American Basketball League 1925-55
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The American Basketball League was the first true professional basketball league. Where the National Basketball League was made up of smaller town teams, generally sponsored by industrial firms, the ABL was much more ethnic and big city.
Initial teams that dominated the ABL were the Cleveland Rosenblums, the New York Celtics, the Boston Whirlwinds, and the Philadelphia Sphas. Players were generally the children of first generation immigrants, many being Jewish, Italian, and Irish. Nat Holman, Harry Boykoff, Bobby McDermott and Harry Litwak were but a few early stars.
The ABL for many years was the top pro basketball league in the United States of America, but the teams were generally run by promoters with little or no money. After World War II, the arena owners in the large cities looked to take advantage of the pro basketball following established by these promoters but retain the ownership of the teams for themselves. Hence the Basketball Association of America was formed and the Cleveland Rosenblums became the Cleveland Rebels; the Boston Whirlwinds became the Boston Celtics, and the original Celtics were supplanted by the New York Knickerbockers. In fact, only Eddie Gottlieb, the promoter of the Philadelphia Sphas, survived by working a back room deal with the Philadelphia Arena to keep his Philadelphia operation. Ironically, Gottlieb retained the Sphas in the ABL while naming the NBA franchise the Warriors.
In the 1940's it was the ABL that sported pro basketball's first 7 footer, Elmore Morgenthaler of the Philadelphia Sphas. Morgenthaler was with the original Toronto Huskies of the NBA before joining the Sphas, where he was legendary, scoring as many as 21 points a game in an era when teams as a whole only averaged scoring in the 50's. The ABL remained basically an East Coast minor pro league into the 1950s.
- Year Winner result Runner-up
- 1925-26 Cleveland Rosenblums 3-0 Brooklyn Arcadians
- 1926-27 Brooklyn Original Celtics 3-0 Cleveland Rosenblums
- 1927-28 New York Celtics 3-1 Fort Wayne Hoosiers
- 1928-29 Cleveland Rosenblums 4-0 Fort Wayne Hoosiers
- 1929-30 Cleveland Rosenblums 4-1 Rochester Centrals
- 1930-31 Brooklyn Visitations 4-2 Fort Wayne Hoosiers
- 1931-32 League Suspended Operations
- 1932-33 League Suspended Operations
- 1933-34 Philadelphia Sphas 4-2 Trenton Moose
- 1934-35 Brooklyn Visitations 3-2 New York Jewels
- 1935-36 Philadelphia Sphas 4-3 Brooklyn Visitations
- 1936-37 Philadelphia Sphas 4-3 Jersey Reds
- 1937-38 Jersey Reds 4-2 New York Jewels
- 1938-39 New York Jewels 3-0 Jersey Reds
- 1939-40 Philadelphia Sphas 1-0 Washington Heurichs
- 1940-41 Philadelphia Sphas 3-1 Brooklyn Celtics
- 1941-42 Wilmington Bombers (Won both halves to claim championship)
- 1942-43 Philadelphia Sphas 4-3 Trenton Tigers
- 1943-44 Wilmington Bombers 4-3 Philadelphia Sphas
- 1944-45 Philadelphia Sphas 2-1 Baltimore Bullets
- 1945-46 Baltimore Bullets 3-1 Philadelphia Sphas
- 1946-47 Trenton Tigers (Won forfeit, Baltimore Bullets could not play finals)
- 1947-48 Wilkes-Barre Barons 2-1 Paterson Crescents
- 1948-49 Wilkes-Barre Barons 3-2 Scranton Minors
- 1949-50 Scranton Minors 1-0 Bridgeport Aer-A-Sols
- 1950-51 Scranton Minors 1-0 Wilkes-Barre Barons
- 1951-52 Wilkes-Barre Barons 1-0 Scranton Minors
- 1952-53 Manchester British Americans 1-0 Wilkes-Barre Barons
- 1953-54 League Suspended Operations
- 1954-55 LEAGUE DISBANDED