Editing Philadelphia Sphas (section)

{{short description|Former American basketball team composed largely of Jewish players}}
{{Infobox basketball club
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| name = Philadelphia Sphas
| current =
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| conference = American League of Philadelphia (1917–1922)<br>Manufacturer's League (1923)<br>Philadelphia League (1923–1925)<br>Eastern League (1925–1926)<br>American Basketball League<br>(1926–1927, as Warriors)<br>Independent (1928–1929)<br>Eastern Basketball League (1929–1933)<br>American Basketball League (1933–1949, as Sphas)
| division = 
| founded = 1917 (as Philadelphia YMHA)<br>1918 (as Sphas)
| folded = December 31, 1959<ref>Stark, xiv.</ref>
| history = Philadelphia YMHA (1917), Philadelphia Sphas (1918–1921, 1922–1926, 1927–1933, 1937–1959), Philadelphia Passon, Gottlieb, Black (1921–1923 in American League of Philadelphia and Manufacturers League),<br>Philadelphia Warriors (1926–1928 in the American Basketball League), Philadelphia Hebrews (1933–1937), Atlantic City Tides (1949)<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stark|first1=Douglas|title=The SPHAS: The Life and Times of Basketball's Greatest Jewish Team|date=2011|publisher=Temple University Press|pages=267–287}}</ref>
| arena = [[Broadwood Hotel]] (after 1933)
| location = [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]
| colors = Red, white, blue
| gm = [[Eddie Gottlieb]]
| coach = Eddie Gottlieb (1917–1927)<br>[[Harry Litwack]]
| league_champs = '''12''' (1 in Philadelphia League,<br>1 in Philadelphia Basket Ball League, 3 in EBL, 7 in ABL)
}}

The '''Philadelphia Sphas''', also stylized '''SPHAs''' or '''SPHAS''', were an American basketball franchise that existed in professional, semi-professional, and exhibition forms. They played their home games in the ballroom of Philadelphia's [[Broadwood Hotel]]. The team's name is an [[acronym]], derived from South Philadelphia Hebrew Association (the group that initially funded the team), and the team's players, at least in its earlier years, were primarily Jewish. Future [[Philadelphia Warriors]] owner [[Eddie Gottlieb]] founded the team as an amateur group shortly after he and some close friends graduated from high school, and it later became a professional team. The Sphas played in many leagues around the Philadelphia area and the East Coast, most notably the Eastern Basketball League and the [[American Basketball League (1925–55)|American Basketball League]] (ABL), between which the Sphas won 10 championships. The Sphas won a total of 12 championships, their first two coming from the early Philadelphia League and Philadelphia Basket Ball League.