1949–50 NBA season

1949–50 NBA season
League National Basketball Association
Sport Basketball
Duration October 29, 1949 – March 19, 1950
March 20–April 6, 1950 (Playoffs)
April 8–23, 1950 (Finals)
Number of games 68
Number of teams 17
Draft
Top draft pick Howie Shannon
Picked by Providence Steamrollers
Regular season
Top scorer George Mikan (Minneapolis)
Playoffs
Eastern champions Syracuse Nationals
  Eastern runners-up New York Knicks
Central champions Minneapolis Lakers
  Central runners-up Fort Wayne Pistons
Western champions Anderson Packers
  Western runners-up Indianapolis Olympians
Finals
Champions Minneapolis Lakers
  Runners-up Syracuse Nationals

The 1949–50 NBA season was the inaugural season of the National Basketball Association, which was created in 1949 by merger of the 3-year-old BAA and 12-year-old NBL. The postseason tournament at its conclusion, the 1950 NBA Playoffs, ended with the Minneapolis Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Syracuse Nationals 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.

Commonly 1949–50 is counted as the fourth NBA season. It recognizes the three BAA seasons (1946–47, 1947–48 and 1948–49) as part of its own history, sometimes without comment.[1]

Notable occurrences

Coaching changes
Offseason
Team 1948–49 coach 1949–50 coach
Fort Wayne Pistons Curly Armstrong Murray Mendenhall
Indianapolis Olympians Burl Fiddle Cliff Barker
Washington Capitols Red Auerbach Bob Feerick
In-season
Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach
N/A

Final standings

In this inaugural NBA season only, the ten surviving teams from BAA 1949 played a heavy schedule of games with each other and a light schedule with the seven NBL participants in the merger that created the league; and vice versa. The BAA 1949 teams were all except Syracuse in the East and all five in the Central Division; none in the West.[2]

Eastern Division

Eastern Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Syracuse Nationals5113.797–31–115–125–09–1
x-New York Knicks4028.5881319–1018–163–220–6
x-Washington Capitols3236.4712121–1310–201–313–13
x-Philadelphia Warriors2642.3822515–158–233–49–17
Baltimore Bullets2543.3682616–158–251–38–18
Boston Celtics2246.3242912–145–285–411–15

Syracuse played a heavy schedule of 44 games against Western Division teams: on average just over seven games each, same as they played each other (35 to 37 games against five Western rivals). The Western Division teams were generally weaker on the court; none of the teams there won half of its games played outside the division. Yet Syracuse won at the same 80% rate against the East and Central (16–4) or against the West (35–9).[2]

Central Division

Central Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Minneapolis Lakers5117.750–30–118–163–016–8
x-Rochester Royals5117.750–33–117–61–015–9
x-Fort Wayne Pistons4028.5881128–612–22–14–10
x-Chicago Stags4028.5881118–614–218–111–13
St. Louis Bombers2642.3822517–147–262–24–20

To define first and third place, the Lakers played one game against the Royals, while the Stags played one against the Pistons, preliminary to the 1950 NBA Playoffs.

The five Central Division teams and five Eastern teams beside Syracuse—that is, the ten BAA 1949 teams—uniformly played 68 games: six games in each pairing among themselves (54) and two games each against each of the Western teams and Syracuse (14).[2]

Western Division

Western Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Indianapolis Olympians3925.609–24–712–163–226–9
x-Anderson Packers3727.578222–912–183–025–12
x-Tri-Cities Blackhawks2935.4531020–136–203–220–17
x-Sheboygan Red Skins2240.3551717–145–220–415–20
Waterloo Hawks1943.3062016–152–221–613–22
Denver Nuggets1151.177289–161–251–108–27

The six Western Division teams and Syracuse—that is, the seven NBL participants in the merger—uniformly played two games each against every one of the ten BAA 1949 teams, the East and Central teams except Syracuse (20 games each). They played seven or nine games in each pairing among themselves (at least 42 games).[2]

x – clinched playoff spot

Statistics leaders

CategoryPlayerTeamStat
PointsGeorge MikanMinneapolis Lakers1,865
AssistsDick McGuireNew York Knicks386
FG%Alex GrozaIndianapolis Olympians.478
FT%Max ZaslofskyChicago Stags.843

Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.

NBA awards

References

General source: 1949–50 NBA Season Summary basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 31, 2010.

  1. ↑ "NBA Season Recaps". NBA History (nba.com/history). July 1, 2014. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Expanded Standings". "1949–50 NBA Standings". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
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