The Indianapolis Olympians were a founding

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 ...

(NBA) team based in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. They were founded in 1949 and folded in 1953. Their home arena was Butler Fieldhouse on the campus of

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...

--now known as

Hinkle Fieldhouse Hinkle Fieldhouse (named Butler Fieldhouse from 1928 until 1966) is a basketball arena on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Completed in early 1928, it was the largest basketball arena in the United States until 1950. The ...

Franchise history

The Olympians were founded in 1949 to replace the

Indianapolis Jets The Indianapolis Jets were a Basketball Association of America (BAA) team based in Indianapolis. They were founded as the Indianapolis Kautskys and used that name until the team joined the BAA. They played for one year in the BAA and then ceased o ...

. The Olympians were led by

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

alumni Alex Groza and

Ralph Beard Ralph Milton Beard Jr. (December 2, 1927 – November 29, 2007) was an American collegiate and professional basketball player. He won two NCAA national Basketball, basketball championships at the University of Kentucky and played two years in t ...

, both of whom were key contributors on the gold medal winning 1948 US

Olympic basketball Basketball at the Summer Olympics has been a sport for men consistently since 1936. Prior to its inclusion as a medal sport, basketball was held as a demonstration event in 1904. Women's basketball made its debut in the Summer Olympics in 1976 ...

team. Olympic team members

Wallace Jones Wallace Clayton "Wah Wah" Jones (July 14, 1926 – July 27, 2014) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1949 to 1952 with the Indianapolis Olympians. Biography Jones was born ...

and

Cliff Barker Clifford "Cliff" Eugene Barker (January 15, 1921 – March 17, 1998) was a basketball player from the United States, who won the gold medal with the USA national basketball team at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom and two natio ...

(both also Kentucky alumni) also played on the team. An Olympic alternate and UK grad, Joe Holland, played forward for the Indianapolis team through the 1952 season. After the 1951 season, Groza and Beard were suspended from the NBA for life by commissioner

Maurice Podoloff Maurice Podoloff ( yi, מוריס פודולוף; August 18, 1890 – November 24, 1985) was an American lawyer and a basketball and ice hockey administrator. He served as the president of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) between 1946� ...

when the players admitted

point shaving In organized sports, point shaving is a type of match fixing where the perpetrators try to change the final score of a game without changing who wins. This is typically done by players colluding with gamblers to prevent a team from covering a p ...

during their college careers. The Olympians finished with a 28–43 record in 1953, and folded after that season. The Olympians compiled a 132–137 record in four seasons in the NBA. Indianapolis would not have an NBA team until

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

when the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

were one of the four teams admitted from the ABA in the

ABA–NBA merger The ABA-NBA merger was a major pro sports business maneuver in 1976 when the American Basketball Association (ABA) combined with the National Basketball Association (NBA), after multiple attempts over several years. The NBA and ABA had entered ...

. The Olympians still hold the distinction of being the winning team in the longest game in NBA history—they were the 75–73 victors in a six-overtime game against the

Rochester Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

in a game played on January 6, 1951.

Seasons

Notable players

Basketball Hall of Famers

''None''

Others

* Alex Groza *

Paul Walther Paul P. Walther (March 23, 1927 – December 21, 2014) was an American basketball player. Life Walther was a native of Covington, Kentucky and a graduate of Covington Catholic High School. He was a 6'2" guard/ forward at the University of Tenn ...

Kleggie Hermsen Clarence Henry "Kleggie" Hermsen (March 12, 1923 – March 2, 1994) was an American professional basketball player. A 6-foot-9 center from the University of Minnesota, Hermsen began his professional career with the Sheboygan Red Skins of th ...

Notes

References

External links

Indianapolis Olympians
– all-time records and statistics

NBA Hoops Online {{NBAdefunct Basketball teams established in 1949 Basketball teams disestablished in 1953 1949 establishments in Indiana Defunct National Basketball Association teams 1953 disestablishments in Indiana