WASHINGTON — Ken Sailors spent 5 seasons playing professional basketball in the late 40’s and early 50’s, his final season with the Baltimore Bullets in 1951. But despite a short career, and stature at 5 foot 10 inches, Sailors will always stand tall, as he was recognized by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as the creator of the modern-day jump shot.
Sailors passed away Saturday after complications from a heart attack he suffered in December.
Sailors started using the “jump shot” in the 1930’s, when his older brother Bud, almost a half of foot taller, begged him to try and get a shot up and over him. As Ken would later say, “I had to try something, so I squared up, planted my feet and shot the ball” over his brothers head. The rest is history.
Ken would go on to win a State Championship in high school for Laramie, a National Championship at the University of Wyoming, over Georgetown 46-34 at Madison Square Garden in 1943 with Sailor being named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. It was at Wyoming where Sailor was an early teammate of sports broadcaster Curt Gowdy, before joining the Marines and serving in the South Pacific, then onto his brief but notable career in professional basketball.
Sailors was born in Bushnell, Nebraska in 1921, and started playing for the Cleveland Rebels of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946. After retiring, Sailor bought a dude ranch, served a term in the Wyoming legislature, led hunting and fishing expeditions, coached youth basketball, and taught high school history.
