1948 World Professional Basketball Tournament

August 2023 World Professional Basketball Tournament 1948 Chicago, Illinois 8 April 11 April Chicago Stadium 8 Minneapolis Lakers New York Renaissance Anderson Duffey Packers George Mikan George Mikan 1947 The 1948 World Professional Basketball Tournament was the tenthN.Y. Rens to give Lakers tough battle https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99116051/ 5 April 2022 Star Tribune 11 April 1948 35 Newspapers.com and final edition of the World Professional Basketball Tournament. It was held in Chicago, Illinois, during the days of 8–11 April 1948Sid Hartman Kundla wondering what a layoff might do to Lakers at Chicago https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99116125/ 5 April 2022 Times, the Picture Paper 8 April 1948 27 Newspapers.com and featured eight teams, who by this point in time were primarily competing in the National Basketball League, with the only other professional team competing being the Wilkes-Barre Barons of the American Basketball League (who competed against what were to be the newly established Minneapolis Lakers in the quarterfinal round) and the only two independently ran teams being the New York Renaissance and the Bridgeport Newfield Steelers, who competed against each other in the quarterfinal round.Pro quints open World Title play https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99116170/ 5 April 2022 The Akron Beacon Journal 8 April 1948 43 Newspapers.com Initially, there was supposed to have been a championship series between the champions of the National Basketball League (which were the Minneapolis Lakers) and the recently created Basketball Association of America (which were formerly the American Basketball League's own Baltimore Bullets, which was also the BAA's original Baltimore Bullets franchise) that year, but that ultimately never came to fruition.1947-1948 https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/seasons/1947-1948/ Pro Basketball Encyclopedia 28 January 2026 It was won by the Minneapolis Lakers (joining the Oshkosh All-Stars and Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons as the only other professional teams to win multiple championships during the same season throughout the 1940s), who defeated the New York Renaissance 75–71 in the title game,Bill Carlson Lakers 'World Champions' now https://www.newspapers.com/image/187318519/ 15 March 2022 The Minneapolis Star 12 April 1948 23 Newspapers.com behind George Mikan's tournament record 40 points.Edward Prell Lakers defeat Rens, 75 to 71, for pro title https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99115890/ 5 April 2022 Chicago Tribune 12 April 1948 57 Mikan's 40 points, on 14 field goals and 12 of 15 free throws, broke the tournament individual scoring record. Newspapers.com The Anderson Duffey Packers came in third after beating the Tri-Cities Blackhawks 66–44 in the third-place game.Russ Kiesele Lakers take pro tourney crown over Rens, 75-71; Mikan collects 40 points https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99115371/ 5 April 2022 The Dispatch 12 April 1948 19 Newspapers.com Mikan led all scorers and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.Lakers beat Rens 75-71 and cop title https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99115966/ 5 April 2022 Journal and Courier 12 April 1948 8 Newspapers.com Sid Hartman Lakers dominated pro meet in all phases https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99115994/ 5 April 2022 Times, the Picture Paper 26–30 Newspapers.com With George Mikan winning the tournament's MVP award in both 1946 with the Chicago American Gears (despite his team not winning that year's event) and the final tournament ever held in 1948 with the Lakers, he would join Buddy Jeannette of the Detroit Eagles in 1941 and the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons four years later in 1945 as the only other player to be named the MVP of the WPBT for multiple years (both of whom would earn the honor while being with different teams). Following this tournament's conclusion alongside the 1948 NBL Finals and 1948 BAA Finals, the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (soon rebranded to just be the Fort Wayne Pistons), Indianapolis Kautskys (soon rebranded as the Indianapolis Jets), and WPBT/NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers alongside the Rochester Royals would all jump ship from the NBL to the BAA by the start of the 1948 BAA draft, which started to signify the end of the WPBT as an established tournament to help determine the best of the best basketball teams across the nation. An attempt to run a similar tournament was held in 1949 by The Indianapolis News, which would have featured the Wilkes-Barre Barons of the ABL, three teams from the NBL, three teams from the upstart Basketball Association of America, and a team from a fourth professional league of sorts that remained unidentified until seeding was supposed to have been drawn out,News invites eight teams for World Pro Cage Tourney here https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99198861/the-indianapolis-news/ 6 April 2022 The Indianapolis News 22 March 1949 24 Newspapers.com B.A.A. ponders bid to Pro Tourney https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99199245/ 6 April 2022 The Indianapolis News 24 March 1949 21 Newspapers.com but the BAA ultimately declined the invitation despite the NBL accepting the invitation themselves.Bill Kinney Backward step https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99199605/backward-step/ 6 April 2022 The Rock Island Argus 26 March 1949 14 Newspapers.com Months after the spiritual successor to the WPBT failed to come to fruition, the BAA and NBL agreed to merge leagues together to become the modern-day National Basketball Association (which meant the other NBL teams from this year's tournament in the Anderson Duffey Packers (later rebranded to just be the Anderson Packers) and Tri-Cities Blackhawks joined most of the other NBL teams (including a planned expansion team called the Indianapolis Olympians alongside most of the surviving BAA teams in a sort of reunion with those teams there, though the Kautskys/Jets franchise wouldn't survive the merger due to them being bankrupt a year later), which essentially put an end to the WPBT entirely for good. Results Bracket main 3 high yes Third Place Quarterfinals Semifinals Final 25 April 8 Minneapolis Lakers 98 Wilkes-Barre Barons 48 April 8 Anderson Duffey Packers 59 Indianapolis Kautskys 53 April 8 New York Renaissance 67 Bridgeport Newfield Steelers 51 April 8 Tri-Cities Blackhawks 57 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 50 April 9 Minneapolis Lakers 59 Anderson Duffey Packers 56 April 9 New York Renaissance 59 Tri-Cities Blackhawks 55 April 11 Minneapolis Lakers 75 New York Renaissance 71 April 11 Tri-Cities Blackhawks 44 Anderson Duffey Packers 66 Third place game #e3e3e3 April 11, 1948 Box score Tri-Cities Blackhawks 44 Anderson Duffey Packers 66 27–27 17–39WORLD PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT 1939-48 https://www.apbr.org/tourney.html www.apbr.orgNelson Murry R. The National Basketball League: a history, 1935 - 1949 2009 McFarland & Co Jefferson, NC 978-0786440061 200 W. von Nieda – 15 R. Johnson – 14 Chicago Stadium 16,892 Bill Downs, Dutch Kriznecky Championship game #e3e3e3 April 11, 1948 Box score Minneapolis Lakers 75 New York Renaissance 71 43–35 32–36 G. Mikan – 40 N. Clifton – 24 Chicago Stadium 16,892 Individual awards George Mikan of the Minneapolis Lakers led this tournament in scoring with 83 points scored in four games played.https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/team-standings-by-year/?y=1947-1948&t=Minneapolis%20Lakers All-Tournament First Team C - George Mikan, Minneapolis Lakers (MVP) F - Nat Clifton, New York Renaissance F - Jim Pollard, Minneapolis Lakers G - Charley Shipp, Anderson Duffey Packers G - Herm Schaefer, Minneapolis Lakers All-Tournament Second Team C - Howie Schultz, Anderson Duffey Packers F - Dick Triptow, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons F - John Hargis, Anderson Duffey Packers F - Whitey Von Nieda, Tri-Cities Blackhawks G - Bobby McDermott, Tri-Cities Blackhawks G - George Crowe, New York Renaissance See also 1947–48 National Basketball League (United States) season, a professional basketball season featuring six out of eleven teams there, including the eventual NBL and WPBT champions in the Minneapolis Lakers References External links WPBT 1939-48 on apbr.org 1947-48 WPBT Tournament Overview on retroseasons.com WORLD BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT: 1947-1948 on Pro Basketball Encyclopedia Category:World Professional Basketball Tournament