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1952–53 NBA season
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Seventh NBA season
August 2023
1952–53 NBA season National Basketball Association Basketball October 31, 1952 – March 17, 1953March 17 – April 2, 1953 (Playoffs)April 4–10, 1953 (Finals) 69-71 10 Draft 1952 NBA draft List of first overall NBA draft picks Mark Workman Baltimore Bullets Regular season Minneapolis Lakers Neil Johnston (Philadelphia) Playoffs 1953 NBA playoffs Eastern Eastern Division (NBA) New York Knicks Boston Celtics Western Western Division (NBA) Minneapolis Lakers Fort Wayne Pistons Finals 1953 NBA Finals Minneapolis Lakers New York Knicks List of NBA seasons NBA 1951–52 NBA season 1951–52 1953–54 NBA season 1953–54
The 1952–53 NBA season was the seventh season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Minneapolis Lakers winning the NBA championship, beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals.
Notable occurrences
The 1953 NBA All-Star Game was played in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with the West beating the East 79–75. George Mikan of the Minneapolis Lakers won the game's MVP award.
Don Meineke of the Fort Wayne Pistons wins the inaugural Rookie of the Year award.
+Coaching changesOffseason Team 1951–52 coach 1952–53 coach Milwaukee Hawks Doxie Moore Andrew LevaneIn-season Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach Baltimore Bullets Chick Reiser Clair Bee
Final standings
Eastern Division
Western Division
x – clinched playoff spot
Playoffs
1953 NBA playoffs
1953 NBA playoffs Bracket yes no
Statistics leaders
+ Category Player Team Stat Points Neil Johnston Philadelphia Warriors 1,564 Rebounds George Mikan Minneapolis Lakers 1,007 Assists Bob Cousy Boston Celtics 547 FG% Neil Johnston Philadelphia Warriors .452 FT% Bill Sharman Boston Celtics .850
Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points, rebounds, and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.
NBA awards
This season marked the first official season where the NBA would officially name the NBA Rookie of the Year Award winner after previously having Rookie of the Year winners only being recognized by newspaper writers when the NBA officially didn't recognize them in the past. (While the NBA would eventually later publish official recorded results for the pre-1953 Rookie of the Year winners in their 1994–95 edition of the Official NBA Guide and the 1994 Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia, those winners have not been listed in subsequent publications ever since then.Friedman David Bill Tosheff: NBA Co-Rookie of the Year and Tireless Advocate for the "Pre-1965ers 20 Second Timeout March 2, 2009 https://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2009/03/bill-tosheff-nba-co-rookie-of-year-and_02.html September 1, 2011 August 17, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110817120002/http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2009/03/bill-tosheff-nba-co-rookie-of-year-and_02.html liveGoldstein Allan NBA forgot it honored Hoffman October 30, 1994 The Baltimore Sun https://www.baltimoresun.com/1994/10/30/nba-forgot-it-honored-hoffman/ September 1, 2011 October 1, 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20121001184428/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-10-30/sports/1994303066_1_hoffman-paul-arizin-alex-groza liveSachare Alex The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia 371 Villard Books New York 1994 978-0-679-43293-7)
Rookie of the Year: Don Meineke, Fort Wayne Pistons
25em
All-NBA First Team:
George Mikan, Minneapolis Lakers
Neil Johnston, Philadelphia Warriors
Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics
Ed Macauley, Boston Celtics
Dolph Schayes, Syracuse Nationals
All-NBA Second Team:
Bob Davies, Rochester Royals
Vern Mikkelsen, Minneapolis Lakers
Andy Phillip, Philadelphia Warriors
Bill Sharman, Boston Celtics
Bobby Wanzer, Rochester Royals
See also
List of NBA regular season records
References
1952–53 NBA Season Summary basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 10, 2010