Disappearance of John Brisker: A Lost Basketball Star’s Mysterious Fate

John Brisker knew how to be tough, something he learned from growing up in and around Detroit, Michigan.

John also loved music, particularly Jazz and he played Tuba in the marching band for a few years.

There was one thing, however, that everyone knew John excelled at, and that was basketball. John had immense talent on the court, and after High School, he joined the ABA or the American Basketball Association.

In 1969, John played for the Pittsburg Pipers. He’d go on to play for the Toledo Rockets and the Pittsburg Condors before landing with the Seattle Supersonics in 1972.

Despite John’s sensational talent with a basketball, his angry outbursts and physical nature made him difficult to deal with. This was especially evident in Seattle when he played under coach Bill Russell.

By 1975, John Brisker left the NBA for good when Coach Russell refused to play him as part of the team and when he couldn’t get picked up by another team.

John went to Africa to launch an import/export business. A business that no one knew, or knows, much about.

On April 11, 1978, he called a friend back in Seattle and they spoke briefly on the phone

No one heard from John after that.

Where is John Brisker?

SuperSonics, John Brisker #40, fourth from leftPhoto byRon DeRosa

John Brisker was born June 15, 1947, in Detroit, Michigan. He was raised by his mother and grew up with one brother and two sisters.

John’s mother was partially paralyzed due to a stroke, but she continued to try and work hard to raise her kids. She was adamant she didn’t want help from the government and was going to do everything she could for her four children.

They lived in Hamtramck, Michigan, a northern suburb of Detriot.

Interestingly, John also grew up and was friends with Spencer Haywood and Rudy Tomjanovich, who also went on to play in the ABA and the NBA.