National Basketball League awards and honors |
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Championship |
Individual awards |
Honors |
The National Basketball League Coach of the Year Award was an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given to the top head coach of the regular season in each of the twelve years the league existed. The Coach of the Year was selected by sports writers, broadcasters, coaches, and managers. [1] [2]
Among the winners were three future Basketball Hall of Famers: Al Cervi (1985), Les Harrison (1980), and Bobby McDermott (1988). [3] [4] [5]
* | Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
Denotes coach whose team won championship that year | |
Coach (X) | Denotes the number of times the coach had been named COY at that time |
Team (X) | Denotes the number of times a coach from this team had won at that time |
W–L | Win–loss record for that season |
Win% | Winning percentage for that season |
Season | Coach | Team | W–L | Win% |
---|---|---|---|---|
1937–38 | Lefty Byers | Akron Goodyear Wingfoots | 13–5 | .722 |
1938–39 | Paul Sheeks | Akron Firestone Non-Skids | 24–3 | .889 |
1939–40 | Paul Sheeks (2) | Akron Firestone Non-Skids (2) | 19–9 | .679 |
1940–41 | George Hotchkiss | Oshkosh All-Stars | 18–6 | .750 |
1941–42 | Lon Darling | Oshkosh All-Stars (2) | 20–4 | .833 |
1942–43 | Carl Roth | Sheboygan Red Skins | 12–11 | .522 |
1943–44 | Bobby McDermott * | Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons | 18–4 | .818 |
1944–45 | Bobby McDermott * (2) | Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (2) | 25–5 | .833 |
1945–46 | Les Harrison * | Rochester Royals | 24–10 | .706 |
1946–47 [15] | Lon Darling (2) | Oshkosh All-Stars (3) | 28–16 | .636 |
1947–48 [16] | Murray Mendenhall | Anderson Duffey Packers | 42–18 | .700 |
1948–49 [17] | Al Cervi * | Syracuse Nationals | 40–23 | .635 |
The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and plays its home games at Little Caesars Arena, located in Midtown. The team was founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne (Zollner) Pistons in 1941, a member of the National Basketball League (NBL) where it won two NBL championships: in 1944 and 1945. The Pistons later joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1948. The NBL and BAA merged to become the NBA in 1949, and the Pistons became part of the merged league. In 1957, the franchise moved to Detroit. The Pistons have won three NBA championships: in 1989, 1990 and 2004.
Adolph Schayes was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A top scorer and rebounder, he was a 12-time NBA All-Star and a 12-time All-NBA selection. Schayes won an NBA championship with the Syracuse Nationals in 1955. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Sheboygan Red Skins were a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, that was a National Basketball Association original franchise in 1949–1950.
William "Red" Holzman was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is probably best known as the head coach of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1967 to 1982. Holzman helped lead the Knicks to two NBA Championships in 1970 and 1973, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986. In 1996, Holzman was named one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History.
John Albert Kundla was an American college and professional basketball coach. He was the first head coach for the Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and its predecessors, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL), serving 12 seasons, from 1947 to 1959. His teams won six league championships, one in the NBL, one in the BAA, and four in the NBA. Kundla was the head basketball coach at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul for one season in 1946–47, and at the University of Minnesota for ten seasons, from 1959 to 1968. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Alfred Nicholas Cervi was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball League (NBL) and National Basketball Association (NBA). One of the strongest backcourt players of the 1940s and 1950s, he was always assigned to defend against the opposing team's best scoring threat. He earned the nickname "Digger" because of his hard-nosed style of defense.
Robert Frederick "Bobby" McDermott was an American professional basketball player in the 1930s and 1940s. He was known as an outstanding shooter and has been called "the greatest long-distance shooter in the history of the game" by contemporaries. His grandson is businessman Bill McDermott. McDermott was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988.
Robert Edris Davies was an American professional basketball player. Alongside Bobby Wanzer he formed one of the best backcourt duos in the National Basketball Association's early years. Davies and Wanzer led the Rochester Royals to the 1951 NBA championship. Davies was also a former basketball coach at the Seton Hall University and was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on April 11, 1970.
Robert Francis Wanzer was an American professional basketball player and coach. A five time All-Star and three time All-NBA Second Team selection, Wanzer played his entire professional career for the Rochester Royals of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). He won an NBA championship with the Royals in 1951. During his final two years as a player, he served as the team's player-coach. After he retired from playing in 1957, he remained as a coach with the Royals for one season, before he became the head coach of the St. John Fisher Cardinals college basketball team in 1963. He stayed in the role with the college for 24 years until his retirement in 1987. Wanzer was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987.
Marko John "Mike" Todorovich was an American basketball player and coach of Serbian descent born in St. Louis, Missouri. He played college basketball at the University of Wyoming. He also played college football at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Notre Dame.
Lester Harrison was an American professional basketball player, coach, and team owner and is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Leo Ferris was an American sports executive and businessman from Elmira, New York best known for helping invent the 24-second shot clock in the National Basketball Association.
The All-National Basketball League Team was an annual National Basketball League (NBL) honor bestowed upon the best players in the United States league following the NBL season. The team was selected every season of the league's existence, from 1937–38 through 1948–49.
The National Basketball League Rookie of the Year Award was an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given to the top rookie(s) of the regular season in each of the twelve years the league existed. The Rookie of the Year was selected by sports writers, broadcasters, coaches, and managers. Despite the dozens of teams that played in the NBL through its history, three of them collectively dominated the award's recipients. The Indianapolis Kautskys and Sheboygan Red Skins had three winners each, while the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots had two, for a combined eight of the twelve awards bestowed (66.7%).
The 1946–47 Chicago American Gears season was the Gears' third year in the United States' National Basketball League (NBL), which was also the tenth year the league existed. Twelve teams competed in the NBL in 1946–47, comprising six teams in both the Eastern and Western Divisions.