1947–48 BAA season

Second NBA season August 2023 1947–48 BAA season Basketball Association of America Basketball November 12, 1947 – March 21, 1948 March 23–25, 1948 (Play-in tournaments) March 23 – April 8, 1948 (Playoffs) April 10–21, 1948 (Finals) 48 8 Draft 1947 NBA draft List of first overall NBA draft picks Clifton McNeely Pittsburgh Ironmen Regular season St. Louis Bombers Max Zaslofsky (Chicago) Playoffs 1948 BAA playoffs Eastern Eastern Division (NBA) Philadelphia WarriorscrxPhiladelphia may reasonably be called Eastern champion. St. Louis BomberscrxSt. Louis may reasonably be called runners-up for the Eastern Division championship in the case of this season. Western Western Division (NBA) Baltimore BulletscrxBaltimore may reasonably be called Western champions despite not having the best record in the Western Division this season. Chicago Stagscrx Finals 1948 BAA Finals Baltimore Bullets Philadelphia Warriors List of NBA seasons BAA/NBA 1946–47 BAA season 1946–47 1948–49 BAA season 1948–49 The 1947–48 BAA season was the second season of the Basketball Association of America. The 1948 BAA Playoffs ended with the Baltimore Bullets winning the BAA championship, beating the Philadelphia Warriors in 6 games in the BAA Finals. Although not celebrated at the time, this season was historic, with Wataru Misaka of the New York Knicks becoming the first person of color to play in modern professional basketball.Goldstein Richard Wat Misaka, First Nonwhite in Modern Pro Basketball, Dies at 95 The New York Times November 21, 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/sports/basketball/wat-misaka-dead.html November 22, 2019 The NBA recognizes the three BAA seasons as part of its own history so the 1947–48 BAA season is considered the second NBA season.https://www.nba.com/history/season-recap-index NBA Season Recaps: A look back at every season since 1946 NBA.com July 30, 2025 May 17, 2026 Notable occurrences Following the departure of the Cleveland Rebels, Detroit Falcons, Pittsburgh Ironmen, and Toronto Huskies alongside the addition of the Baltimore Bullets from the original American Basketball League, the Western Division would see the Washington Capitols move into the Western Division alongside the Baltimore Bullets in order to adjust to the smaller number of teams for this season. For the majority of this season, the BAA would have an agreement with the older, rivaling National Basketball League to have the NBL play 24 of their games as opening matches before the Chicago Stags played their home games for this season, which was done in order for the BAA to try to have better negotiation talks with the NBL to help out both of their futures at the time.Nelson Murry R. The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949 2009 McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers 978-0-7864-4006-1, pp. 179–180 However, one unintended side effect to these games saw four of the NBL's own teams (the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, the Indianapolis Kautskys, the new NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers, and the runner-up Rochester Royals) defecting from the NBL into the BAA following this season's conclusion, with two more NBL teams in the Oshkosh All-Stars and Toledo Jeeps trying and failing to join them also.Nelson Murry R. The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949 2009 McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers 978-0-7864-4006-1, pp. 199, 201–202Peterson Robert Cages to Jump Shots: Pro Basketball's Early Years 1990 Oxford University Press, Inc. 0-19-505310-9, p. 129http://www.apbr.org/baaminutes.html BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA LEAGUE MINUTES 1946-1949 Bradley Robert APBR December 13, 2024 This led to the end of any attempts for a second season where the two leagues hosted a doubleheader series of sorts together. With the Baltimore Bullets defeating the defending BAA champion Philadelphia Warriors, this would mark the first time in BAA/NBA history that the league champion would come from a team that originated from a different professional basketball league at the time (in this case, the original American Basketball League). Not only that, but as of 2026, this Bullets franchise would become the only championship team to later become officially defunct from the league later on its in history. +Coaching changesOffseason Team 1946–47 coach 1947–48 coach New York Knicks Neil Cohalan Joe Lapchick Providence Steamrollers Robert Morris Albert SoarIn-season Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach Providence Steamrollers Albert Soar Nat Hickey Preseason events Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Toronto folded before the season started, leaving the BAA with only seven teams. (All cities except Pittsburgh would get new NBA teams in future years.) To make up for at least the loss of the Cleveland Rebels and Detroit Falcons early on into their season, however, the BAA allowed for the entry of the Baltimore Bullets from the older American Basketball League to provide a more convenient number of ten teams by the inaugural 1947 BAA draft before later being downgraded to only eight teams entering this season. Not only that, but the BAA decreased the number of games played this season from 60-61 to 48 (their lowest total number of games in a non-lockout season) in order to compensate for the lost teams this season. Final standings Playoffs 1948 BAA playoffs 1948 BAA playoffs Bracket yes no Statistics leaders Category Player Team Stat Points Max Zaslofsky Chicago Stags 1,007 Assists Howie Dallmar Philadelphia Warriors 120 FG% Bob Feerick Washington Capitols .340 FT% Bob Feerick Washington Capitols .788 Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points and assists were determined by totals rather than averages. BAA awards All-BAA First Team C Ed Sadowski, Boston Celtics F Joe Fulks, Philadelphia Warriors F Howie Dallmar, Philadelphia Warriors F Bob Feerick, Washington Capitols G Max Zaslofsky, Chicago Stags All-BAA Second Team G Buddy Jeannette, Baltimore Bullets C Stan Miasek, Chicago Stags G Carl Braun, New York Knicks G Fred Scolari, Washington Capitols G John Logan, St. Louis Bombers BAA Rookie of the Year F/G Paul Hoffman, Baltimore Bullets Notes 25em crx The 1948 BAA Playoffs did not generate Eastern and Western champions and runners-up, as NBA Playoffs have done from 1951 to present. Eastern and Western leaders, or perhaps champions, Philadelphia and St. Louis played off to determine one finalist while four runners-up played off to determine the other finalist.   The listed teams were BAA playoff finalists and semifinalists, as Eastern and Western champions and runners-up in the NBA have been playoff finalists and semifinalists from 1951 to present. See also List of NBA regular season records 1947–48 NBL season, the rivaling season of what would eventually be their merging partner to form the National Basketball Association in the older National Basketball League within the U.S.A. from 1937 until 1949 References