Today we look at the beginning of the National Basketball Association. At the end of World War 2, major league basketball was not well organized. At least not quite as well as Baseball, Football and Hockey. Some sports leagues are formed by teams that are dissatified with the league they are in the go out and organize a league that will be run more like the way they want it run. That was not the case with the founding of the NBA. The league was founded by arena owners looking to fill empty dates on their schedules.
Thus on June 6, 1946 the league was founded as the Basketball Association of America. The league awarded 11 franchises on that date to the cities of Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; New York, NY; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Providence, Rhode Island; Saint Louis, Missouri; Toronto, Ontario and Washington, DC. The league was fortunate that no changes were made in the league lineup between the founding and the first opening day. Many leagues look quite different from the time they are announced and the time that they begin pay. On the eleven cities that did begin play, two of them remain in the league since that day, Boston with the Celtics and New York with the Knicks. Seven of the other cities are currently in the league and two cities Pittsburgh and Providence remain out of the league. The league founders should be congratulated for the fine beginning for the league.
Tomorrow we look at a hard fought sweep in the Stanley Cup Finals.
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