Indianapolis Olympians

Last updated
Indianapolis Olympians
Indianapolis Olympians logo.svg
Division Western
Founded1949
Folded1953
HistoryIndianapolis Olympians
1949–1953
Arena Butler Fieldhouse
Location Indianapolis, Indiana
Team colorsBlue, white, red
   
Division titles1 (1950)

The Indianapolis Olympians were a founding National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Indianapolis. They were founded in 1949 and folded in 1953. Their home arena was Butler Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University, now known as Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Contents

Franchise history

The Olympians were founded in 1949 and were originally slated to play in the National Basketball League (NBL). However, with the merger of the NBL and the Basketball Association of America, the franchise played its first games in the newly formed National Basketball Association (NBA). [1] The Olympians were led by University of Kentucky alumni Alex Groza [2] and Ralph Beard, both of whom were key contributors on the gold medal winning 1948 US Olympic basketball team. Olympic team members Wallace Jones and Cliff Barker (both also Kentucky alumni) also played on the team. An Olympic alternate and UK grad, Joe Holland, played forward for the Indianapolis team through the 1952 season.

After the 1951 season, Groza and Beard were suspended from the NBA for life by commissioner Maurice Podoloff when the players admitted point shaving during their college careers. The Olympians finished with a 28–43 record in 1953, and folded after that season. The Olympians compiled a 132–137 record in four seasons in the NBA.

Indianapolis would not have an NBA team until 1976 when the Indiana Pacers were one of the four teams admitted from the American Basketball Association in the ABA–NBA merger.

The Olympians still hold the distinction of being the winning team in the longest game in NBA history—they were the 75–73 victors in a six-overtime game against the Rochester Royals in a game played on January 6, 1951. [3]

Seasons

NBA champions Division champions ^Playoff berth #
Season Division Finish [lower-alpha 1] W [lower-alpha 2] L [lower-alpha 2] Win% GB Playoffs Awards Head coach
1949–50 Western ^1st ^3925.609Won Division semifinals (Red Skins) 2–1
Lost Division finals (Packers) 1–2 [4]
Cliff Barker
1950–51 Western4th #3137.45613Lost Division semifinals (Lakers) 1–2 [5] Cliff Barker
Wally Jones
1951–52 Western3rd #3432.5157Lost Division semifinals (Lakers) 0–2 [6] Herm Schaefer
1952–53 Western4th #2843.39420.5Lost Division semifinals (Lakers) 0–2 [7] Herm Schaefer

Notable players

Basketball Hall of Famers

None

Others

Notes

  1. The Finish column lists regular season results and excludes postseason play.
  2. 1 2 The Wins and Losses columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play. Regular and postseason records are combined only below the table.

Related Research Articles

The National Basketball League (NBL) was a professional basketball league in the United States. Established in 1935 as the Midwest Basketball Conference, it changed its name to the NBL in 1937. After the 1948–49 season, its twelfth, it merged with the Basketball Association of America (BAA) to create the National Basketball Association (NBA). Five current NBA teams trace their history back to the NBL: the Atlanta Hawks, the Detroit Pistons, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Sacramento Kings.

Maurice Podoloff was an American lawyer and a basketball and ice hockey administrator. He served as the president of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) from 1946 to 1949, and the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1949 to 1963, making Podoloff the de facto 1st commissioner in NBA history.

The Sheboygan Red Skins were a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–50 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Groza</span> American basketball player (1926–1995)

Alex John Groza was an American professional basketball player from Martins Ferry, Ohio. Resulting from the CCNY point shaving scandal, Groza was banned from the National Basketball Association (NBA) for life in 1951. In college, he won two NCAA championships as captain of the University of Kentucky Wildcats, and was a two-time All-NBA player for the Indianapolis Olympians before his career abruptly ended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Beard</span> American basketball player

Ralph Milton Beard Jr. was an American collegiate and professional basketball player. He won two NCAA national basketball championships at the University of Kentucky and played two years in the National Basketball Association prior to being barred for life for his participation in the 1951 point shaving scandal.

The 1950–51 NBA season was the fifth season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Rochester Royals winning the NBA Championship, beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.

The 1949–50 NBA season was the inaugural season of the National Basketball Association, which was created in 1949 by merger of the 3-year-old BAA and 12-year-old NBL. The 1950 NBA playoffs ended with the Minneapolis Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Syracuse Nationals in 6 games in the NBA Finals.

Lester J. Harrison was an American professional basketball player, coach, and team owner and is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The 1951 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1951 NBA Playoffs, which concluded the National Basketball Association 1950–51 season. The Western Division champion Rochester Royals faced the Eastern Division champion New York Knicks in a best-of-seven series with Rochester having home-court advantage.

The 1950 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s inaugural 1949–50 season following the merger of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The Central Division champion Minneapolis Lakers faced the Eastern Division champion Syracuse Nationals in a best-of-seven series with Syracuse having home-court advantage.

The 1951 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on March 2, 1951, at Boston Garden in Boston, home of the Boston Celtics. The game was the first edition of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game and was played during the 1950–51 NBA season. The idea of holding an All-Star Game was conceived during a meeting between NBA President Maurice Podoloff, NBA publicity director Haskell Cohen and Boston Celtics owner Walter A. Brown. At that time, the basketball world had just been stunned by the college basketball point-shaving scandal. In order to regain public attention to the league, Cohen suggested the league to host an exhibition game featuring the league's best players, similar to the Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Although most people, including Podoloff, were pessimistic about the idea, Brown remained confident that it would be a success. He even offered to host the game and to cover all the expenses or potential losses incurred from the game. The Eastern All-Stars team defeated the Western All-Stars team 111–94. Boston Celtics' Ed Macauley was named as the first NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. The game became a success, drawing an attendance of 10,094, much higher than that season's average attendance of 3,500.

Eugene Stephen Rhodes was an American basketball player and coach.

The 1949 BAA draft was the third annual draft of the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The draft was held on March 21, 1949, before the 1949–50 season. In this draft, eleven BAA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players. The draft consisted of 8 rounds and a regional selection period, with 75 players selected. This was the final BAA Draft before the league merged with the National Basketball League to form the National Basketball Association (NBA) in August 1949. The 75 players selected matched the same number of players selected in the 1989 draft; both drafts have the fewest picks selected prior to 1989.

Clarence Henry "Kleggie" Hermsen was an American professional basketball player.

George Ratkovicz was an American basketball player who played for five seasons in the National Basketball League and for six seasons in the National Basketball Association. He played center and forward during his career.

The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) to form the National Basketball Association (NBA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Spivey</span> American basketball player (1929–1995)

William Edwin Spivey was an American basketball player. A 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) center, he played college basketball for the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Kentucky Wildcats from 1949 to 1951. After his high school career, Spivey was recruited by the University of Kentucky. During his time with the Wildcats, he led the team to the 1951 NCAA tournament championship. When a point shaving scandal was revealed that year, Spivey was accused of being involved, which he denied. He left the Wildcats in December 1951, and the university banned him from the squad in March 1952.

References

  1. "NBL, BAA merge, end pro net war". The Republic. UP. 4 August 1949. p. 11. Retrieved 21 June 2024 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  2. Jim O'Leary (10 August 1949). "Basketball merger saved red face for Alex Groza". The Knoxville News-Sentinel . p. 17. Retrieved 25 June 2024 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  3. "Olympians hold longest NBA game in history". The Indianapolis Star . January 14, 2016. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  4. "1949-1950 Indianapolis Olympians". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  5. "1950-1951 Indianapolis Olympians". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  6. "1951-1952 Indianapolis Olympians". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  7. "1952-1953 Indianapolis Olympians". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 16, 2014.