The history of professional basketball in USA was not born with NBA. Exactly the opposite. It has its roots on the east coast of the country, in dance halls and cinemas, in tiny venues or racetracks with makeshift cages that marked the boundaries of the field. The first half of the 20th century represents an accelerated process of development, both of the game and of the teams, and of the professionalization of the sport itself. Less than 50 years passed from the first group of players in the Trenton area to the hegemony of the Minneapolis Lakers. A giant leap that gave rise to endless stories, each more strange and interesting, as the only precedent similar to In-season tournaments.
In his name World professional basketball tournament between 1939 and 1948 A competition was developed that brought together the best teams from all over the United States. At a time when the number of professional leagues was quite large or participation in an event was not necessary to be active, the WPBT represented, year after year, the meeting of the sports elite in the country.
To understand the magnitude of the event, we must first explain what the state of professional basketball was like at the time.
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Economic instability and the difficulties of moving from one side of the United States to the other were the tone of professional teams and leagues between 1920s and 1940s. The total income of these groups, which consisted of a maximum of six members, depended on the money they obtained through tickets. This meant that the teams would play multiple matches on the same night or act as openers for the actual show of the night. It is in this period where the concept of barn which represented the lifestyle of these teams, traveling from town to town under the pretense of playing basketball.
On the other hand, this moment in the history of professional basketball is marked by several quite important aspects. The matches lasted less than today, the pitch was smaller and the area of the area too. In addition, the rectangle of the track was surrounded by metal nets or cages, so until the 1970s in some media the sport was known as ball pro cage either pro cage. On the other hand, it was an extremely violent game, as some players threw their opponents against the walls of the cage to bruise them, steal the ball or simply hinder the play.
The leagues carried almost no weight, but the teams enjoyed great recognition at a time when the sport was becoming a mass phenomenon.
It is in this context that the World Professional Basketball Tournament arises.
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The history of the World Pro Basketball Tournament
He World professional basketball tournament it arose from his hand Edward W. Cochrane, sports editor of the Chicago Herald-American. Cochrane’s goal was to finally clarify who the best professional team in the world was. “At that time there were only twenty professional teams and all of them were announced as world champions”Cochrane recalled in 1941.
To do this, he assembled what he considered the best teams in the entire country at the time: the Sheboygan Redskins, a union-owned team that was one of the best in the NBL that year. The New York Celtics, the great professional benchmark of the era. Oshkosh All-Stars, Midwest barnstorming references. the New York Rens, the best African-American group of the moment. as well as the original Harlem Globetrotters.
A total of 12 teams participated in the first edition held in March 1939, which was the first example of a knockout tournament in the United States between professional teams. Gathered at its headquarters 132nd Armored Regiment Chicago It started a precedent that would change the history of the game in the country.
The story of its first edition World professional basketball tournament It is the history of the climate of the United States at that time. After an intense first round, the tie left the Rens and Globetrotters on one side and the Redskins, All-Stars and Celtics on the other. So until she reaches the final where the Renaissancea group consisting exclusively of african american players, will be measured in Oshkosh, white people only.
Both candidates had a certain history behind them. In 1936 the Wren traveled to Wisconsin for a two-game series, aiming to capitalize on the racial antagonism. “It was a money making machine.“remembered Rennes player John Isaacs in a recent book written by historian Claude Johnson. A profit-making machine that led to high tensions on the pitch, with a level of violence unimaginable by today’s standards.
Something that carried over to that 1939 final which culminated in his overwhelming victory New York Rens with 34 to 25. This event made headlines in the national press the next day and opened a new stage for professional basketball in the United States, sparking great interest in the tournament and it was played between March and April each year.
The leagues were paralyzed and the best teams in the world met for a week in Chicago for an event that until the merger of the NBA and the NBL It was a meeting place of this sport in the North American country.
A competition that included names like William “Pop” Gates, Charles “Tarzan” Cooper, Buddy Jeannette, Nat Clifton and, of course, George Mikan.
On the other hand, there were even current NBA franchises participating in the WBPT such as the Tri-Cities Blackhawkstoday’s Atlanta Hawks; Minneapolis Lakersnow in Los Angeles. Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, which is currently in Detroit. and other franchises that have already been destroyed such as Sheboygan Red Skins, Anderson Packers, Indianapolis Jets or the original Baltimore Bullets.
How the World Pro Basketball Tournament Worked
The World Professional Basketball Tournament was held every year between February and April, usually before the start of the NBL and BAA playoffs, in such a way that it overtook the regular calendar and paralyzed the competitions.
Not everyone could access the event, but a group had to be invited by the organizer to play it. Although the rule showed that the NBL champions and runners-up were ever-present, its best teams barn and other big names of the moment.
The format was very simple. A first round was held with some crossovers, where a variable number of candidates were eliminated to reach the quarter-finals. From there it was business as usual: the winner of each round went through to the next stage until it culminated in a final and a match for third and fourth place.
At the end of the World Professional Basketball Tournament, the organizers and the press voted for the MVP, the two best quintets and recognition was awarded to the top scorer.
The players were recruited by the teams with the aim of shaping the best list of names it is possible to win the tournament. This explains why in just four days of work they could earn a remarkable amount of money.. “They gave me $125 to play in the tournament”reminded to Book Cages for Jump Shots Sydney Goldberg. “It was a lot of money back then.” That amount would be the equivalent of US$2,600 to play a handful of games.
An example against racial segregation from its origins
To talk about sports in the United States of the 1940s is to talk about a society are separated on racial issues, even in the north of the country. Although there were exceptions, the norm in basketball was for teams to consist entirely of white or African-American players. Among the vast variety of teams were two in particular that worked for years to eliminate racial differences in basketball: the New York Rens and the Harlem Globetrotters.
Although the latter of them has gone down in history as a representative of spectacle, fun and entertainment, at its origin, the team led by Abe Saperstein was a serious, professional and competitive team. Born in Chicago but moved to New York for commercial reasons, the Globetrotters were one of the great attractions of this sport at the time, but the one who held the hegemony among African-American teams was the Rens, the second major dominator of the sport. Interwar after the New York Celtics.
Of the 10 editions of the World Professional Basketball Tournament, 3 titles went to an all-African-American team: New York Rens (1939), Harlem Globetrotters (1940) and Washington Bears (1943).
Rens’ victory in the first edition gave the tournament a boost, but it would have been of no use without the action of one of its players, John Isaacs. The Wrens were given jackets commemorating their title, but where they could read “Coloured World Champions”. Seeing him, the Panamanian-born player borrowed a teammate’s razor and, carefully remove the embroidery from the back of the jacket. In such a way that it could only be read “world champions”. There his legend was born Black fivesthe first African-American professional team to win a tournament in a mixed race competition in the United States.
The passage of time, the financial crisis, and the impact of World War II diminished teams like the Rens or the Globetrotters; in fact, the 1943 Bears were a mixture of the former New York team.
However, fate had one last chance to make history reserved for the Renaissance. In 1948with the BAA gaining more and more power and the Minneapolis Lakers As the most dominant team of the moment, the WPBT Finals couldn’t be more than a duel between the two teams. Again, the occasion presented two separate groups.
With nearly 17,000 spectators packing Chicago Stadium in February 1948, the Rens came close to toppling Goliath. They constantly doubled George Mikan in a strategy not common at the time that left the rest of the Lakers free. On the part of the New Yorkers, the man was Sweet water Cliftonwho years later would become the first African-American to play in an NBA game, a key figure in the second half although in the ensuing loss he bore much of the blame for a bad pass. “He threw the ball out and it cost us the tournament” Ron Thomas, a member of the team, recalled 1991 in relation to a pass behind Clifton’s back that ended up in the stands.
That match, with the victory from 75-71 for the Lakersnoted it point and end in the World Pro Basketball Tournamentthe first and, until his arrival NBA In-Season Tournamentthe first example of such a knockout match in the United States between professional teams.
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