Player info Draft History

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Quick facts:

Founded:  1946
Folded:   1949
Arena:    Rhode Island Auditorium
          1111 North Main Street
          Providence, Rhode Island
          02906
Built in: 1926
Capacity: 5300
Titles:   None
Playoffs: 1

1946-49 BAA Providence Steam Rollers 

Coachs: 4 
Robert Morris    1946-47 
Nat Hickey       1947-48 
Albert Soar      1947-48 
Ken Loeffler     1948-49 

Owner: Louis Pieri

Just plain bad:
The Steamrollers rightfully could be called the worst NBA team in the history of the NBA. In their 3 seasons they managed to win only 46 games out of the 122 that they played in for a 37.7% win percentage.

Good Start:
The Steamrollers played in one of the first games in BAA history and actually won their first game. They beat the Boston Celtics 59-53. The Rollers were lead by Rhode Island native Dino Martin, the 5'8" guard scored 18 points to lead the Steamrollers.

Five days later the Rollers hosted the Chicago Stags and won 73-65, the following night they beat the Pittsburgh Ironmen for their third win in a row. The Rollers started off their first season 4-1 - that is about as good as it ever got for the Rollers as they would lose 8 of their next 10 games and finish the season 28-32.

High Scoring:
The Steamrollers were actually a high scoring team for their time during their first season. In the 46-47 season the Rollers lead the BAA in scoring at 72.5 points per game, unfortinately, they also had the worst defense in the BAA allowing 74.2 points per game. Oddly enough, the Rollers never scored 100 points in any game that season and only let up 100 points once, and that was to Philadelphia near the end of the season

Fun Facts:
Nat Hickey, 46, is the oldest NBA player ever. Hickey played a few minutes for the Rollers in a 94-61 loss to the St Louis Bombers on January 27, 1948, scoring 2 points. He is still the oldest player to score in an NBA game. He went scoreless in the next game against the Knicks and retired.

Hickey finished his BAA career playing in just 2 games and going 0-6 from the field and committing 5 person fouls.

Not so fun Facts:
The Steamroller six wins in 47-48 is still an NBA low. They finished 6-42 (.125) and 2-20 (.091) at home which remain NBA records, except for the expansion Charlotte Bobcats had a lower win percentage going 7-59 (.106) in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season.

Its in the name:
The team took its name from the NFL franchise that was also called the Providence Steamrollers which played from 1916-1933. They won the NFL championship in 1928 and are the last NFL champion to no longer be in the league.

Christmas Tradition:
The first ever Christmas day NBA game was between the New York Knicks and the Providence Steamrollers. The Knicks won 89-75.

Saving Graces:
With the Steamrollers struggling, owner Lou Pieri sought the advice of Red Auerbach, a upstart young coach of the Tri-Cities Blackhawks ; now the Atlanta Hawks. Auerbach told Pieri that his team needed talent; needed a new arena and a huge infusion of cash to become competitive. Armed with this information as well as his team's dwiddling attendance, Pieri folded the Steamrollers.

In 1950, he was approached by Celtics owner Walter Brown, who was desperately short of cash. Pieri offered a lifeline, an investment to become minority owner in the Boston franchise. However, his offer came with conditions - that Brown hire Auerbach as the Celtics' head coach and that the Celtics play some games in Providence. Brown agreed and Pieri held an interest in the Celtics until 1964

The deal ended up being a saving grace for the Celtics and for Auerbach, who guided Boston to 9 NBA titles and is considered one of the greatest coaches in NBA History.

Back from the dead in 1980:
In one of the most bizzare events in NBA history, the long dormant Steamrollers attempted to rejoin the NBA in 1980.

Robert Chernov bought the Steamrollers from Lou Pieri's estate in 1969 and in 1980 Chernov sued the NBA to reinstate the Steamrollers. Chernov claimed that the NBA bylaws allowed him to bring the back because the the bylaws at the time stated that a team could be reactivated if it ceased operations. The NBA and its general counsel David Stern disagreed.

Stern was adamant that the the time had lapsed for the Steamrollers to be brought back, and pointed out that the first official act of the NBA after the merger with the NBL was to remove the Steamrollers.

Chernov attempted to halt the 1980 NBA draft and almost got a court order to do so. But on June 10, 1980 a federal judge ruled against Chernov and ended the drama.

This was actually not Chernov's first attempt to get the NBA back to Providence, nor his last. In 1978 he tried to get the Indiana Pacers to Providence but that failed for lack of funding. Chernov somewhat tried again in 1984 as he was rumored to be interested in buying the Utah Jazz, but in reality was not a player in that deal.

Head coach Hank Soar with Dino Martin (4), George Nostrand(14) Hank Beenders(6) and another player in 1947.