National Basketball League History

The National Basketball League was one of the most important professional basketball leagues in American history. Its roots can be traced to the Midwest Basketball Conference, which began play in 1935. The league adopted the National Basketball League name in 1937 and operated for 12 seasons before its remaining clubs combined with the Basketball Association of America in 1949.

The NBL developed primarily in the industrial Midwest and Great Lakes region. Unlike the modern NBA, many early teams were directly associated with corporations. Goodyear, Firestone, General Electric, Studebaker and Zollner were among the companies that supported professional basketball clubs. In many cases, players could work for the sponsoring company in addition to playing basketball.

That industrial structure produced some of the most distinctive team names in basketball history, including the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots, Akron Firestone Non-Skids, Fort Wayne General Electrics, Chicago Studebaker Flyers and Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons.

The league was considerably less standardized than today's NBA. Schedules could vary between teams, franchises frequently relocated or changed sponsors, and clubs sometimes entered or left the league after only a single season. During the earliest years, even game formats were not always uniform. Some contests were played with four 10-minute quarters while others experimented with three 15-minute periods.

The NBL began with clubs concentrated in cities such as Akron, Oshkosh, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Whiting. Many of these markets were much smaller than the cities later targeted by the Basketball Association of America, but the NBL developed a deep pool of professional talent.

The Oshkosh All-Stars became the league's first sustained powerhouse. Oshkosh reached the championship series five consecutive times from 1938 through 1942 and won NBL championships in 1941 and 1942.

At the center of Oshkosh's success was Leroy "Cowboy" Edwards, one of professional basketball's earliest dominant centers. Edwards led the NBL in scoring during each of its first three seasons and was named league MVP three consecutive times.

The next great NBL power was the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons. Owned by Fred Zollner, the Pistons became one of the most professionally operated organizations of the era. Led by Bobby McDermott, Fort Wayne won consecutive NBL championships in 1944 and 1945.

The Sheboygan Red Skins were another fixture of the league. Sheboygan reached the NBL Finals five times between 1941 and 1946 and won the 1943 championship.

The NBL had remarkable competitive balance during its 12 seasons. The Akron Firestone Non-Skids, Oshkosh All-Stars and Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons each won two championships, while Akron Goodyear, Sheboygan, Rochester, Chicago, Minneapolis and Anderson each won one.

View the complete NBL Champions page »

For the complete franchise lineup for every season, visit the NBL Teams by Year page. For complete records and playoff results, see the NBL Standings.

Leroy "Cowboy" Edwards was the dominant player of the NBL's earliest seasons. The Oshkosh center led the league in scoring three consecutive years and became the league's first three-time MVP.

Bobby McDermott became the defining star of the middle NBL years. A brilliant long-range shooter in an era before the three-point line, McDermott starred for Fort Wayne and won four consecutive NBL MVP awards from 1943 through 1946.

Bob Davies was one of professional basketball's first great guards and helped transform the Rochester Royals into an immediate championship team. Rochester won the NBL title in its first league season in 1945-46.

Al Cervi became one of the league's premier two-way guards and later served as player-coach of the Syracuse Nationals. His career connected the NBL directly to the early NBA.

George Mikan changed professional basketball. The 6-foot-10 DePaul star joined the Chicago American Gears, led them to the 1947 NBL championship and then became the centerpiece of the Minneapolis Lakers. He led Minneapolis to the 1948 NBL championship before the Lakers moved to the BAA.

Other major NBL stars included Don Otten, Mel Riebe, Gene Englund, Red Holzman, Arnie Risen, Jim Pollard and Dolph Schayes.

View the Top 10 NBL Players of All-Time »

The arrival of George Mikan changed the balance of power in professional basketball. Mikan first dominated the NBL with the Chicago American Gears, leading the club to the 1947 championship. After Gears owner Maurice White removed the franchise from the NBL to help establish the Professional Basketball League of America, the new league quickly collapsed.

Mikan then joined the Minneapolis Lakers. The Lakers had been created after the struggling Detroit Gems franchise was purchased and relocated to Minneapolis. With Mikan, Jim Pollard and a strong supporting cast, Minneapolis immediately became a powerhouse and won the 1948 NBL championship.

The Lakers then left the NBL for the BAA, taking professional basketball's biggest star with them. Minneapolis won the 1949 BAA championship and became the first great dynasty of the NBA era.

The professional basketball landscape changed when the Basketball Association of America began play in 1946. The NBL had many established players and successful clubs, but the BAA operated primarily in larger cities and major arenas such as Madison Square Garden and Boston Garden.

For three seasons, the leagues competed for players, franchises, attention and control of professional basketball. The rivalry became especially damaging to the NBL after the 1947-48 season, when four important franchises left for the BAA: Minneapolis, Rochester, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis.

The departures gave the BAA several established organizations and, most importantly, George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers. The NBL continued for one final season in 1948-49, with the Anderson Packers winning the league's final championship.

On August 3, 1949, representatives of the NBL and BAA reached an agreement that brought the two leagues together under the National Basketball Association name. The newly organized NBA began the 1949-50 season with 17 teams.

The Anderson Packers, Denver Nuggets, Sheboygan Red Skins, Syracuse Nationals, Tri-Cities Blackhawks and Waterloo Hawks entered the NBA from the final NBL season. The Indianapolis Olympians also entered the new league.

Maurice Podoloff, who had led the BAA, became president of the NBA. The modern NBA recognizes the BAA's three seasons from 1946-47 through 1948-49 as part of its official historical record. NBL statistics, championships and records are not included in official NBA totals.

That distinction means George Mikan's 1948 NBL championship with Minneapolis, for example, is historically part of the Lakers' pre-NBA franchise story but is not counted as an NBA championship. The same separation applies to the NBL championships won by Fort Wayne and Rochester.

Read: The Merger That Formed the NBA »

The NBL also occupies an important place in the history of racial integration in professional basketball. During the 1942-43 season, African-American players appeared for the Chicago Studebaker Flyers and Toledo Jim White Chevrolets, years before the NBA became integrated.

The wartime Chicago team included several players associated with the Harlem Globetrotters who also worked at the Studebaker defense plant. Their presence made the NBL one of the major professional basketball leagues to break the color barrier during the 1940s.

The league's final season included another historic organization. The Detroit Vagabond Kings withdrew after beginning the 1948-49 campaign, and their place was taken by the Dayton Rens. The team was connected to the New York Renaissance, one of the most important African-American basketball organizations of the pre-NBA era.

The National Basketball League lasted only 12 seasons under the NBL name, but its influence extends directly into modern professional basketball. It helped establish the professional careers of George Mikan, Bobby McDermott, Bob Davies, Leroy Edwards, Al Cervi, Dolph Schayes, Jim Pollard and many other early stars.

The league also developed franchises that became the Lakers, Pistons, Kings, Hawks and 76ers. Several other NBL clubs entered the NBA in 1949 before eventually disappearing.

The NBL's industrial roots are equally important. Professional basketball survived in communities such as Akron, Oshkosh, Sheboygan, Fort Wayne, Anderson, Waterloo, Kankakee and Youngstown long before national television contracts and billion-dollar arenas transformed the economics of the sport.

The Akron Goodyear Wingfoots, champions of the first NBL season, continued playing outside the NBA structure long after leaving the NBL, providing another direct connection to the industrial basketball era.

Although the NBA does not include NBL statistics and championships in its official record book, the history of the modern league cannot be fully understood without the NBL.