1946–47 BAA season

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1946–47 BAA season
League Basketball Association of America
Sport Basketball
Duration November 1, 1946 – March 31, 1947
Number of games 60
Number of teams 11
Regular season
Top scorer Joe Fulks (Philadelphia)
Playoffs
Eastern champions Philadelphia Warriors[lower-alpha 1]
  Eastern runners-up New York Knicks[lower-alpha 1]
Western champions Chicago Stags[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]
  Western runners-up Washington Capitols[lower-alpha 1]
Finals
Champions Philadelphia Warriors
  Runners-up Chicago Stags
BAA/NBA seasons
← None

The 1946–47 BAA season was the inaugural season of the Basketball Association of America. (Following its third, 1948–49 season, the BAA and National Basketball League merged to create the National Basketball Association or NBA.) The league launched with 11 teams playing a 60-game schedule. The postseason tournament at its conclusion, the 1947 BAA Playoffs, ended with the Philadelphia Warriors becoming the first BAA Champion, beating the Chicago Stags 4 games to 1 in the BAA Finals.

The NBA recognizes the three BAA seasons as part of its own history, sometimes without comment,[1] so BAA 1946–47 is sometimes considered the first NBA season.

Notable events

  • On November 1, 1946, in the inaugural game of the new league, the New York Knicks beat the Toronto Huskies 68–66 in front of 7,090 spectators at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Ossie Schectman scored the opening basket for the New York against Toronto. In 1949, the BAA helped create the National Basketball Association by merger, and Schectman's shot may be considered the first basket in NBA history.[2] The NBA recognizes the three BAA seasons as part of its own history, sometimes without comment.[3]

Final standings

Eastern Division

Western Division

Statistics leaders

Category Player Team Stat
Points Joe Fulks Philadelphia Warriors 1,389
Assists Ernie Calverley Providence Steamrollers 202
FG% Bob Feerick Washington Capitols .401
FT% Fred Scolari Washington Capitols .811

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

BAA awards

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The 1947 BAA Playoffs did not generate Eastern and Western champions and runners-up, as NBA Playoffs have done from 1951 to present. Eastern and Western leaders, or perhaps champions, Washington and Chicago played off to determine one finalist while four runners-up played off to determine the other finalist.
      The listed teams were BAA playoff finalists and semifinalists, as Eastern and Western champions and runners-up in the NBA have been playoff finalists and semifinalists from 1951 to present.
  2. Chicago may reasonably be called Eastern champion.

References

  1. "NBA Season Recaps". NBA History (nba.com/history). July 1, 2014. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
  2. For instance: "Do you know who scored THE FIRST BASKET in the NBA?". The First Basket: A Jewish Basketball Documentary (thefirstbasket.com). Retrieved 2015-03-04.
  3. "NBA Season Recaps". NBA History (nba.com/history). July 1, 2014. Retrieved 2015-03-04.

External links