Detroit Gems

"Walt Czarnecki" redirects here. For the vice chairman of Team Penske, see Team Penske.

Detroit Gems
Division	Western Division
Leagues	National Basketball League
Founded	1946
History	Detroit Gems 1946–1947 (NBL) Minneapolis Lakers 1947–1948 (NBL) 1948–1960 (NBA) Los Angeles Lakers 1960–present
Arena	Dearborn Forum (Planned)
Location	Detroit, Michigan
Team colors	Blue, white, red
Ownership	Maurice Winston C. King Boring

The Detroit Gems were an American professional basketball team based in Detroit, Michigan. Supposedly, the Detroit Gems had played some sort of team-based basketball at a competitive level earlier on either as an independent team or as a more local, competitive team within the state of Michigan before joining the National Basketball League. ^[1] The team played only one season, the 1946–47 season, in the Western Division of the National Basketball League, ^[2] which eventually became a predecessor organization to the National Basketball Association. Following the season, the franchise was sold and moved to Minneapolis to become the Minneapolis Lakers. In 1960, they relocated again, this time to Los Angeles, and became the Los Angeles Lakers. ^[3]

History

1946–47   Detroit Gems season
Head coach	Joel Mason Fred Campbell
Arena	Holy Redeemer High School Gymnasium Lincoln High School Gymnasium Detroit Olympia (doubleheaders only)
Results
Record	4–40 (.091)
Place	Division: 6th (Western)
Stats at Basketball Reference
1947–48 >

The Gems were a team mostly made up of local players and coached by Joel Mason. ^[4] The only season of the Gems under that name was also the NBL's first official season where they actually implemented a drafting system similar to what the future rivaling Basketball Association of America (and later merging partner to become the National Basketball Association) had for the eventual NBA draft system a year later following the conclusion of their inaugural league season for the purpose of controlled player salaries and limiting the idea of outbidding other players outside of their own 12-player teams at hand (with the NBL having a budget of $6,000 this season), as well as implementing key players to signing binding contracts as soon as they could and the NBL looking to have full-time referees on display. ^[5] They started their season with an exhibition game against the Oshkosh All-Stars, ^[6] which ended with a 54–69 loss. ^[7] They later started their 44-game regular season schedule on November 11 in Anderson, Indiana, ^[8] with a 52–64 loss against the Anderson Duffey Packers. ^[9] The Gems, who were owned by local jewelers Maurice Winston and C. King Boring, planned to build a "sports palace" in Dearborn, which was mooted to hold 7,000–10,000 people. But the Dearborn Forum was never built; instead, they played their home games at various locations, including the Holy Redeemer High School Gymnasium in Detroit and Lincoln High School Gym in Ferndale. They also played a few doubleheaders with the Basketball Association of America's Detroit Falcons at the Detroit Olympia, and even transferred some home games out into Flint, Michigan. Attendance for their games was slim, with an estimated average being about 300 per game.

For their only season of existence in the NBL, the Gems won only four out of 44 games (excluding exhibition games on January 27, 1947 with a 59–48 win against the Midland Dow Chemicals and unknown dated games against the Dayton Metropolitans and the Utica Utes, the Gems won all of their NBL scheduled games at home with a 61–54 victory on November 26, 1946 against the Syracuse Nationals; a close 57–54 victory on December 3, 1946 against the Youngstown Bears; a 60–56 victory on December 16, 1947 against the eventual champion Chicago American Gears (minus star center George Mikan); and a close 56–55 win on January 16, 1947 against the Indianapolis Kautskys (a controversially confusing 74–73 overtime win on December 25, 1946 against the Youngstown Bears was also originally tabbed as a victory for the Gems at first, but it ultimately was overturned on January 6, 1947 by NBL commissioner Ward "Piggy" Lambert and led to Youngstown being rewarded another victory to their season with a 74–75 defeat for Detroit instead ^[10] )) – ending that season with a woeful 23-game losing streak – and finishing last in the league; ownership claimed the poor crowds had cost them some $30,000. ^[11] If the Gems' only season of play were to count as a part of the Lakers franchise's history, this season would be marked as not just the worst season of all time, but also worse than the most dubious failed seasons ever recorded in NBA history. Not only that, but the Gems' record would be considered the worst record in NBL history in terms of teams that completed their seasons properly (some teams would either fold operations entirely or otherwise leave the NBL during a season of play with another team taking on said team's place at various points throughout their 12-year history). Despite this, NBL commissioner Ward "Piggy" Lambert announced in May that the Gems would return for another season; however, the franchise was put up for sale and purchased for US$15,000 by Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen. The new owners relocated the franchise to Minneapolis and renamed it the Minneapolis Lakers, effectively hard rebooting the franchise. ^[12] Many years afterwards, it was reported by Boring's granddaughter that C. King Boring later lamented that he did not maintain a minority ownership interest in the team that now became the Lakers for himself. ^[10]

Roster

1946–47 Detroit Gems roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From F/C Dave Latter 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) January 5, 1922 Leslie High School (MI) C Bob Dykstra 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) May 31, 1922 Simpson College G Fred Campbell 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 175 lb (79 kg) August 8, 1920 Southern Illinois University F Walt Czarnecki 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) April 27, 1916 Detroit Mercy [13] G/F Chuck Hawley 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) April 3, 1915 Odin High School (IL) G Curt Henderson 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 150 lb (68 kg) January 27, 1917 Sparks Business College (IL) G/F Paul Juntunen 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) February 13, 1921 Wayne State University G Wilbert King 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 155 lb (70 kg) February 16, 1915 Pershing HS (MI) G/F Del Loranger 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) March 17, 1920 Western Michigan University G/F Howie McCarty 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) April 15, 1919 Wayne State University F Frank Mekules 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 218 lb (99 kg) November 16, 1918 Michigan State University F/C Tom Meyer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 214 lb (97 kg) November 6, 1922 Fordson High School (MI) F Connie O'Connor 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) February 21, 1923 South Dakota G/F Eddie Parry 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) January 29, 1918 Southeastern High School (MI) G Charles Perry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) April 6, 1921 Tuskegee University G/F Pat Rooney 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1925 Erasmus Hall HS (NY) G Frank Sabo 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) April 10, 1922 Wayne State University F/C Herb Scheffler 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) November 5, 1917 University of Oklahoma G Vaughn Waddell 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) September 29, 1910 Manhattan

Head coach Joel Mason Fred Campbell Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

National Basketball League

Main article: 1946–47 National Basketball League (United States) season

1946–47 Regular season

Detroit Gems NBL Schedule

Not to be confused with exhibition or other non-NBL scheduled games that did not count towards Detroit's official NBL record for this season. An official database created by John Grasso detailing every NBL match possible (outside of two matches that the Kankakee Gallagher Trojans won over the Dayton Metropolitans in 1938) would be released in 2026 showcasing every team's official schedules throughout their time spent in the NBL. As such, these are the official results recorded for the Detroit Gems during their third season in the NBL.

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record
1	November 11	@ Anderson	52–64	0–1
2	November 12	Toledo	40–46	0–2
3	November 19	Fort Wayne	44–60	0–3
4	November 22	@ Youngstown	54–62	0–4
5	November 23	@ Buffalo	35–45	0–5
6	November 26	Syracuse	61–54	1–5
7	November 30	@ Oshkosh	53–63	1–6
8	December 1	@ Fort Wayne	52–64	1–7
9	December 3	Youngstown	57–54	2–7
10	December 8	@ Sheboygan	37–50	2–8
11	December 10	Rochester	54–65	2–9
12	December 12	@ Syracuse	40–60	2–10
13	December 15	@ Chicago	43–58	2–11
14	December 17	@ Indianapolis	37–50	2–12
15	December 18	Chicago	60–56	3–12
16	December 25	Youngstown	74–75 (OT) [74–73 (OT)†]	3–13 [4–12†]
17	January 4	@ Rochester	54–72	3–14 [4–13†]
—	January 6	@ Buffalo	Cancelled
18	January 9	Tri-Cities	42–57	3–15
19	January 13	@ Toledo	51–69	3–16
20	January 15	@ Tri-Cities	39–47	3–17
21	January 16	Indianapolis	56–55	4–17
22	January 19	Sheboygan	39–47	4–18
23	January 25	@ Oshkosh	55–69	4–19
24	January 27	N Oshkosh	58–71	4–20
25	January 29	N Toledo	36–50	4–21
26	January 30	@ Toledo	51–73	4–22
27	February 3	@ Youngstown	52–62	4–23
28	February 4	@ Syracuse	55–84	4–24
29	February 5	Anderson	38–44	4–25
30	February 6	Rochester	53–71	4–26
31	February 7	@ Chicago	44–76	4–27
32	February 9	@ Sheboygan	52–59	4–28
33	February 11	Chicago	53–58	4–29
34	February 15	@ Rochester	56–93	4–30
35	February 16	Indianapolis	42–52	4–31
36	February 20	N Fort Wayne	36–59	4–32
37	February 23	@ Fort Wayne	50–75	4–33
38	February 24	N Anderson	57–85	4–34
39	February 25	@ Indianapolis	41–83	4–35
40	February 26	Tri-Cities	43–51	4–36
41	March 5	N Oshkosh	49–70	4–37
42	March 7	N Sheboygan	42–57	4–38
43	March 10	@ Anderson	51–72	4–39
44	March 11	Syracuse	50–68	4–40

† – Game was originally recorded as a 74–73 overtime victory for Detroit, but a faulty time clock in the overtime period near the end of the game when Youngstown looked to make an extra, final shot in their game caused the Bears to protest the initial results to NBL Commissioner Ward Lambert. While the game was still recorded as a Gems victory for at least one more scheduled NBL game the Gems played in, the results of the December 25, 1946 game ended with the commissioner accepting Youngstown's grievances and led to the Gems getting a 75–74 overtime defeat that day instead. ^[10]

Western Division standings

Pos.	Western Division	Wins	Losses	Win %
1	Oshkosh All-Stars	28	16	.636
2	Indianapolis Kautskys	27	17	.614
T–3	Chicago American Gears	26	18	.591
	Sheboygan Red Skins	26	18	.591
5	Anderson Duffey Packers	24	20	.545
6	Detroit Gems	4	40	.091

Further reading

• History of the Los Angeles Lakers

References

1. "A Warriors History Blog". raiderlogbook.com. Albersheim's Auctions. May 31, 2013. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
2. "National Basketball League roundup". Democrat and Chronicle . 8 September 1946. p. 3C. Retrieved 8 December 2022– via Newspapers.com. Detroit Gems, new Western Division entry, expect to be in a new Forum, being built at Dearborn, Mich., by the middle of the season.
3. Stuart London (1 February 2022). "How a pro team in Detroit turned into the Los Angeles Lakers". pistonpowered.com. FanSided . Retrieved 8 December 2022.
4. "Home-grown cagers make up Gems' team". Battle Creek Enquirer . 14 October 1946. p. 3. Retrieved 8 December 2022– via Newspapers.com.
5. Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN   978-0-7864-4006-1., pp. 158–159
6. "Detroit Gems here for league preview". The Oshkosh Northwestern . 22 October 1946. p. 15. Retrieved 8 December 2022– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Stars Win third game in succession, beat Detroit, 69-54". The Oshkosh Northwestern . 23 October 1946. p. 17. Retrieved 8 December 2022– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Court opener". Lansing State Journal . 11 October 1946. p. 17. Retrieved 8 December 2022– via Newspapers.com. The Detroit Gems of the National Basketball League open a 44-game schedule November 11 at Anderson, Ind.
9. "Detroit Gems to face Andersons in cage opener". The Sheboygan Press . 9 November 1946. p. 12. Retrieved 8 December 2022– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Detroit Gems". nbahoopsonline.com.
11. The BAA Falcons did even worse, losing over $50,000 and folding.
12. Sid Hartman (25 December 1947). "Lakers organization does miracle in just six months". Times, the Picture Paper. p. 31. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
13. "Walt Czarnecki NBL Stats". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 22 August 2025.

External links

• 1946–47 statistics at Basketball Reference