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 absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...

. 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 becoming the first BAA Champion, beating the

Chicago Stags The Chicago Stags were a National Basketball Association team based in Chicago from 1946 to 1950. History 1946–47 season In the BAA's inaugural year, the Chicago Stags were placed in the Western Division, and after 60 games were tied with the ...

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. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

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 league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

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 New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

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 league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

). All members of the inaugural Western Division had folded by 1950, with three of them lasting one season ( Detroit Falcons, Pittsburgh Ironmen,

Cleveland Rebels The Cleveland Rebels were a basketball team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), a forerunner of the modern National Basketball Association (NBA), based in Cleveland. Franchise history The Rebels were an inaugural franchise in the BAA ...

). In addition, the

Toronto Huskies The Toronto Huskies were a team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which was a forerunner of the National Basketball Association (NBA), during the 1946–47 season. They were based in Toronto. The team compiled a 22–38 win–loss r ...

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

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 Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

in Toronto.

Ossie Schectman Oscar Benjamin "Ossie" Schectman (March 30, 1919 – July 30, 2013) was an American professional basketball player. He is credited with having scored the first basket in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which would later become the Na ...

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 Max "Slats" Zaslofsky (December 7, 1925 – October 15, 1985) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He was first-team All- NBA in the league's first four seasons. In the 1947–48 BAA season, at 21 years of age, he led the BAA ...

**F

Bones McKinney Horace Albert "Bones" McKinney (January 1, 1919 – May 16, 1997) was an American professional basketball player and coach. A 6'6" small forward who played at both North Carolina State University (2 seasons) and the University of North Carolina (1 ...

Washington Capitols The Washington Capitols were a former Basketball Association of America (forerunner of the National Basketball Association) team based in Washington, D.C. from 1946 to 1951. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerbac ...

**F

Joe Fulks Joseph Franklin "Jumping Joe" Fulks (October 26, 1921 – March 21, 1976) was an American professional basketball player, sometimes called "the first of the high-scoring forwards". He was posthumously enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball ...

, Philadelphia Warriors **C

Stan Miasek Stanley Miasek (August 8, 1924 – October 18, 1989) was an American professional basketball player. A 6'5" forward, Miasek played six seasons (1946–1950; 1951–1953) in the Basketball Association of America and National Basketball Associa ...

, Detroit Falcons **F

Bob Feerick Robert Joseph Feerick (January 2, 1920 – June 8, 1976) was an American professional basketball player, coach and general manager. He was born in San Francisco, California. Playing career A 6'3" guard from Santa Clara University, Feerick played ...

, Washington Capitols *All-BAA Second Team **G John Logan,

St. Louis Bombers The St. Louis Bombers were a National Basketball Association team based in St. Louis from 1946 to 1950. Franchise history The St. Louis Bombers were originally part of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946. The BAA merged wit ...

**G

Ernie Calverley Ernest A. Calverley (January 30, 1924 – October 20, 2003) was an American professional basketball player. He was an All-American while playing for the University of Rhode Island. He played professionally with the Providence Steamrollers of the ...

Providence Steamrollers The Providence Steamrollers were a Basketball Association of America team based in Providence, Rhode Island. As of 2022, the Steamrollers were the last professional sports franchise from one of the Big Four leagues to be based in Rhode Island. ...

**C

Chick Halbert Charles Pinkney "Chick" Halbert IV (February 27, 1919 – March 4, 2013) was an American professional basketball player. A 6'9" center from West Texas A&M University, Halbert played five seasons (1946–1951) in the Basketball Association ...

, Chicago Stags **G

Frankie Baumholtz Frank Conrad Baumholtz (October 7, 1918 – December 14, 1997) was an American professional baseball and basketball player. He was an outfielder for Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds (1947–49), Chicago Cubs (1949 and 1951–55) and Phi ...

**G

Fred Scolari Fred Joseph Scolari (March 1, 1922 – October 17, 2002) was an American professional basketball player. At 5'10", he played the point guard position. Though he was blind in one eye, deaf in one ear and often overweight, "Fat Freddie" excelled ...

, Washington Capitols

Notes

References

External links

NBA History
at NBA.com

at Basketball-Reference.com
The First Basket: A Jewish Basketball Documentary
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