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List of defunct NBA teams

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The entrance of a concrete building behind a front lawn and a flag pole
The Sheboygan Municipal Auditorium and Armory was the home arena for the Sheboygan Redskins.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional men's basketball league, consisting of thirty teams in North America (twenty-nine in the United States and one in Canada). The NBA was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA).[1] It adopted the name National Basketball Association at the start of the 1949–50 season when it absorbed the National Basketball League (NBL).[1] The NBA is an active member of USA Basketball, which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) as the National Governing Body (NGB) for basketball in the country.[2] The league is considered to be one of the four major professional sports leagues of North America.[3]

There have been 15 defunct NBA franchises, of which nine played in only one NBA season. The Anderson Packers, the original Denver Nuggets, the Indianapolis Jets, the Sheboygan Red Skins, and the Waterloo Hawks had played in the NBL before joining the NBA,[4][5] while the original Baltimore Bullets had played in the American Basketball League and NBL before joining the NBA.[6] The Packers, Red Skins, and Waterloo Hawks left the NBA for the National Professional Basketball League, and are the only defunct teams to have ceased to exist in a league other than the NBA.[7] The original Bullets were the last defunct team to leave the NBA, having folded during the 1954–55 season, and are the only defunct team to have won an NBA championship. The Chicago Stags, the Indianapolis Olympians, the Cleveland Rebels, the Packers, and the Red Skins qualified for the playoffs in every year they were active in the league.

Among cities that have hosted defunct NBA franchises, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Toronto, and Washington, D.C. all currently have an NBA team, while Providence, Anderson and Sheboygan are all close to an hour away from a market with an NBA franchise and Pittsburgh is two hours away from an NBA franchise. St. Louis and Buffalo would receive replacement franchises that would later relocate.

Defunct teams

[edit]
* Denotes team that won a championship
Team City Years active
in NBA 		Seasons
in NBA 		Win–loss
record 		Winning
percentage 		Playoff
appearances 		Reference
Anderson Packers[a] Anderson, Indiana 1949–1950 1 37–27 57.8% 1 [8]
Baltimore Bullets*[b] Baltimore, Maryland 1947–1954[e] 8 158–292 35.1% 3 [9]
Buffalo Buffalo, New York Never played 0 0–0 N/A 0 [10]
Chicago Stags Chicago, Illinois 1946–1950 4 145–92 61.2% 4 [11][12]
Cleveland Rebels Cleveland, Ohio 1946–1947 1 30–30 50.0% 1 [13]
Denver Nuggets[c] Denver, Colorado 1949–1950 1 11–51 17.7% 0 [14]
Detroit Falcons Detroit, Michigan 1946–1947 1 20–40 33.3% 0 [15]
Indianapolis Indianapolis, Indiana Never played 0 0–0 N/A 0 [10]
Indianapolis Jets 1948–1949 1 18–42 30.0% 0 [16]
Indianapolis Olympians 1949–1953 4 132–137 49.1% 4 [17]
Pittsburgh Ironmen Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1946–1947 1 15–45 25.0% 0 [18]
Providence Steamrollers Providence, Rhode Island 1946–1949 3 46–122 27.4% 0 [19]
Sheboygan Red Skins[g] Sheboygan, Wisconsin 1949–1950 1 22–40 35.5% 1 [20]
St. Louis Bombers St. Louis, Missouri 1946–1950 4 122–115 51.5% 3 [21]
Toronto Huskies Toronto, Ontario 1946–1947 1 22–38 36.7% 0 [22]
Washington Capitols[h] Washington, D.C. 1946–1951[f] 5 157–114 57.9% 4 [23]
Waterloo Hawks[d] Waterloo, Iowa 1949–1950 1 19–43 30.6% 0 [24]

BAA Buffalo

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BAA Buffalo was a planned basketball team in the BAA (Basketball Association of America), a forerunner of the NBA (National Basketball Association), based in Buffalo New York. The franchise which was granted on June 6, 1946, never played a game and was cancelled by the BAA on May 10, 1948. [25]

See also

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Notes

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References

[edit]
General
  • "Team Index". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
Specific
  1. ^ a b Goldaper, Sam (April 17, 2006). "Nov. 1, 1946: New York vs. Toronto — The First Game". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
  2. ^ "Inside USA Basketball". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on June 11, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  3. ^ Pennington, Bill (April 4, 2003). "Drugs; Anti-Doping Executive Plans to Prod Pro Leagues". The New York Times. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
  4. ^ Hugunin, Marc. & Thornley, Stew. (2006). Minnesota hoops: basketball in the North Star State. Minnesota Historical Society. p. 87. ISBN 0-87351-574-9.
  5. ^ Bodenhamer, David J. & Barrows, Robert Graham. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press. p. 306. ISBN 0-253-31222-1.
  6. ^ Popper, Steve (February 14, 2004). "Pro Basketball; Rambis Is Underwhelmed by Coaching Record". The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
  7. ^ Gould, Todd (1998). Pioneers of the hardwood: Indiana and the birth of professional basketball. Indiana University Press. p. 180. ISBN 0-253-21199-9.
  8. ^ "Anderson Packers". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 11, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  9. ^ "Baltimore Bullets". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  10. ^ a b Bradley, Robert. "BAA League Minutes". APBR. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  11. ^ Ballantini, Brett (April 17, 2006). "Stag Party: Six decades ago, the Chicago Stags ruled the Windy City hardwood". NBA.com/Bulls. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  12. ^ "Chicago Stags". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  13. ^ "Cleveland Rebels". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  14. ^ "Denver Nuggets". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  15. ^ "Detroit Falcons". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  16. ^ "Indianapolis Jets". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  17. ^ "Indianapolis Olympians". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  18. ^ "Pittsburgh Ironmen". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  19. ^ "Providence Steamrollers". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  20. ^ "Sheboygan Red Skins". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  21. ^ "St. Louis Bombers". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  22. ^ "Toronto Huskies". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  23. ^ "Washington Capitols". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  24. ^ "Waterloo Hawks". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  25. ^ Bradley, Robert. "Basketball Association of America League Minutes 1946-1949". APBR. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  26. ^ "1954–55 Standings". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
  27. ^ "1950–51 Standings". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on March 16, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2010.

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