The World Professional Basketball Tournament was an annual invitational tournament held in Chicago from 1939 to 1948 and sponsored by the Chicago Herald American.^[1] Many teams came from the National Basketball League, but it also included the best teams from other leagues and the best independent barnstorming teams such as the New York Rens and Harlem Globetrotters. Games were played at various sites including Chicago Coliseum, International Amphitheater and Chicago Stadium.

The NBL champion usually won this tournament, with three exceptions: the New York Rens won the first WPBT in 1939,^[2] while the Harlem Globetrotters—a strongly competitive squad in those days—won the following year.^[3] In 1943, the Washington Bears (with many New York Rens players on their roster) won the tournament. The NBL's Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons won the most titles (three, from 1944 to 1946), while the NBL's Oshkosh All-Stars made the most finals appearances with five, winning only once (in 1942).

The last tournament was held in 1948, with the Minneapolis Lakers defeating the New York Rens 75–71 in the tournament final.^[1][4] The following year, The Indianapolis News attempted to hold a similar tournament,^[5] inviting the Wilkes-Barre Barons from the American Basketball League, three teams each from the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League, and one team that would remain unidentified until shortly before the seeded draw.^[6][7] Although the National Basketball League agreed to attend, the tournament did not come to fruition after the BAA declined the invitation.^[8]

• Twenty-seven teams entered the tournament in various years but did not win a game; eight teams had one win.
• The New York Celtics played in the initial tournament in 1939, but lost their only game. Another well-known team, the Philadelphia Sphas, had a win and a loss in their only appearance, in 1941 .