1939 World Professional Basketball Tournament

August 2023 World Professional Basketball Tournament 1939 Chicago, Illinois 26 March 28 March Madison Street Armory, Chicago Coliseum 11 New York Renaissance Oshkosh All-Stars Harlem Globetrotters Puggy Bell 1940 The 1939 World Professional Basketball Tournament was the first edition of the World Professional Basketball Tournament. It was held in Chicago, Illinois, during the days of 26–28 March 1939 and featured 11 teams who were mostly independently run alongside both the Oshkosh All-Stars and Sheboygan Red Skins of the National Basketball League and the Troy Celtics of the American Basketball League competing for a prize money of $10,000, which was later revealed to be a $1,000 prize given to each player on the winning team.Nelson Murry R. The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949 2009 McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers 978-0-7864-4006-1, p. 66Wendell Smith Rens beat Throtters in Pro Tourney https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15946739/rens-beat-globetrotters-basketball/ 5 April 2022 The Pittsburgh Courier 1 April 1939 16 Newspapers.com Originally, the Philadelphia Sphas of the ABL were supposed to have been invited to the inaugural tournament, but they ultimately cancelled their invitation due to multiple injuries to their players entering the tournament this year, which led to the Illinois Grads from nearby Champaign, Illinois taking their spot instead.Nelson Murry R. The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949 2009 McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers 978-0-7864-4006-1, p. 65 Because of the awkward formatting for this year's tournament with the odd number of teams competing, this led to the independently ran Chicago Harmons and New York Renaissance alongside the ABL's Troy Celtics receiving first round byes in the tournament, while the NBL's Oshkosh All-Stars received a quarterfinal bye following their first round victory over the independently ran Clarksburg Oil team from West Virginia.Nelson Murry R. The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949 2009 McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers 978-0-7864-4006-1, pp. 65–66 The upper half of the quarterfinals involved teams that were originally based in Chicago (the world famous Harlem Globetrotters originally started out in Chicago) competing against each other and teams based in New York competing against each other, while the lower half of the quarterfinals featured the three teams that remained in professional leagues at the time in the NBL & ABL. The highlight game of the tournament involved the match between the New York Renaissance and the Harlem Globetrotters in the semifinal round, which saw the Renaissance control the game for most of the match until the moment when Harlem scored six straight points to cut New York's lead down to two, though the Renaissance would tighten up their defense in order to win 27–23 over the Globetrotters. The inaugural WPBT tournament was won by the independently ran New York Renaissance, who defeated the NBL's Oshkosh All-Stars 34–25 in the title game.New York Rens win net title https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99118259/ 5 April 2022 The South Bend Tribune Associated Press 29 March 1939 21 Newspapers.com The Harlem Globetrotters came in third after beating the Sheboygan Red Skins 36–33 in the third-place game.New York Rens trim Oshkosh for title https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99118303/ 5 April 2022 The Times of Northwest Indiana 29 March 1939 18 Newspapers.com Puggy Bell of the New York Renaissance was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Results Bracket y y no 1 1/1/1/1 Round 1 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Third place Harlem Globetrotters 41 Fort Wayne Harvesters 33 New York Yankees 40 Brenton Harbor House of David 32 Sheboygan Red Skins 47 Illinois Grads 29 Oshkosh All-Stars 40 Clarksburg Oil 33 Harlem Globetrotters 31 Chicago Harmons 25 New York Renaissance 30 New York Yankees 21 Sheboygan Red Skins 36 Troy Celtics 29 Oshkosh All-Stars BYE New York Renaissance 27 Harlem Globetrotters 23 Oshkosh All-Stars 40 Sheboygan Red Skins 23 New York Renaissance 34 Oshkosh All-Stars 25 Harlem Globetrotters 36 Sheboygan Red Skins 33 Third place game #e3e3e3 28 March 1939 Box score Harlem Globetrotters 36 Sheboygan Red Skins 33 19–20 17–13 L. Bleach – 17 R. Adams – 12 Chicago Coliseum Wilfred Smith, Nat Messinger Championship game #e3e3e3 28 March 1939 Box score New York Renaissance 34 Oshkosh All-Stars 25 24–11 10–14 P. Gates – 12 L. Edwards – 12 Chicago Coliseum 3,000 Kennedy, OldNew York Rens win National Pro Cage Title https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99139551/ 5 April 2022 The Capital Times 29 March 1939 17 Newspapers.com Individual awards Leroy Edwards of the Oshkosh All-Stars led this tournament in scoring with 49 points scored in three games played.Triptow Richard F. The Dynasty that Never Was: Chicago's First Professional Basketball Champions, The American Gears 1997 self-published Lake Bluff, Illinois 0-9659280-0-4, p. 217 All-Tournament Team C - Leroy Edwards, Oshkosh All-Stars F - Ed Dancker, Sheboygan Red Skins F - Puggy Bell, New York Renaissance (MVP) G - Babe Pressley, Harlem Globetrotters G - Zack Clayton, New York Renaissance See also 1938–39 National Basketball League (United States) season, a professional basketball season featuring two of the competing teams there On the Shoulders of Giants (film), a 2011 documentary movie written by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that focuses on the championship winning New York Renaissance during this event References External links WPBT 1939-48 on apbr.org 1938-39 WPBT Tournament Overview on retroseasons.com WORLD BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT: 1939-1940 on Pro Basketball Encyclopedia Category:World Professional Basketball Tournament