The 1946–47 BAA season was the inaugural season of the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

. The league launched with 11 teams playing a 60-game schedule. The postseason tournament (the 1947 BAA Playoffs) at its conclusion, ended with the

Philadelphia Warriors The history of the Golden State Warriors began in Philadelphia in 1946. In 1962, the franchise was relocated to San Francisco, California and became known as the San Francisco Warriors until 1971, when its name was changed to the current Golden ...

becoming the first BAA Champion, beating the Chicago Stags 4 games to 1 in the BAA Finals. Following its third, the 1948–49 season, the BAA and National Basketball League merged to create the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

or NBA. The NBA recognizes the three BAA seasons as part of its own history, sometimes without comment, so the 1946–47 BAA season is sometimes considered the first NBA season. By 1951, only three original BAA teams were still in the NBA: the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

and Philadelphia Warriors (now in San Francisco as the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

). All members of the inaugural Western Division had folded by 1950, with three of them lasting one season ( Detroit Falcons, Pittsburgh Ironmen, Cleveland Rebels). In addition, the Toronto Huskies also folded following the season, making a total of four teams folding before the BAA's second season.

Notable events

*On November 1, 1946, in the inaugural game of the new league, the

beat the Toronto Huskies 68–66 in front of 7,090 spectators at

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church and Wellesley, Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was originally constructed in 1931 as an indoor arena to host ice hoc ...

in Toronto. Ossie Schectman scored the opening basket for the New York Knicks against Toronto. In 1949, the BAA helped create the National Basketball Association by merger, and Schectman's shot may be considered the first basket in NBA history.For instance
"Do you know who scored THE FIRST BASKET in the NBA?"
. The First Basket: A Jewish Basketball Documentary (thefirstbasket.com). Retrieved 2015-03-04. The NBA recognizes the three BAA seasons as part of its own history, sometimes without comment.

Final standings

Eastern Division

Western Division

Playoffs

There were no byes. Western and Eastern champions Chicago and Washington immediately played a long semifinal series with Washington having home-court advantage. Chicago won the sixth game in Washington one day before Philadelphia concluded its two short series with other runners-up.
Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-02-28.
Select "Next Season" from the heading for 1947–48, and so on. Select "Finals" from League Playoffs for the daily schedule of the final series, and so on.

Statistics leaders

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

BAA awards

*All-BAA First Team **G Max Zaslofsky, Chicago Stags **F Bones McKinney, Washington Capitols **F

Joe Fulks Joseph Franklin "Jumping Joe" Fulks (October 26, 1921 – March 21, 1976) was an American professional basketball player. The NBA's first scoring champion, he was sometimes called "the first of the high-scoring forwards". He was posthumously en ...

**C Stan Miasek, Detroit Falcons **F Bob Feerick, Washington Capitols *All-BAA Second Team **G John Logan, St. Louis Bombers **G Ernie Calverley, Providence Steamrollers **C Chick Halbert, Chicago Stags **G Frankie Baumholtz, Cleveland Rebels **G Fred Scolari, Washington Capitols

Notes

References

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