1949–50 NBA season explained

1949–50 NBA season
League:National Basketball Association
Sport:Basketball
No Of Games:68
No Of Teams:17
Draft:Draft
Draft Link:1949 BAA draft
Top Pick Link:List of first overall NBA draft picks
Picked By:Providence Steamrollers
Season:Regular season
Top Seed:Syracuse Nationals
Top Scorer:George Mikan (Minneapolis)
Playoffs:Playoffs
Playoffs Link:1950 NBA playoffs
Conf1:Eastern
Conf1 Link:Eastern Division (NBA)
Conf1 Champ:Syracuse Nationals
Conf1 Runner-Up:New York Knicks
Conf2:Central
Conf2 Link:Central Division (NBA)
Conf2 Champ:Minneapolis Lakers
Conf2 Runner-Up:Fort Wayne Pistons
Conf3:Western
Conf3 Link:Western Division (NBA)
Conf3 Champ:Anderson Packers
Conf3 Runner-Up:Indianapolis Olympians
Finals:Finals
Finals Link:1950 NBA Finals
Finals Champ:Minneapolis Lakers
Finals Runner-Up:Syracuse Nationals
Seasonslist:List of NBA seasons
Seasonslistnames:NBA
Prevseason Link:1948–49 BAA season
Prevseason Year:1948–49
Nextseason Link:1950–51 NBA season
Nextseason Year:1950–51

The 1949–50 NBA season was the inaugural season of the National Basketball Association, which was created in 1949 by merger of the 3-year-old BAA and 12-year-old NBL.[1] [2] The 1950 NBA playoffs ended with the Minneapolis Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Syracuse Nationals in 6 games in the NBA Finals.[3]

Commonly 1949–50 is counted as the fourth NBA season. It recognizes the three BAA seasons (1946–47, 1947–48 and 1948–49) as part of its own history, sometimes without comment.[4] [5]

Notable occurrences

Offseason
Team1948–49 coach1949–50 coach
Fort Wayne PistonsCurly ArmstrongMurray Mendenhall
Washington CapitolsRed AuerbachBob Feerick

Teams

1949-50 National Basketball Association
Division Team City Arena Capacity
EasternBaltimore BulletsBaltimore, MarylandBaltimore Coliseum4,500
Boston CelticsBoston, MassachusettsBoston Garden13,909
New York KnicksNew York, New YorkMadison Square Garden18,496
Philadelphia WarriorsPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia Arena5,526
Syracuse Nationals ^Syracuse, New YorkState Fair Coliseum7,500
Washington CapitolsWashington, D.C.Uline Arena8,000
CentralChicago StagsChicago, IllinoisChicago Stadium17,000
Fort Wayne PistonsFort Wayne, IndianaNorth Side High School Gym3,000
Minneapolis LakersMinneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis Auditorium10,000
Rochester RoyalsRochester, New YorkEdgerton Park Arena4,200
St. Louis BombersSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis Arena15,000
WesternAnderson Packers ^Anderson, IndianaAnderson High School Wigwam8,996
Denver Nuggets ^Denver, ColoradoDenver Auditorium Arena12,500
Indianapolis Olympians *Indianapolis, IndianaHinkle Fieldhouse15,000
Sheboygan Red Skins ^Sheboygan, WisconsinSheboygan Municipal Auditorium and Armory3,974
Tri-Cities Blackhawks ^Moline, IllinoisWharton Field House6,000
Waterloo Hawks ^Waterloo, IowaThe Hippodrome5,155
Team merged from NBL ^
Expansion team *

Map of teams

Final standings

In this inaugural NBA season only, the ten surviving teams from 1948–49 BAA season played a heavy schedule of games with each other and a light schedule with the seven NBL participants in the merger that created the league, and vice versa.

Eastern Division

Syracuse played a heavy schedule of 44 games against Western Division teams: on average just over seven games each, same as they played each other (35 to 37 games against five Western rivals). The Western Division teams were generally weaker on the court; none of the teams there won half of its games played outside the division. Yet Syracuse won at the same 80% rate against the East and Central (16–4) as they did against the West (35–9).

Central Division

To define first and third place, the Lakers played one game against the Royals, while the Stags played one against the Pistons, preliminary to the 1950 NBA playoffs.

The five Central Division teams and five Eastern teams beside Syracuse — that is, the ten former BAA teams – uniformly played 68 games: six games in each pairing among themselves (54) and two games each against each of the Western teams and Syracuse (14).

Western Division

The six Western Division teams and Syracuse—that is, the seven NBL participants in the merger—uniformly played two games each against every one of the ten BAA 1949 teams, the East and Central teams except Syracuse (20 games each). They played seven or nine games in each pairing among themselves (at least 42 games).

x – clinched playoff spot

See also: 1950 NBA playoffs.

Playoffs

See main article: 1950 NBA playoffs.

Statistics leaders

Category Player Team Stat
Points 1,865
Assists 386
FG% .478
FT% Chicago Stags .843

Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.

NBA awards

See also

References

General source: 1949–50 NBA Season Summary basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 31, 2010.

Notes and References

  1. News: NBL, BAA merge, end pro net war . 21 June 2024 . The Republic . UP . 4 August 1949 . 11 . Newspapers.com.
  2. Web site: NBA is born. History. November 16, 2009. September 17, 2020.
  3. News: Glen Gaff . Lakers win, 110-95, for third title . 24 June 2024 . . 24 April 1950 . 1, 27 . Newspapers.com.
  4. Web site: NBA Season Recaps: 1946–2019. NBA.com. July 24, 2019. September 17, 2020.
  5. News: Curtis Harris . How the NBA’s 75th anniversary sweeps away its early history . 23 June 2024 . . 21 January 2022.