A native of Kiev, Ukraine, he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor on April 20, 1972.

Gottlieb coached the original Philadelphia Warriors, bought the team, and sent it to San Francisco in order to expand the game westward.

The Warriors, who featured former SPHAs stars Chick Passon and Stretch Meehan, competed in the ABL for two seasons, posting winning records both years.

Meanwhile, Gottlieb had rebuilt the SPHAs in 1929 with younger talent, and in 1933 the team joined the ABL, which had reorganized as a smaller, regional circuit after a two-year hiatus.

Of the original 11 teams, only three still survive in the present-day NBA: the Boston Celtics, the New York Knickerbockers, and the Philadelphia (now Golden State) Warriors.

"He promoted the team on street corners and he sold tickets and then he counted the cold house", Mike Lupica wrote after Gottlieb's death.

[citation needed] Gottlieb coached the Warriors for a total of nine seasons, compiling a 263–318 regular-season career record and going 15–17 in the playoffs.

Behind "Jumping Joe" Fulks, who led the league with 23.2 points per game, the Warriors logged a 35–25 regular-season record, second to the Washington Capitols in the Eastern Division.

The Warriors edged the Knicks by a single game in the regular season and then lost in six in the BAA Finals to the league's newest entrant, the Baltimore Bullets.

Gottlieb, who was instrumental in helping original Warriors owner Peter A. Tyrrell launch the franchise, bought the club in 1952 for $25,000.

[1] He was there when Syracuse Nationals owner Danny Biasone came up with the idea of a 24-second shot clock in 1954, and he helped to implement a rule that gave a bonus free throw after six team fouls in a quarter.

The new rules supplied the framework for a more fast-paced and exciting game and were pivotal in the continued existence and eventual success of the NBA.

"I probably was responsible for more rule changes in pro basketball than any other man", Gottlieb told the Associated Press late in his life.

The rule was particularly advantageous for Philadelphia, which landed Overbrook High School's Wilt Chamberlain in 1959 after his stints with the University of Kansas and the Harlem Globetrotters.

An immediate drawing card, he led the NBA in scoring and rebounding as a rookie and helped the Warriors to a 49–26 record and a trip to the division semifinals.

The move to San Francisco followed the Minneapolis Lakers' migration to Los Angeles two seasons earlier, and helped open the west to professional basketball.

As other leagues began to use computers to build neutral schedules, the NBA continued to rely on Gottlieb and trust his human intuition.

[6] A lifelong bachelor, Gottlieb remained employed by the NBA until his death in December 1979, traveling from Philadelphia to New York a few times a week as a coordinator and consultant.

"Eddie Gottlieb was one of the real pioneers of professional round ball", Red Smith wrote in The New York Times.