Lee Knorek

Leonard J. Knorek (July 15, 1921 – July 22, 2003) was a 6'7" center who played in the Basketball Association of America primarily with the New York Knicks. Born in Rossford, Ohio, he attended Central Catholic High School before playing college basketball at DeSales College in Toledo and the University of Detroit. He served in the United States Navy in the Pacific during World War II before returning to sign with New York. Official NBA records list his birthplace as Warsaw, Poland — the result of a joke Knorek made while signing his contract — though he was an Ohio native of Polish descent.