1938–39 National Basketball League (United States) season

1938–39 NBL season National Basketball League Basketball 26-28 8 November 23, 1938 – March 12, 1939https://www.apbr.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4641 1938-39 NBL Game-by-Game Results www.apbr.org March 14–20, 1939 (Playoffs/Finals) Regular season Akron Firestone Non-Skids Akron Firestone Non-Skids Leroy Edwards (Oshkosh) NBL (United States) Most Valuable Player Award Leroy Edwards (Oshkosh) Playoffs Eastern Akron Firestone Non-Skids Western Oshkosh All-Stars Finals Akron Firestone Non-Skids Oshkosh All-Stars *Firestone Clubhouse, Akron, Ohio South Park School Gymnasium, Oshkosh, Wisconsin List of National Basketball League (United States) seasons NBL 1937–38 National Basketball League (United States) season 1937–38 1939–40 National Basketball League (United States) season 1939–40 The 1938–39 NBL season was the fourth National Basketball League (NBL) season. The regular season began on November 23, 1938, and ended on March 12, 1939. The playoffs began on March 14, 1939, and concluded on March 20, 1939, with the Akron Firestone Non-Skids defeating the Oshkosh All-Stars in the NBL Championship by 3 games to 2.Nelson Murry R. The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949 2009 McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers 978-0-7864-4006-1, pp. 52–67 Teams The barnstorming Sheboygan Red Skins officially joined the NBL in the mid-season period, with them officially entering the league on December 31, 1938. Interestingly, some of the games that the Sheboygan Red Skins had played against the NBL's teams this season would end up retroactively counting as a part of Sheboygan's season alongside every other NBL team that competed against team during this time. By contrast, six teams this season in the Buffalo Bisons, the Columbus Athletic Supply team, the Dayton Metropolitans, the Fort Wayne General Electrics, the Kankakee Gallagher Trojans, and the Cincinnati Comellos, either departed from the league or folded operations entirely prior to the season beginning and did not compete for this season.Nelson Murry R. The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949 2009 McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers 978-0-7864-4006-1, p. 53 The Whiting Ciesar All-Americans relocated from Whiting, Indiana to nearby Hammond, Indiana. +Eastern DivisionAkron Firestone Non-Skids Akron, OhioAkron Goodyear Wingfoots Akron, OhioPittsburgh Pirates Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaWarren Penns/Cleveland White Horses Warren, Pennsylvania/Cleveland, OhioWestern DivisionHammond Ciesar All-Americans Hammond, IndianaIndianapolis Kautskys Indianapolis, IndianaOshkosh All-Stars Oshkosh, WisconsinSheboygan Red Skins Sheboygan, Wisconsin The Warren Penns moved during the middle of the season in February 1939 from Warren, Pennsylvania to Cleveland, Ohio to become the Cleveland White Horses, following the team reaching a sponsorship deal with the White Motor Company, a Cleveland-based automaker, to help promote the 99 White Horse and 116 White Horse vehicles at the time.https://nbahoopsonline.com/History/Leagues/NBL/Teams/Warren-Cleveland/index.html Warren Penns / Cleveland Whitehorses history nbahoopsonline.comBradley Grasso Robert John Total Basketball: The Ultimate Basketball Encyclopedia 2003 SPORT Media Publishing, Inc. 1-894963-01-6, p. 420 +Coaching changesOffseason Team 1937–38 coach 1938–39 coachIndianapolis KautskysFrank Kautskyhttps://probasketballencyclopedia.com/season/indianapolis-kautskys-3/ INDIANAPOLIS KAUTSKYSBob Nipperhttps://probasketballencyclopedia.com/season/indianapolis-kautskys-4/ INDIANAPOLIS KAUTSKYSIn-season Team Outgoing coach Incoming coachWhiting Ciesar All-AmericansWhitey Wickhorsthttps://probasketballencyclopedia.com/season/hammond-ciesar-all-americans/ HAMMOND CIESAR ALL-AMERICANSLou Boudreau (player-coach) Preseason The NBL instituted a number of rule changes prior to the season. First, the jump ball was no longer to be used after every possession. Second, the maximum number of personal fouls a player could have to continue playing was increased from four to five. Finally, the NBL began to hire its own referees. While the NBL would end up failing to sign the two biggest college players of its time in Hank Luisetti and Mike Bloom, they would still sign other notable college players who would also have successful professional careers like John Moir, Paul Nowak, John Townsend, Lou Boudreau, Jerry Bush, and future Hall of Famer Buddy Jeannette. Regular season Teams played a 28-game schedule (with two home and two road games being played for each franchise) which was mostly followed outside of one game between the Indianapolis Katuskys and the Akron Firestone Non-Skids and another game between the Katuskys and the Pittsburgh Pirates, meaning both the Firestone Non-Skids and the Pirates played in only 27 games this season, while the Kautskys only played in 26 games this season. Team standings Eastern Division Western Division Postseason NBL Championship Only the top-seeded team from each division qualified for the playoffs, which used a one-round best-of-five championship. This marked the only time in the league's history where they decided to make their playoffs only consist of a championship round instead of at least utilizing a semifinal playoff round either in proper divisions or in a round robin tournament formatting akin to the first Midwest Basketball Conference season. In any case, the Akron Firestone Non-Skids would defeat the Oshkosh All-Stars three games to two to claim the NBL Championship this season. 5 NBL Championship E1 Akron Firestone Non-Skids 50 36 40 37 37 W1 Oshkosh All-Stars 38 38 29 49 30Bold Series winner World Professional Basketball Tournament 1939 World Professional Basketball Tournament Following the conclusion of the NBL season, the Oshkosh All-Stars and Sheboygan Red Skins represented the NBL in the inaugural World Professional Basketball Tournament held in Chicago, Illinois. Both teams won in the first round and the quarterfinals (though Oshkosh was given a bye in the quarterfinal round instead due to the awkward formatting of the WPBT for this inaugural event), before the All-Stars defeated the Red Skins in the semifinals. The All-Stars were the tournament runners-up, losing the final to the all-black New York Renaissance.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 Red Skins finished fourth, losing the third-place game to the similarly all-black Harlem Globetrotters. Statistics Leaders Category Player Team Stat Points Leroy Edwards Oshkosh All-Stars 334https://www.basketball-reference.com/nbl/leaders/ NBL Year-by-Year Leaders and Records for Points Basketball-Reference.com Free-Throws Leroy Edwards Oshkosh All-Stars 86https://www.basketball-reference.com/nbl/leaders/ NBL Year-by-Year Leaders and Records for Free Throws Basketball-Reference.com Field goals Leroy Edwards Oshkosh All-Stars 124https://www.basketball-reference.com/nbl/leaders/ NBL Year-by-Year Leaders and Records for Field Goals Basketball-Reference.com Note: Prior to the 1969–70 NBA season, league leaders in points were determined by totals rather than averages. Also, rebounding and assist numbers were not recorded properly in the NBL like they would be in the BAA/NBA, as would field goal and free-throw shooting percentages. Awards NBL Most Valuable Player: Leroy Edwards, Oshkosh All-Stars NBL Coach of the Year: Paul Sheeks, Akron Firestone Non-Skids NBL Rookie of the Year: Jewell Young, Indianapolis Kautskys 25em All-NBL First Team: F – Jerry Bush, Akron Firestone Non-Skids F – John Sines, Indianapolis Kautskys C/F – Leroy Edwards, Oshkosh All-Stars G/F – Soup Cable, Akron Firestone Non-Skids G – Paul Birch, Pittsburgh Pirates All-NBL Second Team: F – John Moir, Akron Firestone Non-Skids F/G – Jack Ozburn, Akron Firestone Non-Skids C/F – Jewell Young, Indianapolis Kautskys G/F – Charley Shipp, Akron Goodyear Wingfoots G – Chuck Bloedorn, Akron Goodyear Wingfoots http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Arena/6925/nbl.html https://web.archive.org/web/20050818001517/http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Arena/6925/nbl.html 2005-08-18 Steve Dimitry's NBL Web Site See also National Basketball League (United States) References External links National Basketball League 1937-38 to 1948-49 Association for Professional Basketball Research http://www.apbr.org/nblstand.html 2026-01-09 National Basketball League III RetroSeasons 2023-03-21 https://www.retroseasons.com/leagues/nbl/1939/overview/ 2026-01-09