View source for Frank Lubin

{{Short description|Lithuanian-American basketball player}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| image = Frank Lubin EuroBasket 1939.jpg
| caption = Frank Lubin during [[EuroBasket 1939]]
| number =
| position = [[Center (basketball)|Center]]
| nationality = American / Lithuanian
| birth_date = {{birth date|1910|1|7}}
| birth_place = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1999|7|8|1910|1|7}}
| death_place = [[Glendale, California]], U.S.
| height = 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
| weight = 232 lb (105 kg)
| high_school = [[Abraham Lincoln High School (Los Angeles)|Lincoln]] (Los Angeles, California)
| college = [[UCLA Bruins men's basketball|UCLA]] (1928–1931)
| medaltemplates =
{{Medal|Sport|Men's [[basketball]]}}
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalOlympics}}
{{Medal|Gold|[[1936 Summer Olympics|1936 Berlin]]|[[Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics|Team competition]]}}
{{MedalCountry | {{LTU}} }}
{{Medal|Competition|[[FIBA EuroBasket]]}}
{{Medal|Gold|[[EuroBasket 1939|1939 Kaunas]]|Team competition}}
}}

'''Frank John Lubin''' ({{langx|lt|Pranas Jonas Lubinas}}; January 7, 1910 – July 8, 1999) was a [[Lithuanian Americans|Lithuanian-American]] [[basketball]] player. He played [[college basketball]] for the [[UCLA Bruins men's basketball|UCLA Bruins]] from 1928 to 1931. In 1997, Lubin was inducted into the [[UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame]]. He was also inducted into the Helms Sports Hall of Fame.

==Early life==
Lubin was born on the east side of [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], to a family of Lithuanian immigrants, and he died in [[Glendale, California]]. A veteran with the [[United States Army Air Forces]] during [[World War II]], Lubin was buried at [[Riverside National Cemetery]], in [[Riverside, California]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Frank Lubin, 89; Basketball Olympian |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jul-13-me-55532-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=April 12, 2019 |date=July 13, 1999}}</ref> His father, Konstantinas Lubinas, was from [[Vilkaviškis]], while his mother, Paulina Vasiliauskaitė, was from [[Vabalninkas]].<ref>Stanislovas Stonkus "Krepšinio kelias į Lietuvą" (page: 42)</ref>

==Basketball career==

===High school===
When Lubin grew up to a height of {{height|ft=6|in=7}} at [[Abraham Lincoln High School (Los Angeles)|Lincoln High School]], classmates encouraged him to try out for the basketball team. Gangly and uncoordinated, Lubin struggled to improve his game, but was eventually named to the All-City Second Team as a senior in 1927.<ref name=lat/>

===College career===
While playing [[college basketball]] at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]], from 1928 to 1931, Lubin earned All-Pacific Coast Conference honors in his senior season with the [[UCLA Bruins men's basketball|Bruins]].

===U.S. national team===
Following his college career, he worked as a [[stagehand]] at [[Universal Pictures]], and joined the studio's [[Amateur Athletic Union|AAU]] team, which earned the right to represent the U.S. as part of the first [[Basketball at the Summer Olympics|Olympic basketball tournament]] in [[Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics|1936]], where he won the gold.<ref name=lat>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-02-sp-473-story.html Frank Lubin, a Big Man in Two Countries]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uclabruins.com/genrel/121797aad.html |title=UCLA BRUINS - Athletics News |access-date=2010-12-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125224552/http://www.uclabruins.com/genrel/121797aad.html |archive-date=2012-01-25 }}</ref>

===Lithuanian national team===
During the [[Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics|1936 Summer Olympics]], Lubin was invited to come to [[Lithuania]], and he became their first national team [[head coach]]. They won the [[EuroBasket]] title in [[EuroBasket 1937|1937]], using American-born players of Lithuanian heritage.<ref name=si>{{Cite web |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1189174/index.htm |title=The ice age could be coming to the NBA, - 08.15.11 - SI Vault |access-date=2011-08-13 |archive-date=2011-10-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010052029/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1189174/index.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> When the team hosted the EuroBasket in [[EuroBasket 1939|1939]], they again won the title, this time with Lubin, acting as a [[player-coach]]. Lubin the de facto [[FIBA EuroBasket MVP|MVP]] of EuroBasket 1939, however he was unable to receive the award, because he was taller than {{height|ft=6|in=3}}, and [[FIBA]] had a rule at the time, which prohibited the award to be given to players at such a height.<ref>Stanislovas Stonkus "Krepšinio kelias į Lietuvą" (page: 39)</ref>

When [[World War II]] broke out in 1939, Lubin was in Italy, coaching a Lithuanian women's team. Given that [[Nazi Germany]] was directly on the path back to Lithuania, Italian officials had to help the team to get back, through train and boat, avoiding Germany.<ref name=lat/> Afterwards, Lubin fled Lithuania to California with his family, in the face of the [[1940 Soviet ultimatum to Lithuania|upcoming Soviet invasion]] that happened one year later.<ref name=si/> Lubin continued to play for the 20th Century Fox team until 1955, when knee problems prompted him to retire. For his contributions and for introducing the now basketball-mad country of Lithuania to the sport, Lubin is often called the "grandfather of Lithuanian basketball".<ref name=lat/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/lu/frank-lubin-1.html |title=Frank Lubin Biography and Olympic Results &#124; Olympics at Sports-Reference.com |access-date=2009-01-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211041620/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/lu/frank-lubin-1.html |archive-date=2012-02-11 }} sports-reference.com</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of FIBA EuroBasket winning head coaches]]

==References==
'''Footnotes'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
* Vidas Mačiulis, Vytautas Gudelis. Halė, kurioje žaidė Lubinas ir Sabonis. 1939–1989 – Respublikinis sporto kombinatas, Kaunas, 1989

==External links==
* {{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/lu/frank-lubin-1.html |title=Frank Lubin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211041620/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/lu/frank-lubin-1.html |archive-date=2012-02-11 |url-status=dead}}
* {{Find a Grave|9753}}
* [http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OralHistory/OHLubin.pdf Olympic Oral History interview with Frank Lubin (1988)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120402172412/http://157.166.255.30/index.php?title=Frank_Lubin Frank Lubin page on Hoopedia.NBA]
* [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-aug-20-tm-7323-story.html Los Angeles Times Interview with Mary Agnes Lubin]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721071556/http://vilnius.usembassy.gov/amb_speeches/85-anniversary.html "Captain of the United States Olympic Basketball Team in 1936 was Frank Lubinas" - U.S. Ambassador John A. Cloud]

{{Navboxes|list=
{{United States Men Basketball Squad 1936 Summer Olympics}}
{{Lithuania Squad EuroBasket 1939}}
{{1941 AAU Men's Basketball All-Americans}}
{{1945 AAU Men's Basketball All-Americans}}
{{EuroBasket MVP Award}}
}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubin, Frank}}
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players]]
[[Category:American men's basketball players]]
[[Category:American people of Lithuanian descent]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1936 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Basketball players from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Burials at Riverside National Cemetery]]
[[Category:FIBA EuroBasket–winning coaches]]
[[Category:FIBA EuroBasket–winning players]]
[[Category:Lithuanian men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball]]
[[Category:UCLA Bruins men's basketball players]]
[[Category:United States men's national basketball team players]]
[[Category:Centers (basketball)]]