Maurice Podoloff, a lawyer who began his...

Maurice Podoloff, a lawyer who began his career with virtually no knowledge of sports but who became the first commissioner of the National Basketball Assn., died Sunday at the age of 95.

Under Podoloff, the NBA developed the 24-second clock, the six-foul rule and the use of professional referees, and landed the NBA’s first television contract--for $3,000 a game in 1954.

He retired as NBA commissioner in 1963 and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in 1974. The Podoloff Cup, the NBA’s most valuable player award, is named for him.