Bernard Opper

Bernard Opper (September 1, 1915 – February 24, 2000) was an All-American basketball player for the Kentucky Wildcats and then professional player in the National Basketball League and American Basketball League.

Early life Opper was a native of Bronx, New York, and was Jewish. He attended Morris High School from 1931 to 1935.

College He went on to play college basketball at the University of Kentucky from 1936 to 1939. He played in 27 games on a team that finished 17–10 and placed second in the Eastern Division. They would lose to the Akron Goodyears in the playoffs. In his second season with the Eagles, he played in five games before switching teams by joining the Philadelphia Sphas (acronym for South Philadelphia Hebrew Association) who played in the ABL.

American Basketball League Opper spent the next seven seasons with the Sphas. During that time, he played on two championship-winning teams in 1943 and 1945. The Philadelphia Sphas were one of the most dominant ABL teams in the 1930s and 1940s, winning seven championships in 15 years. Opper came close to being part of a "four-peat" (winning four titles in successive years) but the Sphas lost to the Wilmington Bombers 4–3 in the finals during the 1943–44 season, and then lost 4–1 to the Baltimore Bullets in 1945–46.

After finishing with a career-high 347 points in 1946–47, which was second on the team in scoring, he moved on to the Jersey City Atoms for the first 10 games of the 1947–48 season. He retired after the Atoms.