# 1949–50 NBA season

The 1949–50 NBA season was the fourth season of the National Basketball Association. It was the first season after the merger of the 3-year-old BAA and 12-year-old NBL. The 1950 NBA playoffs ended with the Minneapolis Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Syracuse Nationals in 6 games in the NBA Finals.
1949–50 is counted as the fourth NBA season as it recognizes the three BAA seasons (1946–47, 1947–48 and 1948–49) as part of its own history, sometimes without comment.

## Notable occurrences

* The Indianapolis Jets and Providence Steamrollers folded after the 1948–49 season, leaving the BAA with 10 teams. Excluding the Jets, three of those teams had joined the BAA from the National Basketball League (NBL) one year before.
* Six NBL franchises – (Anderson, Denver, Sheboygan, Syracuse, Tri-Cities, and Waterloo) and one expansion team (Indianapolis Olympians) – joined with the ten surviving BAA teams to create the National Basketball Association with 17 teams.
Coaching changes :
| Offseason |||
| Team | 1948–49 coach | 1949–50 coach |
| Fort Wayne Pistons | Curly Armstrong | Murray Mendenhall |
| Washington Capitols | Red Auerbach | Bob Feerick |

## Teams

1949-50 National Basketball Association :
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
| Eastern | Baltimore Bullets | Baltimore, Maryland | Baltimore Coliseum | 4,500 |
| Eastern | Boston Celtics | Boston, Massachusetts | Boston Garden | 13,909 |
| Eastern | New York Knicks | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | 18,496 |
| Eastern | Philadelphia Warriors | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Philadelphia Arena | 5,526 |
| Eastern | Syracuse Nationals ^ | Syracuse, New York | State Fair Coliseum | 7,500 |
| Eastern | Washington Capitols | Washington, D.C. | Uline Arena | 8,000 |
| Central | Chicago Stags | Chicago, Illinois | Chicago Stadium | 17,000 |
| Central | Fort Wayne Pistons | Fort Wayne, Indiana | North Side High School Gym | 3,000 |
| Central | Minneapolis Lakers | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Minneapolis Auditorium | 10,000 |
| Central | Rochester Royals | Rochester, New York | Edgerton Park Arena | 4,200 |
| Central | St. Louis Bombers | St. Louis, Missouri | St. Louis Arena | 15,000 |
| Western | Anderson Packers ^ | Anderson, Indiana | Anderson High School Wigwam | 8,996 |
| Western | Denver Nuggets ^ | Denver, Colorado | Denver Auditorium Arena | 12,500 |
| Western | Indianapolis Olympians * | Indianapolis, Indiana | Hinkle Fieldhouse | 15,000 |
| Western | Sheboygan Red Skins ^ | Sheboygan, Wisconsin | Sheboygan Municipal Auditorium and Armory | 3,974 |
| Western | Tri-Cities Blackhawks ^ | Moline, Illinois | Wharton Field House | 6,000 |
| Western | Waterloo Hawks ^ | Waterloo, Iowa | The Hippodrome | 5,155 |
* Team merged from NBL ^
* Expansion team *

## Final standings

In this inaugural NBA season only, the ten surviving teams from 1948–49 BAA season played a heavy schedule of games with each other and a light schedule with the seven NBL participants in the merger that created the league, and vice versa.

### Eastern Division

| Eastern Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| x-Syracuse Nationals | 51 | 13 | .797 | – | 31–1 | 15–12 | 5–0 | 9–1 |
| x-New York Knicks | 40 | 28 | .588 | 13 | 19–10 | 18–16 | 3–2 | 20–6 |
| x-Washington Capitols | 32 | 36 | .471 | 21 | 21–13 | 10–20 | 1–3 | 13–13 |
| x-Philadelphia Warriors | 26 | 42 | .382 | 25 | 15–15 | 8–23 | 3–4 | 9–17 |
| Baltimore Bullets | 25 | 43 | .368 | 26 | 16–15 | 8–25 | 1–3 | 8–18 |
| Boston Celtics | 22 | 46 | .324 | 29 | 12–14 | 5–28 | 5–4 | 11–15 |
Syracuse played a heavy schedule of 44 games against Western Division teams: on average just over seven games each, same as they played each other (35 to 37 games against five Western rivals). The Western Division teams were generally weaker on the court; none of the teams there won half of its games played outside the division. Yet Syracuse won at the same 80% rate against the East and Central (16–4) as they did against the West (35–9).

### Central Division

| Central Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| x-Minneapolis Lakers | 51 | 17 | .750 | – | 30–1 | 18–16 | 3–0 | 16–8 |
| x-Rochester Royals | 51 | 17 | .750 | – | 33–1 | 17–16 | 1–0 | 15–9 |
| x-Fort Wayne Pistons | 40 | 28 | .588 | 11 | 28–6 | 12–22 | – | 14–10 |
| x-Chicago Stags | 40 | 28 | .588 | 11 | 18–6 | 14–21 | 8–1 | 11–13 |
| St. Louis Bombers | 26 | 42 | .382 | 25 | 17–14 | 7–26 | 2–2 | 4–20 |
To define first and third place, the Lakers played one game against the Royals, while the Stags played one against the Pistons, preliminary to the 1950 NBA playoffs.
The five Central Division teams and five Eastern teams beside Syracuse — that is, the ten former BAA teams – uniformly played 68 games: six games in each pairing among themselves (54) and two games each against each of the Western teams and Syracuse (14).

### Western Division

| Western Divisionvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Neutral | Div |
| x-Indianapolis Olympians | 39 | 25 | .609 | – | 24–7 | 12–16 | 3–2 | 26–9 |
| x-Anderson Packers | 37 | 27 | .578 | 2 | 22–9 | 12–18 | 3–0 | 25–12 |
| x-Tri-Cities Blackhawks | 29 | 35 | .453 | 10 | 20–13 | 6–20 | 3–2 | 20–17 |
| x-Sheboygan Red Skins | 22 | 40 | .355 | 17 | 17–14 | 5–22 | 0–4 | 15–20 |
| Waterloo Hawks | 19 | 43 | .306 | 20 | 16–15 | 2–22 | 1–6 | 13–22 |
| Denver Nuggets | 11 | 51 | .177 | 28 | 9–16 | 1–25 | 1–10 | 8–27 |
The six Western Division teams and Syracuse—that is, the seven NBL participants in the merger—uniformly played two games each against every one of the ten BAA 1949 teams, the East and Central teams except Syracuse (20 games each). They played seven or nine games in each pairing among themselves (at least 42 games).
    x – clinched playoff spot

## Playoffs

| Division Semifinals | Division Semifinals | Division Semifinals | Division Finals | Division Finals | Division Finals | NBA Semifinals | NBA Semifinals | NBA Semifinals | NBA Finals | NBA Finals | NBA Finals |
| E1 | Syracuse* | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| E4 | Philadelphia | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| E4 | Philadelphia | 0 | E1 | Syracuse* | 2 | | | | | | |
| Eastern Division | Eastern Division | Eastern Division | E1 | Syracuse* | 2 | | | | | | |
| Eastern Division | Eastern Division | Eastern Division | E2 | New York | 1 | | | | | | |
| E3 | Washington | 0 | E2 | New York | 1 | | | | | | |
| E2 | New York | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| C1 | Minneapolis* | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| C4 | Chicago | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| C4 | Chicago | 0 | C1 | Minneapolis* | 2 | | | | 1 | Syracuse | 2 |
| Central Division | Central Division | Central Division | C1 | Minneapolis* | 2 | | | | 1 | Syracuse | 2 |
| Central Division | Central Division | Central Division | C3 | Fort Wayne | 0 | 3 | Anderson | 0 | 2 | Minneapolis | 4 |
| C3 | Fort Wayne | 2 | C3 | Fort Wayne | 0 | 3 | Anderson | 0 | 2 | Minneapolis | 4 |
| C3 | Fort Wayne | 2 | | | | 2 | Minneapolis | 2 | | | |
| C2 | Rochester | 0 | | | | 2 | Minneapolis | 2 | | | |
| W1 | Indianapolis* | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| W4 | Sheboygan | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| W4 | Sheboygan | 1 | W1 | Indianapolis* | 1 | | | | | | |
| Western Division | Western Division | Western Division | W1 | Indianapolis* | 1 | | | | | | |
| Western Division | Western Division | Western Division | W2 | Anderson | 2 | | | | | | |
| W3 | Tri-Cities | 1 | W2 | Anderson | 2 | | | | | | |
| W2 | Anderson | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
* * Division winner
* Bold Series winner

## Statistics leaders

| Category | Player | Team | Stat |
| Points | George Mikan | Minneapolis Lakers | 1,865 |
| Assists | Dick McGuire | New York Knicks | 386 |
| FG% | Alex Groza | Indianapolis Olympians | .478 |
| FT% | Max Zaslofsky | Chicago Stags | .843 |
Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.