The 1946–47 Cleveland Rebels season was the first and only season of the

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 ...

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 ...

(BAA/NBA). Their record was 30-30. Head coach

Dutch Dehnert Henry G. "Dutch" Dehnert (April 5, 1898 – April 20, 1979) was an American basketball player whose career lasted from 1915 to 1935. Dehnert, a bulky forward born in New York City, New York, is mostly known for his time with the Original Celtic ...

was ''fired'' by the team on February 12, 1947, and replaced by Roy Clifford."1946–47 Cleveland Rebels Transactions"
Basketball Reference. Retrieved July 26, 2017.

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

First round

(E3)

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 ...

vs. (W3)

: ''Knicks win series 2-1'' *Game 1 @ Cleveland (April 2): Cleveland 77, New York 51 *Game 2 @ New York (April 5): New York 86, Cleveland 74 *Game 3 @ New York (April 9): New York 93, Cleveland 71

Transactions

Trades

Dispersal Draft

After the Rebels became the first team to officially disband as a franchise on June 9, 1947, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) held what would become its first ever dispersal draft on August 2 that year, with the remaining eight teams left in the BAA (the surviving seven teams from the league's first successful season alongside the original Baltimore Bullets franchise that came from the original American Basketball League by a dispute with that league) taking players that were originally from the Rebels, Detroit Falcons,

Pittsburgh Ironmen The Pittsburgh Ironmen were a charter member of the Basketball Association of America (a forerunner of the National Basketball Association). The team was based in Pittsburgh and played at Duquesne Gardens. They ended their only season in the BAA i ...

, and

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 ...

franchises. The following teams acquired these players from the Rebels during the dispersal draft period. * Baltimore Bullets: Hank Lefkowitz *

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), ...

: John Janisch, Mel Riebe,

Ed Sadowski Edward Roman Sadowski (January 19, 1931 – November 6, 1993) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball who played in all or part of four seasons between and for the Boston Red Sox (1960), Los Angeles Angels (1961–1963) and Atlanta B ...

, & Ben Scharnus *

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 originally meant to start out as the ''Chicago Atomics'', to the point ...

Ken Sailors Kenneth Lloyd Sailors (January 14, 1921 – January 30, 2016) was an American professional basketball player and played basketball in the 1940s and early 1950s. A guard, he is regarded as being one of the players who developed the jump shot as ...

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 ...

: Bob Faught *

Providence Steamrollers The Providence Steamrollers were a Basketball Association of America team based in Providence, Rhode Island. As of 2025, the Steamrollers were the last professional sports franchise from one of the Big Four leagues to be based in Rhode Island. ...

: Frank Baumholtz, George Nostrand, & Ray Wertis * St. Louis Bombers: Leon Brown *

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 Auerb ...

: Nick Shaback

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1946-47 Cleveland Rebels Season

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Cleveland Rebels seasons