The Philadelphia Tapers were an American amateur and professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 team. Originally the New York Tapers, the team played in the NABL

National Alliance of Basketball Leagues

The National Alliance of Basketball Leagues is the descendant of the industrial-based basketball clubs that formed into the National Basketball League in the early 1930s. The league was the brainchild of Indianapolis grocer Irv Kautsky, who sponsored the Indianapolis Kautskys club team, and...

 and was sponsored by Technical Tape Corporation, makers of Tuck brand adhesive and recording tapes.

They were a top AAU

Amateur Athletic Union

The Amateur Athletic Union is one of the largest non-profit volunteer sports organizations in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs.-History:The AAU was founded in 1888 to...

 club team in the 1950s featuring many former collegiate stars and pro players. In 1960, Tuck Tape owner Paul Cohen

Paul Cohen

Paul Cohen is the name of:*Paul Cohen , Australian industrial designer*Paul Cohen , renowned historian of China*Paul Cohen , Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender...

 moved the Tapers to Washington and joined the fledgling American Basketball League

American Basketball League (1961-1963)

The American Basketball League played one full season, 1961-1962, and part of 1962-1963. The league actually folded on December 31, 1962. The ABL was the first basketball league to have a three point shot for baskets scored far away from the goal.-Formation:...

 of Abe Saperstein

Abe Saperstein

Abraham M. Saperstein was an owner and coach of the Savoy Big Five, which later became the Harlem Globetrotters...

 as the Washington Tapers. The team was a failure in Washington and Cohen made the unprecedented move of transplanting the team in mid-season back to New York. On January 2, 1962, the team was relocated to Commack, New York

Commack, New York

Commack is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the towns of Huntington and Smithtown in Suffolk County, New York, United States on Long Island...

 and renamed the New York Tapers. They played their final game in New York at Long Island Arena

Long Island Arena

Long Island Arena was a 4,000-seat indoor arena in Commack, New York from 1959 until 1996. The Long Island Ducks of the Eastern Hockey League, a popular team in the small community, called the Arena home from 1959 until the league folded in 1973, one year after the New York Islanders came into...

 on March 14, 1962. This too failed and when the ABL began their second season in 1962, the Tapers were moved to Philadelphia, where Cohen hoped to take advantage of the fact that this basketball hotbed had just lost its beloved Warriors

Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 (and Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain

Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to playing in the NBA...

) to San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

. The Tapers team did not finish this season in its new venue, either. This time, it was the league that folded (on December 31, 1962) and the Tapers were no more.

During their time, the Tapers boasted of many outstanding players. Star of the team was Georgia Tech

Georgia Institute of Technology

The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...

 Yellow Jackets

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

The Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that play for the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Ramblin' Wreck, Engineers, Blacksmiths, and Golden Tornado. There are 8 men's and 7 women's teams that...

 guard Roger Kaiser

Roger Kaiser

Roger Allen Kaiser is a retired American basketball player and coach. Kaiser was a two-time All-American player at Georgia Tech and won four NAIA national championships as a coach at the University of West Georgia and Life University....

, who later became an outstanding small college coach at West Georgia and Life Colleges. Also starring on the team was the mysterious Sylvester Blye

Sylvester Blye

Sylvester "Sy" Blye is a former American street and professional basketball player.Blye was famous in the Rucker Park league in New York City, being named to its Hall of Fame...

, a strapping 6-9 player who saw his college career at Seattle University

Seattle University

Seattle University is a Jesuit Catholic university located in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, USA.SU is the largest independent university in the Northwest US, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs within eight schools, and is one of 28 member...

 quashed after one game when officials discovered that he had been playing professionally for the touring Harlem Clowns. Blye then went to work for Tuck Tape and became the team's signature player. He was known as a legend in the New York Rucker league

Rucker Park

Rucker Park is a basketball court in the Harlem neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located at 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard across the street from the former Polo Grounds site...

 and was a full-fledged star in the ABL, but no NBA team ever called on him after the league's demise.

Another notable Taper was point guard Cleo Hill

Cleo Hill

Cleo Hill , is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1st round of the 1961 NBA Draft. A 6'1" guard from the Winston-Salem State University, Hill played in the National Basketball Association for one season with the Hawks, in 1961-62,...

, who was a superstar at Winston-Salem State University

Winston-Salem State University

Winston-Salem State University , a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina, is a historically black public research university located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.Winston-Salem State has been...

 several years prior to Earl Monroe

Earl Monroe

Vernon Earl Monroe is an American former professional basketball player known for his flamboyant dribbling, passing, and play-making. His nicknames is "Earl the Pearl".-Early years:...

. Hill was a number one draft pick of the NBA St. Louis Hawks but was mysteriously cut a year later. His stay with the Tapers also did not result in a call by any NBA teams, which Hill attributed to racism.

In fact, NBA teams at the time largely subscribed to an unwritten code that limited black players on the rosters and generally saw (at most) two black players start at home and three on the road. Reserve players at the time were almost all white.

ABL Year-by-year

Year	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs
1961/62	ABL	5th, Eastern	Semifinals
1962/63	ABL	5th	No playoff