St. Louis Bombers (NBA)

St. Louis Bombers
Division	Western Division
Founded	1946
History	St. Louis Bombers 1946–1950
Arena	St. Louis Arena
Location	St. Louis, Missouri
Team colors	Red and White
Division titles	None or one

The St. Louis Bombers were a National Basketball Association team based in St. Louis, Missouri, founded in 1946. The team ceased operations in 1950.

Franchise history

The St. Louis Bombers were originally part of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946. The BAA merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1949 to become the National Basketball Association (NBA). In 1950, the Bombers, along with five other teams, dropped out of the league altogether.

Players

Coaches and others

• Grady Lewis, coach 1948–1949 and 1949–1950
• Ed Macauley, drafted 1949
• Red Rocha

Season-by-season records

Season	League	Conference	Finish	Division	Finish	Wins	Losses	Win%	GB	Playoffs	Awards
1946–47	BAA	–	–	Western	2nd	38	23	.623	1	Lost First Round (Warriors) 1–2
1947–48	BAA	–	–	Western	1st	29	19	.604	–	Lost BAA Semifinals (Warriors) 3–4
1948–49	BAA	–	–	Western	4th	29	31	.483	16	Lost Division Semifinals (Royals) 0–2
1949–50	NBA	–	–	Western	5th	26	42	.382	25
Regular season record						122	115	.515	1946–1950
Playoff record						4	8	.333	Postseason Series Record: 0–3

The 1948 BAA Playoffs did not establish Eastern and Western champions and generated one finalist from the East, one from the West, only by coincidence. Philadelphia and St. Louis won the Eastern and Western Divisions and met in a best-of-seven series to determine one league championship finalist. (St. Louis won led 3–2 after five games, but the defending champion Warriors won game six by 21 points at home and game seven by 39 points in St. Louis.) Meanwhile, four runners-up played best-of-three matches to determine the other finalist. Baltimore, tied for second in the West, one game behind St. Louis, won that runners-up bracket and defeated Philadelphia in a best-of-seven series to win the BAA championship. St. Louis had achieved the league's best record at 29–19.^[1]

The 1949 BAA Playoffs matched Eastern teams exclusively, and Western teams exclusively, so that the league semifinals generated Eastern and Western champions as well as championship finalists (as do 21st-century NBA playoffs).

References