1947–48_NBA_season
1947–48 BAA season
Second NBA season
The 1947–48 BAA season was the second season of the Basketball Association of America. The 1948 BAA Playoffs ended with the Baltimore Bullets winning the BAA Championship, beating the Philadelphia Warriors in 6 games in the BAA Finals.
| 1947–48 BAA season | |
|---|---|
| League | Basketball Association of America |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration |
|
| Number of games | 48 |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | Clifton McNeely |
| Picked by | Pittsburgh Ironmen |
| Regular season | |
| Top seed | St. Louis Bombers |
| Top scorer | Max Zaslofsky (Chicago) |
| Playoffs | |
| Eastern champions | Philadelphia Warriors[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] |
| Eastern runners-up | St. Louis Bombers[lower-alpha 1] |
| Western champions | Baltimore Bullets[lower-alpha 1] |
| Western runners-up | Chicago Stags[lower-alpha 1] |
| Finals | |
| Champions | Baltimore Bullets |
| Runners-up | Philadelphia Warriors |
| BAA/NBA seasons | |
Although not celebrated at the time, this season was historic, with Wataru Misaka of the New York Knicks becoming the first person of color to play in modern professional basketball.[1]
The NBA recognizes the three BAA seasons as part of its own history so the 1947–48 BAA season is considered the second NBA season.[2]
| Offseason | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | 1946–47 coach | 1947–48 coach |
| New York Knicks | Neil Cohalan | Joe Lapchick |
| Providence Steamrollers | Robert Morris | Albert Soar |
| In-season | ||
| Team | Outgoing coach | Incoming coach |
| Providence Steamrollers | Albert Soar | Nat Hickey |
Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Toronto folded before the season started, leaving the BAA with only seven teams. (All cities except Pittsburgh would get new NBA teams in future years.) The Baltimore Bullets were brought into the league from the American Basketball League to provide a more convenient number, eight.
Eastern Division
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Western Division
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There were no byes. Western and Eastern champions St. Louis and Philadelphia immediately played a long semifinal series with St. Louis having home-court advantage. Philadelphia won the seventh game in St. Louis, 85–46, two days before Baltimore concluded its sequence of tie-breaker (not shown) and two short series with other runners-up.
| First Round | BAA Semifinals | BAA Finals | |||||||||||
| W1 | St. Louis* | 3 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Philadelphia* | 4 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Philadelphia* | 2 | |||||||||||
| W2 | Baltimore | 2 | |||||||||||
| W2 | Baltimore | 4 | |||||||||||
| E2 | New York | 1 | |||||||||||
| W2 | Baltimore | 2 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Chicago | 0 | |||||||||||
| E3 | Boston | 1 | |||||||||||
| W3 | Chicago | 2 | |||||||||||
- * Division winner
- Bold Series winner
| Category | Player | Team | Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | Max Zaslofsky | Chicago Stags | 1,007 |
| Assists | Howie Dallmar | Philadelphia Warriors | 120 |
| FG% | Bob Feerick | Washington Capitols | .340 |
| FT% | Bob Feerick | Washington Capitols | .788 |
Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.
- All-BAA First Team
- C Ed Sadowski, Boston Celtics
- F Joe Fulks, Philadelphia Warriors
- F Howie Dallmar, Philadelphia Warriors
- F Bob Feerick, Washington Capitols
- G Max Zaslofsky, Chicago Stags
- All-BAA Second Team
- BAA Rookie of the Year
- The 1948 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, Philadelphia and St. Louis 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.
- Goldstein, Richard (November 21, 2019). "Wat Misaka, First Nonwhite in Modern Pro Basketball, Dies at 95". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
- "NBA Season Recaps: 1946-2019". NBA.com. July 24, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2020.