The St. Paul Lights were a franchise for the one season (1950) of the National Professional Basketball League, based in St. Paul, Minnesota.

History

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 ...

contracted after the 1949–1950 season, losing six teams: The

Anderson Packers The Anderson Packers, also known as the Anderson Duffey Packers and the Chief Anderson Meat Packers, were a professional basketball team based in Anderson, Indiana, in the 1940s and 1950s. The team was founded and owned by brothers Ike W. and Jo ...

Sheboygan Red Skins The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) was a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–1950 season. History Overview The Redskins played in th ...

and

Waterloo Hawks The Waterloo Hawks were a National Basketball League and National Basketball Association team based in Waterloo, Iowa. The Hawks remain the only sports franchise ever based in Iowa from any of the current Big Four Leagues. Franchise history ...

, all former NBL teams, jumped to the NPBL, while 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 ...

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

and

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 ...

folded. The league went from 17 teams to 11 before the 1950–1951 season started. Midway through the 1950–1951 season, the

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 Auerbach ...

folded as well, bringing the number of teams in the league down to ten. The National Professional Basketball League was formed around the former NBA/NBL teams, with teams added in new larger markets. The charter teams were the

Sheboygan Redskins The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) was a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–1950 season. History Overview The Redskins played in th ...

(former NBA/NBL), the

Louisville Alumnites Louisville Alumnites were a team in the National Professional Basketball League (1950-1951), based in Louisville, Kentucky. History The National Basketball Association contracted after the 1949–1950 season, losing six teams: The Anderson Packers ...

, and the Grand Rapids Hornets, in the East Division; and in the West Division, the

Denver Refiners The Denver Refiners were a professional basketball team who played in Denver, Colorado, in 1950–1951 and were a member of the Western Division of the National Professional Basketball League, which lasted one season. History The National Basket ...

Evansville Agogans :''Also see: Sports in Evansville''. The Evansville Agogans were a professional basketball team who played in Evansville, Indiana, in 1951 and were a member of the Western Division of the National Professional Basketball League (1950–1951), Natio ...

, the Saint Paul Lights, the

Kansas City Hi-Spots The Kansas City Hi-Spots were a franchise for one season (1950-1951) in the National Professional Basketball League, based in Kansas City, Missouri. History The National Basketball Association contracted after the 1949-1950 season, losing six te ...

, and the

(former NBA/NBL). The St. Paul Lights of the National Professional Basketball League ended the 1950–51 season with a record of 4 wins and 19 losses, finishing third in the NPBL's West Division, behind the leading

(at 32-24, .667).

Howie Schultz Howard Henry Schultz (July 3, 1922 – October 30, 2009), nicknamed "Stretch" and "Steeple", was an American baseball and basketball player from St. Paul, Minnesota. Schultz won an NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers, Minneapolis Lakers in 1952 ...

coached the team. The St. Paul franchise folded before the season ended, a fate shared by the

and Grand Rapids Hornets, playing their last game on December 19, 1950, a 76-70 win over the Waterloo Hawks. After the Lights folded, professional basketball did not return to St. Paul. However, the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

are a current NBA franchise in Minneapolis. The NPBL folded after the 1950–1951 Season.

The arena

The Lights played at the

St. Paul Auditorium Roy Wilkins Auditorium (nicknamed The Roy) is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in St. Paul, Minnesota. Designed by the renowned municipal architect Clarence W. Wigington, it was built in 1932 as an arena extension to the existing ''St. Paul Audi ...

, known today as Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Today, the arena in use as part of the RiverCentre complex, down the corridor from the

Xcel Energy Center Xcel Energy Center (also known as "The X") is a multipurpose arena in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Completed in 2000, it is named for its locally based corporate sponsor Xcel Energy. With an official capacity of 17,954, the arena has four ...

, home of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

. Roy Wilkins Auditorium is located at 175 W. Kellogg Boulevard, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Notable alumni

Gene Berce Eugene Daniel Berce (November 22, 1926 – November 17, 2018) was an American basketball player. He played collegiately for the Cornell Big Red men's basketball, Cornell Big Red and what are now the Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball, Marque ...

* Bill Erickson *

Joe Graboski Joseph W. Graboski (January 15, 1930 – July 2, 1998) was an American professional basketball player. He spent 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the third player to enter the NBA without having played in college: ( T ...

Ralph Hamilton Ralph Albert Hamilton (June 10, 1921 – June 5, 1983) was an American professional basketball player. He played for the Fort Wayne Pistons and Indianapolis Jets of the National Basketball League and the Basketball Association of America (BA ...

External links

Extinct Sports Leagues site on the National Professional Basketball League

References

{{reflist Defunct basketball teams in Minnesota Sports in Saint Paul, Minnesota Basketball teams established in 1950 Basketball teams disestablished in 1950 National Professional Basketball League (1950–51) 1950 establishments in Minnesota 1950 disestablishments in Minnesota Minneapolis–Saint Paul