The National Professional Basketball League (NPBL) was a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

league in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from 1950–51, serving as a successor league to the National Basketball League that operated from 1937 to 1949.

History

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) and the National Basketball League (NBL) merged in 1949 to form 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 ...

. However, the NBA contracted after the 1949–50 season, losing six teams: The Anderson Packers, Sheboygan Red Skins and Waterloo Hawks jumped to the NPBL, while the Chicago Stags,

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 Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

and St. Louis Bombers folded. Midway through the season, the Washington Capitols folded as well, bringing the number of teams in the NBA down to ten. The National Professional Basketball League formed around the three former NBA teams, with teams added in new larger markets. The charter teams were the Packers, Red Skins, Louisville Alumnites, and Grand Rapids Hornets in the East Division, while the Denver Refiners/ Evansville Agogans, Saint Paul Lights, Kansas City Hi-Spots and Hawks made up the West Division. The league played just one season, with Doxie Moore serving as commissioner. The Hornets, Hi-Spots, Alumnites, and Lights folded during the season, and the Refiners relocated to

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...

to become the Evansville Agogans. Although no championship game was staged, the Red Skins and Hawks both claimed the championship because they were both in first place in their respective divisions at the end of the season.

Standings

Notes
* Disbanded during the season.
** Denver moved to Evansville during the season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Professional Basketball League (1950-1951) 1950 establishments in the United States 1951 disestablishments Defunct professional sports leagues in the United States Defunct basketball leagues in the United States