| Pittsburgh Ironmen | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Western | |||
| Founded | 1946 | |||
| Folded | 1947 | |||
| History | Pittsburgh Ironmen 1946–1947 | |||
| Arena | Duquesne Gardens | |||
| Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | |||
The Pittsburgh Ironmen were a charter member of the Basketball Association of America (a forerunner of the National Basketball Association). The team was based in Pittsburgh and played at Duquesne Gardens.
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They ended their only season in the BAA in 1946–47 with a record of 15–45 with a .250 winning percentage, finishing in fifth and last place in the Western Division and worst overall in the league. According to Nate Silver and Reuben Fischer-Baum, applying the Elo rating system, this was, through 2017, the worst season ever by a professional basketball team in a major league, even though the 1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers ended the season with only 9 wins against 73 losses for a .110 winning percentage, as well as the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats who ended their season with 7 wins and 59 losses for a .106 winning percentage. [1] During the BAA's first ever postseason meeting between teams since completing their first ever season, the Ironmen proclaimed that they would continue operating their franchise into the following season, but only if they could secure a "representative team" (likely meaning they could secure a new team owner) in the future going forward. [2] The team were awarded the first overall pick in the league's inaugural 1947 draft, where they selected Clifton McNeely. However, the Ironmen would fold before the start of the 1947–48 BAA season, joining the Toronto Huskies as teams that ceased operations on July 27, 1947, along with the Detroit Falcons and Cleveland Rebels, to be the first four teams to officially become defunct in the BAA/NBA. [3]
