PLAYER PROFILE

JOHN PELKINGTON

STATISTICS & HISTORY

John “Jake” Pelkington began playing professional basketball in 1934 at the age of 18. In the beginning, his allure was more in his 6’6″, 220 pounds size than his playing skills. The New York City kid moved well for big a man and gradually over the next three years he matured into a first-rate player . By 1937-38, Pelkington was good enough to push aside seven-year starting center Matty Begovich in the New York Jewels’ lineup. The Jewels finished forth in the American Basketball League regular season, but went undefeated in the playoffs to capture the 1938-39 ABL title. In 1941, Pelkington was signed by the Akron Goodyear team in National Basketball League. When the Goodyear team  left the NBL the following season, Pelkington joined the still-touring Original Celtics for a one-year stint. Pelkington signed with the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1942. He joined a team that would dominate the pro game over the next four seasons. Pelkington was not called on to be a scorer, but was a valuable member of the Pistons as a top rebounder and defender. During Pelkington’s six full seasons with Fort Wayne, the Pistons won three world tournament titles and three NBL championships. Fourteen games into the 1948-49 season,  Pelkington was traded to Baltimore in the NBA at the request of his old Pistons’ teammate, Buddy Jeannette. At the end of the season, he retired.

 

 

JOHN PELKINGTON Height: 6:06 Weight: 225 College: Manhattan35 (DNP)
John Francis Pelkington Jr. Born: Jan 3, 1916 Died: May 1, 1982 Hometown: New York, NY
Jake Pelkington REGULAR SEASON RECORD
Year Team League     GA FGM  FTM   FTA  PCT.  AST  PTS AVG
1934-35 Brooklyn ABL 11 7 10 24 2.2
1935-36 Kingston ABL 1 0 1 1 1.0
1935-36 Detroit Clowns Indep
1936-37 Original Celtics Indep
1936-37 Albany Senators Indep
1936-37 New York Jewels ABL 11 8 15 31 2.8
1937-38 New YorkYankeesNew York Jewels ABL 26 26 25 77 3.0
1937-38 Myerstown TCL 11 29 22 80 7.3
1937-38 Binghamton NYPA 1 0 4 4 4.0
1938-39 New York ABL 33 43 74 160 4.8
1938-39 Allentown TCL 12 41 56 138 11.5
1938-39 Original Celtics Indep
1939-40 New York ABL 29 64 45 173 6.0
1939-40 Allentown-Reading TCL 21 70 66 206 9.8
1939-40 Akron Goodyear Indep
1940-41 Akron Goodyear NBL 24 57 70 102 .686 184 7.7
1940-41 Rochester Seagrams Indep 3 15 10 40 13.3
1940-41 Philadelphia SPHAS Indep
1941-42 Detroit Eagles Indep
1941-42 Original Celtics Indep
1942-43 Original Celtics Indep
1942-43 Fort Wayne NBL 23 83 70 100 .700 236 10.3
1943-44 Fort Wayne NBL 20 46 40 54 .741 132 6.6
1944-45 Fort Wayne NBL 30 85 76 106 .717 246 8.2
1945-46 Fort Wayne NBL 33 94 76 104 .731 264 8.0
1946-47 Fort Wayne NBL 42 129 125 166 .753 383 9.1
1947-48 Fort Wayne NBL 54 174 156 214 .729 504 9.3
1948-49 Fort WayneBaltimore BAA 54 193 211 267 .790 131 597 11.1
Major League Totals 391 1009 994 3012 7.7
POST SEASON RECORD
Year Team League     GA FGM  FTM   FTA  PCT.  AST  PTS AVG
1937-38 New York Jewels ABL 5 2 9 13 2.6
1937-38 Myerstown TCL 3 8 2 18 6.0
1938-39 New York ABL 5 9 10 28 5.6
1938-39 New York WBT 1 2 1 1 1.000 5 5.0
1939-40 New York ABL 7 18 8 44 6.3
1939-40 Reading TCL 3 6 8 20 6.7
1940-41 Rochester WBT 1 5 1 1 1.000 11 11.0
1941-42 Detroit Eagles WBT 4 6 4 16 4.0
1942-43 Fort Wayne NBL 6 12 15 39 6.5
1942-43 Fort Wayne WBT 4 14 10 15 .667 38 9.5
1943-44 Fort Wayne NBL 5 11 10 32 6.4
1943-44 Fort Wayne WBT 3 11 8 9 .889 30 10.0
1944-45 Fort Wayne NBL 7 19 18 56 8.0
1944-45 Fort Wayne WBT 3 9 11 15 .733 29 9.7
1945-46 Fort Wayne NBL 4 8 5 5 1.000 21 5.3
1945-46 Fort Wayne WBT 5 11 17 19 .895 39 7.8
1946-47 Fort Wayne NBL 8 18 19 25 .760 55 6.9
1946-47 Fort Wayne WBT 3 7 8 10 .800 22 7.3
1947-48 Fort Wayne NBL 4 14 6 13 .461 34 8.5
1947-48 Fort Wayne WBT 1 0 1 3 .333 1 1.0
1948-49 Baltimore BAA 3 13 27 35 .771 3 53 17.7
Major League Totals 79 189 188 566 7.2
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