Basketball Historian
Following is the only official published All NBA teams. They
have been chosen by the media continuously since the
1946-1947 season.
1946-1947 First Team All NBA
Joe Fulks, Philadelphia… Bob Feerick, Washington… Stan
Miasek, Detroit… Bones McKinney, Washington… Max
Zaslofsky, Chicago
1946-1947 Second Team
Ernie Calverley, Prodivence… Frank Baumholtz, Cleveland…
John Logan, St Louis… Chuck Halbert, Chicago… Fred
Scolari, Washington
1947-1948 First Team All NBA
Joe Fulks, Philadelphia… Maz Zaslofsky, Chicago… Ed
Sadowski, Boston… Howie Dallmar, Philadelphia… Bob
Feerick, Washington
1947-1948 Second Team
John Logan, St Louis… Carl Braun, New York… Stan
Miasek, Chicago… Fred Scolari, Washington… Buddy
Jeannette, Baltimore
Leading Players selected by manager at basketballhistorian.com
Our choices of leading players are not necessarily the best players
but are team players highly rated by their peers. A few are
selected from old books, newspaper articles but most are
chosen from opinions of former NBA players of this era.
Jim Pollard, Minneapolis Lakers 1947-1955
Bobby McDermott, Fort Wayne Pistons player-coach 1941-46,
NBL teams 1941-1949
Bob Davies, Rochester Royals 1945-1955 Hall of Fame
Billy Gabor or Bullet Bill Gabor, Syracuse Nationals 1948-1954
Bob Wanzer, Rochester Royals 1947-1957, Hall of Fame Guard
Mike Todorovich, Sheboygan 1947-49, St L 1949-50, Tri Cities
1949-1951 Started in 1947 All Star Game.
Red Holtzman, Rochester Royals 1945-1954 Hall of Fame Guard
Al Cervi, Rochester Royals 1945-48, Syracuse Nationals
1949-53 Hall of Fame Guard
George Glamack, Wingfoots of NBL1941-42, Rochester, Indianapolis
and Hammond of NBL 1945-46, US Military 1942-44
Professional Basketball Historian
Playing in the era of low scoring basketball games, Casmir
Ostrowski, Wilkes-Barre led the American Basketball League
in scoring in 1948 with a resounding 18.1 points per game
average.
In 1948 his 561 points in 31 in during regular season set a new
ABL record as did his 18.1 ppg average. The old scoring mark
of 16.1 ppg was set by Ash Resnich of the Troy Celtics the
previous year.
For two straight seasons, 1947-48 and 1948-49, Cas Ostrowski
was the leading scorer of the ABL Champions – the Wilkes
Barre Barons. In 1949 he finished second in the league with a
18.3 ppg in 41 games. And in 1950 his 15.7 points per game in
38 games was 5th best in the ABL.
In the 1950-1951 season the accurate shooting Casmir
Ostrowski signed with the Carbondale Aces of PA after the
Wilkes-Barre Barons dropped out of the ABL in February
after failing to put up a $1,500 bond. Joining the Carbondale
Aces in mid-season Cas Ostrowski averaged 15.2 ppg in 15
games.
Basketball Historian
An astute businessman Tom King played just one season in the NBA with the Detroit Falcons in 1946-47 and later became a wealthy businessman. After starring in college for the University of Michigan he signed for a bonus of $500 in addition to a then huge salary of $8,000. In the regular season he compiled a 5.2 points per game average in 58 games for a Detroit team that finished in 4th place in the 5 team Western Division with a 20-40 record. Note: this was the inaugural season of the Basketball Association of American, the BAA, which merged with the National Basketball League in 1949 to formed the NBA.
In his autobiography Tom King said, ‘When I reported to the Falcons training camp, it was obvious to me they had a coach, a gym and that the uniforms were ordered. What they didn’t have was a publicity director or business manager. I had a B.S. from Michigan University in business administration. I knew how to write and type. In high school I’d been a stringer for the Lansing, Michigan State Journal Newspaper – and I knew how to keep books. So I asked for the jobs of publicity director and business manager of the Falcons and was hired by Arthur Wirtz and James Norris, who owned not only the Falcons Olympic Stadium but also the Chicago Stadium and St. Louis Area , home of the Chicago Stags and St Louis Bombers (two other BAA teams).'
'They’d paid me an $8,000 salary as a player and a $500 bonus to sign. I said I could do this other, additional work for $8,000 more. And, they agreed. My total salary was way more than any player made.’
Tom King earned $16,500, a huge sum in this era when the average worker made around $1.00 per hour.
Later Tom King worked his way up and became president of the Merchandise Mart and Appeal Center in Chicago, the largest building - square footage-wise - in the country. The Mart was owned by John Kennedy, the father of President John F. Kennedy. basketballhistorian.com
