Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League

The Pacific Coast Professional Basketball League, or PCPBL, was a short-lived professional basketball league that lasted for two seasons between 1946 and 1948. The league faced numerous obstacles in a region that, at the time, was not renowned for its professional basketball tradition. It also operated in an area where fans were generally more interested in baseball and college football than professional basketball.

The league began play in 1946 with seven teams, but within only a few weeks the PCPBL was down to four surviving clubs.

The four remaining teams took part in a round-robin playoff format. Each team played two home games and two road games against each of the other three remaining franchises.

The Bellingham Fircrests finished the round-robin tournament with a league-best 9-3 record and were therefore crowned champions.

Bellingham declined an invitation to the World Professional Basketball Tournament. The invitation instead went to the Portland Indians, who became the first—and only—West Coast team to play in the prestigious tournament.

The Indians played well in the tournament and had the NBL champion Sheboygan Red Skins on the ropes. At the end of the third quarter, Portland led Sheboygan 43-35.

The Red Skins then completed one of the biggest turnarounds in basketball history. Sheboygan outscored Portland 27-5 in the fourth quarter to win the game 62-48.

The league's second season brought even more problems. The PCPBL added two teams, but the expansion did little to improve attendance. The larger markets of Vancouver, Seattle and Portland struggled to generate fans and revenue, while the league's smaller markets fared even worse.

Despite those difficulties, the PCPBL continued into its second season. The schedule was divided into two halves.

The Seattle Athletics finished atop the league during the first half of the season and then finished one-half game behind Bellingham during the second half.

Five of the six teams that began the season were able to finish it, after which the league adopted a bizarre playoff format.

The winner of each half of the season was awarded a playoff berth, while the remaining teams played another round-robin tournament. Portland won the round-robin tournament and was scheduled to host the winner of a Seattle-Bellingham series.

Both Bellingham and Seattle were unhappy with the decision made by league president Al Clark, who also owned the Portland franchise, but both teams agreed to play.

Bellingham added a player named Norm Baker from the Vancouver franchise, and Baker played a key role in Bellingham defeating Seattle in Game 1 of their best-of-three series.

Seattle protested Baker's participation. League president Clark ruled in Seattle's favor and awarded the Athletics the victory.

The decision infuriated Bellingham, which threatened to withdraw from the playoffs unless the ruling was overturned. Clark refused to reverse the decision, and Bellingham withdrew.

Seattle advanced to face Portland in a best-of-five championship series. The underdog Indians won the first two games in Seattle before returning home with an opportunity to close out the series.

The Athletics responded by winning Game 3.

Controversy struck again in the closing seconds of the next game. Portland held a two-point lead, and Seattle had an opportunity to tie the game when the Portland timekeeper accidentally sounded the buzzer.

The referee—who had played for Portland during the previous season—blew the game over.

Seattle again protested the result. Clark, serving simultaneously as league president and owner of the Portland Indians, declared the game a no contest, effectively giving Portland the victory and the championship.

One of the most unusual features of the PCPBL was its penalty box, similar to the system used in hockey. A player assessed his fifth personal foul was sent to a plywood enclosure for two minutes before being allowed to return to the game.

In the photograph above, Portland's Noble Jorgensen is shown relaxing inside the small enclosure.

The PCPBL was one of the early professional basketball leagues to use integrated rosters, with Black and Hispanic players allowed to participate.

The NBL permitted integration during World War II but moved away from it during the late 1940s. The BAA included an Asian-American player before the league fully integrated during the early NBA era of the 1950s.