws Attempted: 177
Free Throw Percentage: .831

Rebounds: not available
Assists: 61
Assists Per Game: 1.4
Personal Fouls: 53

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