1949–50 NBA season

The 1949–50 NBA season was the inaugural season of the National Basketball Association, which was created in 1949 by merger of the 3-year-old BAA and 12-year-old NBL.[1] The postseason tournament (the 1950 NBA Playoffs) at its conclusion, ended with the Minneapolis Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Syracuse Nationals 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.

1949–50 NBA season
LeagueNational Basketball Association
SportBasketball
Duration
  • October 29, 1949 – March 19, 1950
  • March 20–April 6, 1950 (Playoffs)
  • April 8–23, 1950 (Finals)
Number of games68
Number of teams17
Draft
Top draft pickHowie Shannon
Picked byProvidence Steamrollers
Regular season
Top seedSyracuse Nationals
Top scorerGeorge Mikan (Minneapolis)
Playoffs
Eastern championsSyracuse Nationals
  Eastern runners-upNew York Knicks
Central championsMinneapolis Lakers
  Central runners-upFort Wayne Pistons
Western championsAnderson Packers
  Western runners-upIndianapolis Olympians
Finals
ChampionsMinneapolis Lakers
  Runners-upSyracuse Nationals

Commonly 1949–50 is counted as the fourth NBA season. It recognizes the three BAA seasons (1946–47, 1947–48 and 1948–49) as part of its own history, sometimes without comment.[2]

Notable occurrences
Coaching changes
Offseason
Team 1948–49 coach 1949–50 coach
Fort Wayne Pistons Curly Armstrong Murray Mendenhall
Indianapolis Olympians Burl Fiddle Cliff Barker
Washington Capitols Red Auerbach Bob Feerick

Final standings

In this inaugural NBA season only, the ten surviving teams from 1948-49 BAA season played a heavy schedule of games with each other and a light schedule with the seven NBL participants in the merger that created the league, and vice versa.[3]

Eastern Division
Eastern Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Syracuse Nationals5113.797–31–115–125–09–1
x-New York Knicks4028.5881319–1018–163–220–6
x-Washington Capitols3236.4712121–1310–201–313–13
x-Philadelphia Warriors2642.3822515–158–233–49–17
Baltimore Bullets2543.3682616–158–251–38–18
Boston Celtics2246.3242912–145–285–411–15

Syracuse played a heavy schedule of 44 games against Western Division teams: on average just over seven games each, same as they played each other (35 to 37 games against five Western rivals). The Western Division teams were generally weaker on the court; none of the teams there won half of its games played outside the division. Yet Syracuse won at the same 80% rate against the East and Central (16–4) as they did against the West (35–9).[3]

Central Division
Central Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Minneapolis Lakers5117.750–30–118–163–016–8
x-Rochester Royals5117.750–33–117–61–015–9
x-Fort Wayne Pistons4028.5881128–612–22–14–10
x-Chicago Stags4028.5881118–614–218–111–13
St. Louis Bombers2642.3822517–147–262–24–20

To define first and third place, the Lakers played one game against the Royals, while the Stags played one against the Pistons, preliminary to the 1950 NBA Playoffs.

The five Central Division teams and five Eastern teams beside Syracuse — that is, the ten former BAA teams – uniformly played 68 games: six games in each pairing among themselves (54) and two games each against each of the Western teams and Syracuse (14).[3]

Western Division
Western Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Indianapolis Olympians3925.609–24–712–163–226–9
x-Anderson Packers3727.578222–912–183–025–12
x-Tri-Cities Blackhawks2935.4531020–136–203–220–17
x-Sheboygan Red Skins2240.3551717–145–220–415–20
Waterloo Hawks1943.3062016–152–221–613–22
Denver Nuggets1151.177289–161–251–108–27

The six Western Division teams and Syracuse—that is, the seven NBL participants in the merger—uniformly played two games each against every one of the ten BAA 1949 teams, the East and Central teams except Syracuse (20 games each). They played seven or nine games in each pairing among themselves (at least 42 games).[3]

x – clinched playoff spot
See also: 1950 NBA Playoffs

Playoffs
Main article: 1950 NBA Playoffs
Eastern Division
Semifinals Finals
      
1 Syracuse 2
4 Philadelphia 0
1 Syracuse 2
2 New York 1
2 New York 2
3 Washington 0
Central Division
Semifinals Finals
      
1 Minneapolis 2
4 Chicago 0
1 Minneapolis 2
3 Fort Wayne 0
2 Rochester 0
3 Fort Wayne 2
Western Division
Semifinals Finals
      
1 Indianapolis 2
4 Sheboygan 1
1 Indianapolis 1
2 Anderson 2
2 Anderson 2
3 Tri-Cities 1
League Finals

The three Division Champions were seeded 1-3 based on their respective regular season records, with the top seed earning a bye into the NBA Finals.

  Semifinals     Finals
                 
    1 Syracuse 2
  2 Minneapolis 2     2 Minneapolis 4
  3 Anderson 0  

Statistics leaders
CategoryPlayerTeamStat
PointsGeorge MikanMinneapolis Lakers1,865
AssistsDick McGuireNew York Knicks386
FG%Alex GrozaIndianapolis Olympians.478
FT%Max ZaslofskyChicago Stags.843

Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.

NBA awards

References

General source: 1949–50 NBA Season Summary basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 31, 2010.

  1. "NBA is born". History. November 16, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  2. "NBA Season Recaps: 1946-2019". NBA.com. July 24, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  3. "Expanded Standings". "1949–50 NBA Standings". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
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