August 14, 1936 – At the Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, captain of the U.S. Men’s Basketball Team, Joe Fortenberry, led his team to the first-ever Gold Medal win (19-8) in Basketball. Joe had 8 of Team USA’s 19 points versus Canada. Why was the contest such a low-scoring basketball game? It took place outdoors on a dirt court during a driving rain.
The historic gold medal match on August 14th was a bizarre, mud-soaked spectacle that bore virtually no resemblance to the modern indoor sport of basketball. Because the International Basketball Federation had agreed to play the tournament on a clay tennis court that was completely turned into a slick, ankle-deep quagmire by a continuous summer downpour, passing or dribbling the heavy leather ball was entirely impossible, forcing both teams to stick to a slow, grinding game of long-distance lobs. Fortenberry, a towering 6-foot-8 center from Texas who is widely credited as the first player to ever execute a “dunk” in competitive play, utilized his immense reach to tip in loose balls, single-handedly securing the inaugural Olympic crown for the United States amidst a driving German rainstorm.
Image of Joe Fortenberry via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
