1925–26 Washington Palace Five season

Washington Palace Five American Basketball League (original) 1926 22 8 Lou Sugarman (13–6)Ray Kennedy (9–2) George Preston MarshallNelson Murry R. The Originals: The New York Celtics Invent Modern Basketball 1999 Bowling Green State University Popular Press 0-87972-793-4, p. 127 George Preston MarshallNelson Murry R. The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949 2009 McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers 978-0-7864-4006-1, pp. 13–14 Washington ArcadeWASHINGTON PALACE FIVE - Pro Basketball Encyclopedia en-US Pro Basketball Encyclopedia 2014-05-26 2026-07-05 https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/season/washington-palace-five/ 2nd (both halves) Did not qualify(Failed to qualify for the ABL championship series due to them not getting first place in either half-season for this season.) 1 The 1925–26 Washington Palace Five season was both the first professional basketball season for the Palace Five team (which sometimes were shortened down more properly to the Laundrymen or even the Palacians as a more proper team name due to the Palace Five name being a shorthand for George Preston Marshall's local Washington Palace Laundry laundromat business) in Washington, D.C. and the first season of existence as a professional franchise and the first season of existence for the American Basketball League, which was the first professional basketball league that had truly attempted to go fully national after previous professional basketball leagues were mostly regional at the time. The American Basketball League's inaugural season would have nine teams competing in that season (while a tenth team in East Liverpool, Ohio was intended to join the Palace Five squad alongside the other eight teams in question for this season, the East Liverpool team ultimately withdrew operations before the season even began properly,Nelson Murry R. The Originals: The New York Celtics Invent Modern Basketball 1999 Bowling Green State University Popular Press 0-87972-793-4, p. 125 with other failed locations that had submitted entries to start the ABL's inaugural season including Baltimore, Maryland (who eventually got their own team the following season); Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and two more locations in the state of Ohio via Columbus and Camdenhttps://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-union/202009397/ Fathers Of The Newly Formed American Basketball League The Times-Union June 6, 1925 22 Newspapers.com), though the ABL would compete in a split season format with two half seasons being utilized instead of one whole season being utilized throughout the season (which would be the case throughout the majority of the league's existence in the first place). However, by the time the first half of the season ended and the second half of the season began, the Boston Whirlwinds would be expelled from the ABL due to a dispute over player contracts,Bradley Grasso Robert John Total Basketball: The Ultimate Basketball Encyclopedia 2003 SPORT Media Publishing, Inc. 1-894963-01-6, p. 410 which led to the ABL entering the second half of the season with only eight teams remaining in their league this time around. In any case, the first season for the Palace Five team was a considerable success for them in terms of overall records, as their total record of 22–8 would be seen as one of the best records showcased around the entire league (though it would not be the very best record within the entire league for that season since they would end up being the second-best team of the entire league in terms of overall records). During the first half of the season, the Laundrymen would end up being one game shy from taking on the first place spot for that half of the season with their 11–5 record due to the surprising performance of the Brooklyn Arcadians stealing the first place spot away from the Washington squad at basically the last minute. As for the second half of the season, the Palace Five squad would end up having an even better 11–3 record that would only be behind the nearly undefeated Cleveland Rosenblums to end that particular half of the season. If the ABL had worked under a proper regular season format, the Washington Palace Five squad would have ended up qualifying for the equivalent of the ABL playoffs due to them having the second-best overall record of the entire league. Unfortunately for them, the split season formatting resulted in the champions of the first half of the season, the Brooklyn Arcadians, and the champions of the second half of the season, the Cleveland Rosenblums, competing in a best-of-five championship series instead, with Washington failing to qualify for the league's championship series despite having a better overall record than Brooklyn due to the Palace Five squad failing to win either half-season within the ABL during this season. Roster Due to information on American Basketball League players being generally hard to find, there are bound to be more gaps and/or inaccuracies found in certain areas on the team's roster spots than usual.1925 Washington Palace Five basketball Statistics en StatsCrew 2026-08-21 2026-08-21 https://www.statscrew.com/basketball/roster/t-ABLWPF/y-19251925-26 Washington Palace Five (ABL) en peachbasketsociety.blogspot.com Mike Wilk 2026-08-21 https://peachbasketsociety.blogspot.com/2017/10/1925-26-washington-palace-five-abl.html 1925–26 Washington Palace Five / Laundrymen #013220 #FFFFFF #013220 #FFFFFF Whitey Bernot 1 F 6 2 175 No college 1901-06-18 Curley Christian basketball 1 G 5 8 140 Susquehanna 1903-06-15 Red Conaty 1 G/F 5 11 160 St. Francis College 1904-02-12 Jerry Conway 1 F/C 6 2 190 St. Anselm 1901-06-07 Rody Cooney G 5 8 140 No college 1902-05-17 George Glasco 1 G/F 5 10 150 No college 1901-04-07 Bob Grody 1 G/F 6 2 215 Hamilton College 1900-04-25 Horse Haggerty basketball 1 C 6 4 225 No college 1891-07-04 Cowboy Jones basketball 1 G 5 11 170 No college 1900-10-02 Teddy Kearns G 5 11 180 Perkiomen Prep School (NJ) 1900-01-01 Ray Kennedy basketball 1 G 5 9 160 Manhattan 1893-10-10 Rusty Saunders 1 G/F 6 2 210 Central HS (NJ) 1906-03-12 Lou Sugarman G/F 5 6 145 Notre Dame 1889-10-10 Lou SugarmanRay Kennedy American Basketball League Standings +First HalfTeamWinsLossesWinning %Brooklyn Arcadians124.750Washington Palace Five / Laundrymen115.688Cleveland Rosenblums106.625Rochester Centrals97.562Fort Wayne Caseys79.438Chicago Bruins610.375Detroit Pulaski Post Five610.375Boston Whirlwinds×610.375Buffalo Bisons / Germans511.322 × – The Boston Whirlwinds were expelled by the end of the first half of the season due to a dispute over player contracts.Team Standings by Year - Pro Basketball Encyclopedia en-US Pro Basketball Encyclopedia 2014-01-26 2026-07-05 https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/team-standings-by-year/?y=1925-1926&t=BostonAmerican Basketball League 1925-26 to 1930-31, 1933-34 to 1952-53 www.apbr.org 2026-07-05 https://www.apbr.org/abl2552.html +Second Half TeamWinsLossesWinning %Cleveland Rosenblums131.919Washington Palace Five / Laundrymen113.786Rochester Centrals95.643Brooklyn Arcadians77.500Fort Wayne Caseys68.429Buffalo Bisons / Germans59.357Chicago Bruins311.214Detroit Pulaski Post Five212.143 Awards and honors By the end of the season, Rusty Saunders would end up being the leading scorer of the entire league in its inaugural season with 238 points scored for an average of 7.0 points per game. References Washington Washington Palace Five Washington Palace Five