List of defunct National Basketball Association teams

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional men's basketball league, consisting of 30 teams in North America (29 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 merged with 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. 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 before joining the NBA.[6] Nine of the fifteen defunct teams have played in only one NBA season. The Packers, Red Skins, and 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 left 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 successfully qualified for the playoffs in every years they were active in the league. Among cities that have hosted defunct NBA franchises, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Toronto, and Washington, D.C. are the only ones to currently have an NBA team.

Defunct teams

* Denotes team that won a championship
Team City Years active Seasons played Win–loss record Win% Playoffs appearances Reference
Anderson Packers[a] Anderson, Indiana 1949–1950 1 &1000000000000003700000037–27 .578 1 [8]
BAA Buffalo Buffalo, New York Never Played 0 &100000000000000000000000–0 N/A 0 [9]
BAA Indianapolis Indianapolis, Indiana Never Played 0 &100000000000000000000000–0 N/A 0 [9]
Baltimore Bullets*[b] Baltimore, Maryland 1947–1954[e] 8 &10000000000000158000000158–292 .351 3 [10]
Chicago Stags Chicago, Illinois 1946–1950 4 &10000000000000145000000145–92 .612 4 [11][12]
Cleveland Rebels Cleveland, Ohio 1946–1947 1 &1000000000000003000000030–30 .500 1 [13]
Denver Nuggets[c] Denver, Colorado 1949–1950 1 &1000000000000001100000011–51 .177 0 [14]
Detroit Falcons Detroit, Michigan 1946–1947 1 &1000000000000002000000020–40 .333 0 [15]
Indianapolis Jets Indianapolis, Indiana 1948–1949 1 &1000000000000001800000018–42 .300 0 [16]
Indianapolis Olympians Indianapolis, Indiana 1949–1953 4 &10000000000000132000000132–137 .491 4 [17]
Pittsburgh Ironmen Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1946–1947 1 &1000000000000001500000015–45 .250 0 [18]
Providence Steamrollers Providence, Rhode Island 1946–1949 3 &1000000000000004600000046–122 .274 0 [19]
Sheboygan Red Skins Sheboygan, Wisconsin 1949–1950 1 &1000000000000002200000022–40 .355 1 [20]
St. Louis Bombers St. Louis, Missouri 1946–1950 4 &10000000000000122000000122–115 .515 3 [21]
Toronto Huskies Toronto, Ontario 1946–1947 1 &1000000000000002200000022–38 .367 0 [22]
Washington Capitols Washington, D.C. 1946–1951[f] 5 &10000000000000157000000157–114 .579 4 [23]
Waterloo Hawks[d] Waterloo, Iowa 1949–1950 1 &1000000000000001900000019–43 .306 0 [24]

Notes

References

General
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. http://www.nba.com/history/firstgame_feature.html. Retrieved July 6, 2009. 
  2. ^ "Inside USA Basketball". USA Basketball. http://www.usabasketball.com/inside.php?page=inside. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  3. ^ Pennington, Bill (April 4, 2003). "Drugs; Anti-Doping Executive Plans to Prod Pro Leagues". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/04/sports/drugs-anti-doping-executive-plans-to-prod-pro-leagues.html. Retrieved July 6, 2009. 
  4. ^ Hugunin, Marc. & Thornley, Stew. (2006). Minnesota hoops: basketball in the North Star State. Minnesota Historical Society. p. 87. ISBN 0873515749. http://books.google.com/books?id=UeIfU7OTx3YC&pg=PA87. 
  5. ^ Bodenhamer, David J. & Barrows, Robert Graham. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press. p. 306. ISBN 0253312221. http://books.google.com/books?id=bg13QcMSsq8C&pg=PA306. 
  6. ^ Popper, Steve (February 14, 2004). "Pro Basketball; Rambis Is Underwhelmed by Coaching Record". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/14/sports/pro-basketball-rambis-is-underwhelmed-by-coaching-record.html. 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 0253211999. http://books.google.com/books?id=RYHmvgAurOwC&pg=PA180. 
  8. ^ "Anderson Packers". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/AND/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  9. ^ a b Bradley, Robert. "BAA League Minutes". APBR. http://www.apbr.org/baaminutes.html. Retrieved January 16, 2010. 
  10. ^ "Baltimore Bullets". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BLB/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  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. http://www.nba.com/bulls/history/stags_060417.html. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  12. ^ "Chicago Stags". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHS/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  13. ^ "Cleveland Rebels". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CLR/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  14. ^ "Denver Nuggets". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DNN/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  15. ^ "Detroit Falcons". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DTF/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  16. ^ "Indianapolis Jets". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/INJ/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  17. ^ "Indianapolis Olympians". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/INO/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  18. ^ "Pittsburgh Ironmen". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PIT/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  19. ^ "Providence Steamrollers". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PRO/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  20. ^ "Sheboygan Red Skins". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SHE/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  21. ^ "St. Louis Bombers". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/STB/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  22. ^ "Toronto Huskies". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/TRH/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  23. ^ "Washington Capitols". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/WSC/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  24. ^ "Waterloo Hawks". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/WAT/. Retrieved July 4, 2009. 
  25. ^ "1954–55 Standings". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/history/standings/19541955.html. Retrieved July 5, 2009. 
  26. ^ "1950–51 Standings". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/history/standings/19501951.html. Retrieved May 25, 2010. 
Defunct National Basketball Association teams
Category · Basketball Portal · 2011–2012 season