Ben Kerner

[2][3] In 1946, along with business partner Leo Ferris, Kerner founded a professional team in Buffalo, New York.

After a few games in Buffalo, the franchise relocated to Moline, Illinois, where the team began play as the Tri-Cities Blackhawks.

Pettit, who averaged 26 points and 16 rebounds per game over his career, was voted the NBA Most Valuable Player in both 1956 and 1959.

At 6 feet 9 inches (206 cm), Pettit was a ten–time First–Team All-NBA member and retired as the all-time leading NBA scorer.

Kerner then traded Russell to the Boston Celtics for Cliff Hagan and former St. Louis University star Ed Macauley, both Hall of Fame players.

Russell eventually replaced Auerbach as coach of the Celtics, winning two titles as player-coach.

By the late 1950s, the teams had met three times in the NBA finals; Kerner's Hawks were built around four Hall of Fame players: Hagan, Macauley, Slater Martin and Bob Pettit.

Pettit scored 50 points in the deciding game, tipping in the final basket for a 110–109 victory in St. Louis.

[22][27] He did not retain Hannum as coach, instead going with Andy Phillip, who in turn was replaced weeks into the season for Ed Macauley.

[30] Kerner In his tenure as an owner with a description as one with a "stubborn hand", he hired 16 head coaches in a span of 22 seasons.

The peak years of tickets was a three-year span (1958–1961) that saw them average over 8,000 fans in three straight seasons.

So desperate was their attempt to generate interest that they played six games away from Kiel Auditorium in favor of Miami, Florida.

1967 saw the Hawks, already fighting for attention besides the baseball Cardinals football Cardinals (who relocated there in 1960) in sports interest, see the newly created St. Louis Blues play hockey (in 1968, the St. Louis Stars of the North American Soccer League arrived as well).

On May 3, 1968, Kerner sold the St. Louis Hawks to Tom Cousins and former Georgia governor Carl Sanders for $3.5 million.

Kerner was married to Ima Jean Bilbrey on November 24, 1972, in Las Vegas, Nevada.