Marty Blake was a general manager of the Atlanta Hawks franchise, and the NBA's longtime Director of Scouting. He was a recipient of the Basketball Hall of Fame's John Bunn Award. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1927, Blake served in the US Army at the end of World War II and attended Wilkes College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He spent his early career promoting local boxing matches, stock car races, and baseball games. He later worked for several professional baseball and football teams, and helping to found the Continental Basketball Association. Blake became manager of the Hawks in 1954, when the team was based in Milwaukee. From 1954 to 1970, Blake guided the team to seven division titles and one NBA championship. One of Blake's most notable player acquisitions for the Hawks was Lenny Wilkens, a point guard from Providence College whom Blake had watched in the 1960 National Invitation Tournament. Blake selected Wilkens with the seventh pick of the 1960 NBA Draft, and Wilkens went on to have a Hall of Fame career as a player and a coach. [More at Wikipedia]

March 22nd, 1927 in Paterson  /  Died:   Apr 7th, 2013 - aged 86