National Basketball League (United States)

National Basketball League (NBL)
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1937
Inaugural season	1937–38
Ceased	August 3, 1949 merger
No. of teams	38
Country	United States
Last; champion(s)	Anderson Packers (1st title)
Most titles	Akron Firestone Non-Skids; Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons; Oshkosh All-Stars (2 each)

The National Basketball League (NBL) was a professional men's basketball league in the United States established in 1937. After the 1948–49 season, its twelfth, it merged with the Basketball Association of America (BAA) to create the National Basketball Association (NBA).

History

The predecessor of this league was the Midwest Basketball Conference (MBC) in 1935. It changed its name in 1937 in an attempt to attract a larger audience. The league was created by three corporations: General Electric, Firestone and Goodyear. It was primarily made up of Great Lakes area small-market and corporate teams.

The league began rather informally. Scheduling was left to the discretion of each of the teams, as long as the team played at least ten games and four of them were on the road. Games played increased yearly as the popularity of professional basketball and the NBL grew in America. Games consisted either of four ten-minute quarters or three fifteen-minute periods. The choice was made by the home team. Some of the teams were independent, while others were owned by companies that also found jobs for their players.

Chicago newspaper sports editor Leo Fischer acted as president of the NBL from 1940–44.

In 1946, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) incorporated resulting in a three-year battle with the NBL to win both players and fans. The BAA played its games in larger cities and venues.

On August 3, 1949, representatives from the 12-year-old NBL and 3 year old BAA met at the BAA offices in New York's Empire State Building to finalize a merger. Maurice Podoloff was elected head of the new league. The new National Basketball Association (NBA) was made up of 17 teams that represented both small towns and large cities across the country. The NBA claims the BAA's history as its own, and currently reckons the 1949 deal as an expansion, not a merger. As such, it does not recognize NBL records and statistics.

The history of the NBL falls into three eras, each contributing significantly to the growth of professional basketball and the emergence of the NBA. The first dynasty centered on the Oshkosh All-Stars and their center Leroy "Cowboy" Edwards. The middle years saw the emergence of the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, who were later instrumental in the survival of the NBA during its infancy. The final period of note during the NBL's existence centered on George Mikan and the emergence of the big man in basketball.^[1]

Early years

The Oshkosh All-Stars appeared in the championship series for five consecutive years (1938–42). They won two titles, they were led by a rugged 6' 4" (1.93 m) center named Leroy "Cowboy" Edwards. Edwards was a consensus NCAA "All American" and Helms Foundation "College Player of the Year" as a member of the 1934–35 University of Kentucky Wildcats. He left Kentucky after two years to pursue a professional basketball career, which was unheard of at the time. He led the NBL in scoring for three consecutive seasons, 1937-1940. He set numerous NBL and professional basketball scoring records and is generally credited with the introduction of the "3 second rule" in basketball which is still in existence today. Edwards played in all 12 NBL seasons with the Oshkosh All-Stars, and retired just prior to its merger with the BAA to form the NBA.

Middle years

The Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons—so nicknamed because they were owned by Fred Zollner, whose company made pistons for engines—were led by tough veteran Bobby McDermott. The Pistons finished second in 1942 and 1943 and won the league title in 1944 and 1945. Like many teams of that era, it was not uncommon for Fort Wayne to play its games in taverns, armories, high-school gyms or ballrooms.

Under Zollner, the Pistons would eventually play an important role in the survival and growth of the NBA. Zollner's financial support of the NBA helped the league stay afloat during its tumultuous formative years.

Challenging the Zollner Pistons and Oshkosh for supremacy were the Sheboygan Red Skins. Beginning in 1941, the season before Fort Wayne joined the NBL, Sheboygan appeared in five of six championship series. They lost to Oshkosh in the 1941 finals, beat Fort Wayne for the title in 1943 but lost to the Zollner Pistons in 1944 and 1945, and were swept in the 1946 finals by the league's newest member, the powerhouse Rochester Royals, who boasted Hall of Famers Al Cervi, Bob Davies and Red Holzman.

Later years

The NBL's third era was dominated by Mikan, the 6'10" (2.08 m), three-time NCAA "All-American" center from DePaul University in Chicago. As a rookie, he led the Chicago American Gears to the 1947 NBL title, but before the next season, owner Maurice White pulled his team out of the league and formed his own 24-team circuit called the Professional Basketball League of America. That venture quickly failed, and Mikan was signed by the NBL's Minneapolis Lakers, where he teamed with the versatile Jim Pollard to win the 1948 championship.

After the 1947–48 season, Mikan's Lakers quit the League to join the Basketball Association of America (BAA), along with three other NBL clubs: Rochester, Fort Wayne, and Indianapolis.

The NBL added an all-black team in December of its final season, when one of its replacement clubs folded, the Detroit Vagabond Kings. That franchise was awarded to a famous barnstorming team, the New York Rens, composed entirely of African Americans, to play out the season in Dayton, Ohio, as the Dayton Rens. In 1949 after a three-year battle with the BAA for fans and players the NBL and BAA merged to become the NBA.

Legacy

The NBL contributed significantly to the foundation of the NBA, but it also had major accomplishments in other areas, most notably in offering opportunities for African-American players. In the 1942–43 season, with many players in the armed forces, two NBL clubs, the Toledo Jim White Chevrolets and the Chicago Studebakers, filled their rosters by signing African-Americans—five years before Jackie Robinson would break baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Neither team fared well. Toledo signed several black players to start the season, including Bill Jones, who had starred at the University of Toledo, but the team lost its first four games and folded due to financial difficulties. Chicago stocked its roster with several members of the Harlem Globetrotters, who worked during the week at the Studebaker plant, but it also folded after compiling an 8–15 record.

Five current NBA teams trace their history back to the NBL. Three teams joined the BAA in 1948: the Minneapolis Lakers (now the Los Angeles Lakers), the Rochester Royals (now the Sacramento Kings), and the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (now the Detroit Pistons). Two more teams were part of the merger that created the NBA in 1949: the Buffalo Bisons/Tri-Cities Blackhawks (now the Atlanta Hawks), and the Syracuse Nationals (now the Philadelphia 76ers).

Five former NBA teams also trace their history back to the NBL: the Anderson Packers, Denver Nuggets, Indianapolis Jets (as the Kautskys), Sheboygan Red Skins and Waterloo Hawks played in the NBL/BAA/NBA. The Jets played in the BAA for the 1948–49 season only; the remaining teams for the 1949–50 season only. Anderson, Sheboygan and Waterloo joined the National Professional Basketball League in 1950.

The NBL also created the Indianapolis Olympians for the 1949–50 NBA season. When the NBL and BAA merged, this team joined the NBA without playing a single NBL game.

Also still surviving are the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots, the initial NBL Champion in 1938. The Wingfoots suspended operations for World War II and were not included in the NBL/BAA merger. Instead, they remained in the National Industrial Basketball League (NIBL), which in 1961 became the National AAU Basketball League (NABL). The Wingfoots are still an AAU Elite team in the NABL.

Teams

^[2] Note: * denotes a team currently playing in the NBA (7 ancestors of 5 NBA clubs).

Akron Firestone Non-Skids (1937–41)
Akron Goodyear Wingfoots (1937–42)
Anderson Duffey Packers (1946–49)
Buffalo Bisons (1946)*
Chicago Bruins (1939–42)
Chicago Studebaker Flyers (1942–43)
Chicago American Gears (1944–47)
Cincinnati Comellos (1937–38)
Cleveland Chase Brassmen (1943–44)
Cleveland Allmen Transfers (1944–46)
Columbus Athletic Supply (1937–38)
Dayton Metropolitans (1937–38)
Denver Nuggets (1948–49)
Detroit Eagles (1939–41)
Detroit Gems (1946–47)*
Detroit Vagabond Kings/Dayton Rens (1948–49)
Flint Dow A.C.'s/Midland Dow A.C.'s (1947–48)
Fort Wayne General Electrics (1937–38)
Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (1941–48)*
Hammond Ciesar All-Americans (1938–41)

Hammond Calumet Buccaneers (1948–49)
Indianapolis Kautskys (1937–48)
Kankakee Gallagher Trojans (1937–38)
Minneapolis Lakers (1947–48)*
Oshkosh All-Stars (1937–49)
Pittsburgh Pirates (1937–39)
Pittsburgh Raiders (1944–45)
Richmond King Clothiers became Cincinnati Comellos (1937–38)
Rochester Royals (1945–48)*
Sheboygan Red Skins (1938–49)
Syracuse Nationals (1946–49)*
Toledo Jim White Chevrolets (1941–43)
Toledo Jeeps (1946–48)
Tri-Cities Blackhawks (1946–49)*
Warren Penns (1937–38)
Warren Penns/Cleveland White Horses (1938–39)
Waterloo Hawks (1948–49)
Whiting Ciesar All-Americans (1937–38)
Youngstown Bears (1945–47)

All-time scoring leaders

^[2]

*	Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

George Mikan (#99) holds the highest per-game scoring average (19.85) in NBL history. Photo is from Mikan's college days.

Rank	Player	Team(s)	Games	Points	PPG
1	Bobby McDermott*	Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, Chicago American Gears, Sheboygan Redskins, Tri-Cities Blackhawks	287	3,583	12.48
2	Leroy Edwards	Oshkosh All-Stars, Indianapolis Kautskys	322	3,221	10.00
3	Gene Englund	Oshkosh All-Stars	238	2,600	10.92
4	Ed Dancker	Sheboygan Redskins, Oshkosh All-Stars	321	2,490	7.76
5	Al Cervi*	Buffalo Bisons, Rochester Royals, Syracuse Nationals	187	2,326	12.44
6	Don Otten	Buffalo Bisons, Tri-Cities Blackhawks	168	2,292	13.64
7	Michael Novak	Chicago American Gears, Sheboygan Redskins, Syracuse Nationals	267	2,279	8.54
8	Bob Carpenter	Oshkosh All-Stars, Hammond Ciesar All-Americans	209	2,140	10.24
9	George Glamack	Akron Goodyear Wingfoots, Rochester Royals, Indianapolis Kautskys, Hammond Calumet Buccaneers	202	2,138	10.58
10	Jake Pelkington	Akron Goodyear Wingfoots, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons	226	1,949	8.62
11	Charles Shipp	Akron Firestone Non-Skids, Oshkosh All-Stars, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, Waterloo Hawks	376	1,935	5.15
12	Stan Patrick	Chicago American Gears, Midland Dow A.C.'s, Hammond Calumet Buccaneers	212	1,765	8.33
13	George Mikan*	Chicago American Gears, Minneapolis Lakers	81	1,608	19.85
14	Arnie Risen*	Indianapolis Kautskys, Rochester Royals, Toledo Jeeps	123	1,606	13.06
15	Howie Schultz	Anderson Packers	165	1,600	9.70

Championships

^[2]

Year	Champion	Losing finalist	Games
1937–38	Akron Goodyear Wingfoots	Oshkosh All-Stars	2–1
1938–39	Akron Firestone Non-Skids	Oshkosh All-Stars	3–2
1939–40	Akron Firestone Non-Skids	Oshkosh All-Stars	3–2
1940–41	Oshkosh All-Stars	Sheboygan Red Skins	3–0
1941–42	Oshkosh All-Stars	Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons	2–1
1942–43	Sheboygan Red Skins	Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons	2–1
1943–44	Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons	Sheboygan Red Skins	3–0
1944–45	Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons	Sheboygan Red Skins	3–2
1945–46	Rochester Royals	Sheboygan Red Skins	3–0
1946–47	Chicago American Gears	Rochester Royals	3–2
1947–48	Minneapolis Lakers	Rochester Royals	3–1
1948–49	Anderson Packers	Oshkosh All-Stars	3–0

Season leaders and awards

Source: Steve Dimitry,^[3] Murray R. Nelson^[2]

*	Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Scoring leader,^[2]^[3]

Season	Player	Team(s)	Points	PPG
1937–38	Leroy Edwards	Oshkosh All-Stars	210	16.2
1938–39	Leroy Edwards (2)	Oshkosh All-Stars	334	11.9
1939–40	Leroy Edwards (3)	Oshkosh All-Stars	361	12.9
1940–41	Ben Stephens	Akron Goodyear Wingfoots	265	11.0
1941–42	Chuck Chuckovits	Toledo Jim White Chevrolets	406	18.5
1942–43	Bobby McDermott*	Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons	316	13.7
1943–44	Mel Riebe	Cleveland Chase Brassmen	323	17.9
1944–45	Mel Riebe (2)	Cleveland Allmen Transfers	607	20.2
1945–46	Bob Carpenter	Oshkosh All-Stars	473	13.9
1946–47	Al Cervi*	Rochester Royals	632	14.4
1947–48	George Mikan*	Minneapolis Lakers	1195	21.3
1948–49	Don Otten	Tri-Cities Blackhawks	899	14.0

Most Valuable Player,^[2]^[3]

Season	MVP	Team
1937–38	Leroy Edwards	Oshkosh All-Stars
1938–39	Leroy Edwards (2)	Oshkosh All-Stars
1939–40	Leroy Edwards (3)	Oshkosh All-Stars
1940–41	Ben Stephens	Akron Goodyear Wingfoots
1941–42	Chuck Chuckovits	Toledo Jim White Chevrolets
1942–43	Bobby McDermott*	Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons
1943–44	Bobby McDermott* (2)	Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons
1944–45	Bobby McDermott* (3)	Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons
1945–46	Bobby McDermott* (4)	Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons
1946–47	Bob Davies*	Rochester Royals
1947–48	George Mikan*	Minneapolis Lakers
1948–49	Don Otten	Tri-Cities Blackhawks

Coach of the Year,^[2]^[3]

Season	Coach	Team
1937–38	Cliff Byers	Akron Goodyear Wingfoots
1938–39	Paul Sheeks	Akron Firestone Non-Skids
1939–40	Paul Sheeks (2)	Akron Firestone Non-Skids
1940–41	George Hotchkiss	Oshkosh All-Stars
1941–42	Lon Darling	Oshkosh All-Stars
1942–43	Carl Roth	Sheboygan Red Skins
1943–44	Bobby McDermott*	Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons
1944–45	Bobby McDermott* (2)	Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons
1945–46	Lester Harrison*	Rochester Royals
1946–47	Lon Darling (2)	Oshkosh All-Stars
1947–48	Murray Mendenhall	Anderson Duffey Packers
1948–49	Al Cervi*	Syracuse Nationals

Rookie of the Year,^[2]^[3]

Season	Rookie	Team
1937–38	Robert Kessler	Indianapolis Kautskys
1938–39	Jewell Young	Indianapolis Kautskys
1939–40	Ben Stephens	Akron Goodyear Wingfoots
1940–41	Ed Sadowski	Indianapolis Kautskys
1941–42	George Glamack	Akron Goodyear Wingfoots
1942–43	Ken Buehler	Sheboygan Red Skins
1943–44	Mel Riebe	Cleveland Chase Brassmen
1944–45	Stan Patrick	Chicago American Gears
1945–46	Red Holzman	Rochester Royals
1946–47	Fred Lewis	Sheboygan Red Skins
1947–48	Mike Todorovich	Sheboygan Red Skins
1948–49	Dolph Schayes*	Syracuse Nationals

References

↑ "NBA Roots". Hoopedia: the Basketball Wiki. NBA.com. Reprinted(?) from "Early Professional Leagues" by Robin Deutsch and Douglas Stark, The Official NBA Encyclopedia, chapter 8(?). Archived 2007-06-30. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Nelson, Murry R. The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2009.
1 2 3 4 5 Dimitry, Steve (1998). "Steve Dimitry's NBL Website". Steve Dimitry's Extinct Sports Leagues. Archived from the original on August 18, 2005. Retrieved October 16, 2010.

External links

Complete National Basketball League History 1937–49
National Basketball League at Basketball-Reference.com
Abstracts of open papers, NASSH 2002 – including "The NBA Began in Akron!? The Midwest Basketball Conference, 1935–37"], Murry Nelson, Pennsylvania State University

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[roots-1] "NBA Roots". Hoopedia: the Basketball Wiki. NBA.com. Reprinted(?) from "Early Professional Leagues" by Robin Deutsch and Douglas Stark, The Official NBA Encyclopedia, chapter 8(?). Archived 2007-06-30. Retrieved 2015-03-02.

[Nelson-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Nelson, Murry R. The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2009.

[dimitry-3] 1 2 3 4 5 Dimitry, Steve (1998). "Steve Dimitry's NBL Website". Steve Dimitry's Extinct Sports Leagues. Archived from the original on August 18, 2005. Retrieved October 16, 2010.