From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Western Division was a division in the
National Basketball Association (NBA) and its forerunner, the
Basketball Association of America (BAA). The division was created at the start of the
1946–47 BAA season ,
[1] when the league was created, and was then kept as one of the divisions when BAA merged with the
National Basketball League (NBL) to create the NBA on August 3, 1949.
[2] The division existed until the
1970–71 NBA season when the NBA expanded from 14 to 17 teams and realigned into the
Eastern and
Western conferences with two divisions each.
[3]
Teams
Team
City
Year
From
Year
To
Current division
Joined
Left
Anderson Packers
Anderson, Indiana
1949
—*
1950
NPBL
—
Tri-Cities Blackhawks (
1949 –
1951 )
Milwaukee Hawks (
1951 –
1955 )
St. Louis Hawks (
1955 –
1968 )
Atlanta Hawks (
1968 –present)
Moline, Illinois
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
St. Louis, Missouri
Atlanta, Georgia
1949
—*
1970
Central Division
Southeast Division
Baltimore Bullets (original)
Baltimore, Maryland
1947
ABL
1948
Eastern Division
—
Chicago Packers (
1961–1962 )
Chicago Zephyrs (
1962–1963 )
Baltimore Bullets (
1963 –
1966 ) (now the
Washington Wizards )
Chicago, Illinois Chicago, Illinois Baltimore, Maryland
1961
—†
1966
Eastern Division
Southeast Division
Chicago Bulls
Chicago, Illinois
1966
—†
1970
Midwest Division
Central Division
Chicago Stags
Chicago, Illinois
1946
§
1949
Central Division
—
Rochester Royals (
1948–1949 ,
1950 –
1957 )
Cincinnati Royals (
1957 –
1962 ) (now the
Sacramento Kings )
Rochester, New York
Cincinnati, Ohio
1948
1950
NBL
Central Division
1949
1962
Central Division Eastern Division
Pacific Division
Cleveland Rebels
Cleveland, Ohio
1946
§
1947
Folded
—
Denver Nuggets
Denver, Colorado
1949
—*
1950
Folded
—
Detroit Falcons
Detroit, Michigan
1946
§
1947
Folded
—
Fort Wayne Pistons (
1948–1949 ,
1950 –
1957 )
Detroit Pistons (
1957 –present)
Fort Wayne, Indiana Detroit, Michigan
1948
1950
NBL Central Division
1949
1967
Central Division Eastern Division
Central Division
Indianapolis Jets
Indianapolis, Indiana
1948
NBL
1949
Folded
—
Indianapolis Olympians
Indianapolis, Indiana
1949
—†
1953
Folded
—
Minneapolis Lakers (
1948–1949 ,
1950 –
1960 )
Los Angeles Lakers (
1960 –present)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Los Angeles, California
1948
1950
NBL Central Division
1949
1970
Central Division
Pacific Division
Pacific Division
Phoenix Suns
Phoenix, Arizona
1968
—†
1970
Midwest Division
Pacific Division
Pittsburgh Ironmen
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1946
§
1947
Folded
—
San Diego Rockets (now the
Houston Rockets )
San Diego, California
1967
—†
1970
Pacific Division
Southwest Division
San Francisco Warriors (now the
Golden State Warriors )
San Francisco, California
1962
Eastern Division
1970
Pacific Division
Pacific Division
Seattle SuperSonics (now the
Oklahoma City Thunder )
Seattle, Washington
1967
—†
1970
Pacific Division
Northwest Division
Sheboygan Red Skins
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
1949
—*
1950
NPBL
—
St. Louis Bombers
St. Louis, Missouri
1946
§
1949
Central Division
—
Washington Capitols
Washington, D.C.
1947
Eastern Division
1948
Eastern Division
—
Waterloo Hawks
Waterloo, Iowa
1949
—*
1950
NPBL
—
Notes
Team timeline
Division champions
^
Had or tied for the best regular season record for that season
Titles by team
Team
Titles
Season(s) won
Minneapolis Lakers /
Los Angeles Lakers
8
1950–51 ,
1952–53 ,
1953–54 ,
1961–62 ,
1962–63 ,
1964–65 ,
1965–66 ,
1968–69
St. Louis Hawks /
Atlanta Hawks
7
1956–57 ,
1957–58 ,
1958–59 ,
1959–60 ,
1960–61 ,
1967–68 ,
1969–70
Rochester Royals (now the
Sacramento Kings )
2
1948–49 ,
1951–52
Fort Wayne Pistons (now the
Detroit Pistons )
2
1954–55 ,
1955–56
San Francisco Warriors (now the
Golden State Warriors )
2
1963–64 ,
1966–67
Chicago Stags
1
1946–47
St. Louis Bombers
1
1947–48
Indianapolis Olympians
1
1949–50
Season results
Season
Team (record)
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
1946 : the Western Division was formed with five inaugural members.
1946–47
Chicago + (39–22)
St. Louis * (38–23)
Cleveland * (30–30)
Detroit (20–40)
Pittsburgh (15–45)
1947–48
St. Louis * (29–19)
Baltimore ^ (28–20)
Chicago * (28–20)
Washington * (28–20)
1948–49
Rochester * (45–15)
Minneapolis ^ (44–16)
Chicago * (38–22)
St. Louis * (29–31)
Fort Wayne (22–38)
Indianapolis (18–42)
1949 : the
Indianapolis Jets folded during the off-season, the
Chicago Stags , Fort Wayne Pistons, Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals and
St. Louis Bombers left to join the
Central Division . An
expansion team , the
Indianapolis Olympians , joined the division, while the
Anderson Packers ,
Denver Nuggets ,
Sheboygan Red Skins ,
Tri-Cities Blackhawks and
Waterloo Hawks merged from the
National Basketball League (NBL).
1949–50
Indianapolis * (39–25)
Anderson * (37–27)
Tri-Cities * (29–35)
Sheboygan * (22–40)
Waterloo (19–43)
Denver (11–51)
1950 : the Denver Nuggets folded during the off-season, while the Anderson Packers, Sheboygan Red Skins and Waterloo Hawks left to join the
National Professional Basketball League (NPBL). The Fort Wayne Pistons, Minneapolis Lakers and Rochester Royals re-joined the division.
1950–51
Minneapolis * (44–24)
Rochester ^ (41–27)
Fort Wayne * (32–36)
Indianapolis * (31–37)
Tri-Cities (25–43)
1951–52
Rochester * (41–25)
Minneapolis ^ (40–26)
Indianapolis * (34–32)
Fort Wayne * (29–37)
Milwaukee (17–49)
1952–53
Minneapolis ^ (48–22)
Rochester * (44–26)
Fort Wayne * (36–33)
Indianapolis * (28–43)
Milwaukee (27–44)
1953 : the Indianapolis Olympians folded during the off-season.
1953–54
Minneapolis ^ (46–26)
Rochester * (44–28)
Fort Wayne * (40–32)
Milwaukee (21–51)
1954–55
Fort Wayne + (43–29)
Minneapolis * (40–32)
Rochester * (29–43)
Milwaukee (26–46)
1955–56
Fort Wayne + (37–35)
Minneapolis * (33–39)
St. Louis * (33–39)
Rochester (31–41)
1956–57
St. Louis + (34–38)
Minneapolis * (34–38)
Fort Wayne * (34–38)
Rochester (31–41)
1957–58
St. Louis ^ (41–31)
Detroit * (33–39)
Cincinnati * (33–39)
Minneapolis (19–53)
1958–59
St. Louis * (49–23)
Minneapolis + (33–39)
Detroit * (28–44)
Cincinnati (19–53)
1959–60
St. Louis + (46–29)
Detroit * (30–45)
Minneapolis * (25–50)
Cincinnati (19–56)
1960–61
St. Louis + (51–28)
Los Angeles * (36–43)
Detroit * (34–45)
Cincinnati (33–46)
1961–62
Los Angeles + (54–26)
Cincinnati * (43–37)
Detroit * (37–43)
St. Louis (29–51)
Chicago (18–62)
1962–63
Los Angeles + (53–27)
St. Louis * (48–32)
Detroit * (34–46)
San Francisco (31–49)
Chicago (25–55)
1963–64
San Francisco + (48–32)
St. Louis * (46–34)
Los Angeles * (42–38)
Baltimore (31–49)
Detroit (23–57)
1964–65
Los Angeles + (49–31)
St. Louis * (45–35)
Baltimore * (37–43)
Detroit (31–49)
San Francisco (17–63)
1965–66
Los Angeles + (45–35)
Baltimore * (38–42)
St. Louis * (36–44)
San Francisco (35–45)
Detroit (22–58)
1966 : an expansion team, the
Chicago Bulls , joined the division, while the Baltimore Bullets left to join the Eastern Division.
1966–67
San Francisco + (44–37)
St. Louis * (39–42)
Los Angeles * (36–45)
Chicago * (33–48)
Detroit (30–51)
1967–68
St. Louis * (56–26)
Los Angeles + (52–30)
San Francisco * (43–39)
Chicago * (29–53)
Seattle (23–59)
San Diego (15–67)
1968 : an expansion team, the
Phoenix Suns , joined the division, while the St. Louis Hawks relocated and became the
Atlanta Hawks .
1968–69
Los Angeles + (55–27)
Atlanta * (48–34)
San Francisco * (41–41)
San Diego * (37–45)
Chicago (33–49)
Seattle (30–52)
Phoenix (16–66)
1969–70
Atlanta * (48–34)
Los Angeles + (46–36)
Chicago * (39–43)
Phoenix * (39–43)
Seattle (36–46)
San Francisco (30–52)
San Diego (27–55)
References