1947–48 Baltimore Bullets season
| 1947–48 Baltimore Bullets season | |
|---|---|
BAA champions | |
| Head coach | Buddy Jeannette |
| Arena | Baltimore Coliseum |
| Results | |
| Record | 28–20 (.583) |
| Place | Division: 2nd (Western) |
| Playoff finish | BAA Champions |
Stats at Basketball Reference | |
| Radio | WBAL |
The 1947–48 Baltimore Bullets season was the Bullets' first season in the Basketball Association of America which would later be named the NBA. They played their first three seasons in the American Basketball League in its last few seasons as a professional basketball league that rivaled the BAA and the National Basketball League, making this their fourth professional basketball season in franchise history.[1] This season marked their second overall championship after previously winning the 1946 ABL Championship over the Philadelphia Sphas. (The Bullets also claimed a third championship in 1947 due to their overwhelming regular season record in the ABL that year. In the postseason, the Bullets felt that the ABL was unnecessarily delaying the start of their championship series, and they elected to play in the 1947 World Professional Basketball Tournament instead. The ABL therefore ruled that the Bullets forfeited the 1947 ABL Championship to the Trenton Tigers, establishing the discrepancy between the Bullets' claimed championships and the ABL's ruling.[2]) In the 1947–48 season, the Bullets won their only BAA/NBA championship with a 4–2 series win over the defending champion Philadelphia Warriors. There were also additional talks between the younger BAA and the older NBL where the champions of the BAA (which became the Baltimore Bullets this season) and the champions of the NBL (which became the newly rebranded Minneapolis Lakers, who had an immediate shift from their early Detroit Gems days due primarily in part to George Mikan's addition to the team) competing to see who would be the ultimate champions between the two leagues (akin to a basketball version of the World Series), but that ultimately would never happen, especially once the Lakers joined the Rochester Royals, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (soon turned Fort Wayne Pistons), and Indianapolis Kautskys (soon turned Indianapolis Jets) as one of four NBL teams to move to the BAA by the end of the season.[3] With their departure from the NBA during the 1954–55 season, the Baltimore Bullets are currently considered the only defunct NBA team to ever win a championship under the BAA/NBA name. The 1947-48 Bullets would go on to join the Chicago Stags from the 1946–47 season and the Washington Capitols from the 1948–49 season as the only BAA/NBA teams to close operations after competing in a BAA/NBA Finals championship series.
Draft picks
Despite the Baltimore Bullets not originally playing in the Basketball Association of America during its inaugural season, the Bullets were allowed to participate in the inaugural BAA draft (now known as the NBA draft following the eventual merger of the Basketball Association of America and National Basketball League to become the modern-day National Basketball Association) after two of their inaugural teams in the Cleveland Rebels and Detroit Falcons dropped out of the BAA (following a vote by the then-current team owners at the time on what their plans were going to be entering the following season) due to Baltimore having a major dispute with the original American Basketball League during their playoff period and subsequently wanting to join the newly created BAA in the process. As a result of that, the Bullets held the last selections of each round due to them having the best record of every team involved in the BAA at this time despite them playing their previous season in the original ABL (losing only three regular season games in the ABL (losing to the Philadelphia Sphas 68–63 on November 30, 1946, the Trenton Tigers 64–53 on December 12, 1946, and the Philadelphia Sphas again on February 1, 1947, this time in a 77–59 beatdown) despite playing less games there with 34 total regular season matches there, while the best BAA team last season, the Washington Capitols, had a 49–11 record), though official records of this draft outside of the first round in terms of ordering are currently unknown at this time.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position(s) | Nationality | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Larry Killick | PG |  United States
|
Vermont |
| 2 | 20 | Bob Jake | – | United States
|
Vermont |
| 3 | 30 | John Rusinko | G | United States
|
Penn State |
| 4 | 40 | Harry Gallatin | PF/C | United States
|
Northeast Missouri State Teachers College |
| 5 | 49 | Charles Raynor | – | United States
|
Houston |
| 6 | 57 | Scotty Hamilton | PG | United States
|
West Virginia |
| 7 | 64 | Hugh Hampton | – | United States
|
High Point College |
| 8 | 70 | Elmer Gainer | PF/C | United States
|
DePaul |
| 9 | 75 | Chick Reiser | SG/SF | United States
|
New York University |
| 10 | 78 | Robert Bolyard | SG/SF | United States
|
Toledo |
Roster
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Head coach
Legend
|
Regular season
Season standings
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Game log
| # | Date | Opponent | Score | High points | Record |
| 1 | November 12 | @ Washington | L 55–63 | Kleggie Hermsen (18) | 0–1 |
| 2 | November 13 | Boston | W 85–74 | Chick Reiser (19) | 1–1 |
| 3 | November 15 | @ Chicago | W 67–63 | Paul Hoffman (14) | 2–1 |
| 4 | November 20 | New York | W 68–56 | Chick Reiser (19) | 3–1 |
| 5 | November 21 | @ Boston | W 89–73 | Buddy Jeannette (17) | 4–1 |
| 6 | November 22 | Chicago | W 75–72 | Chick Reiser (19) | 5–1 |
| 7 | November 27 | @ Providence | W 76–61 | Jeannette, Meinhold (13) | 6–1 |
| 8 | November 29 | @ St. Louis | W 71–67 | Kleggie Hermsen (21) | 7–1 |
| 9 | December 2 | @ Boston | W 77–69 (OT) | Chick Reiser (22) | 8–1 |
| 10 | December 3 | @ Philadelphia | W 73–58 | Buddy Jeannette (15) | 9–1 |
| 11 | December 4 | St. Louis | L 51–65 | Mike Bloom (12) | 9–2 |
| 12 | December 6 | @ Chicago | L 65–73 | Buddy Jeannette (17) | 9–3 |
| 13 | December 11 | Washington | L 69–71 (OT) | Mike Bloom (18) | 9–4 |
| 14 | December 13 | New York | L 66–80 | Kleggie Hermsen (17) | 9–5 |
| 15 | December 17 | @ Washington | L 64–66 | Jeannette, Schulz (16) | 9–6 |
| 16 | December 18 | St. Louis | W 74–67 | Chick Reiser (16) | 10–6 |
| 17 | December 21 | @ Chicago | L 83–93 | Kleggie Hermsen (23) | 10–7 |
| 18 | December 25 | Chicago | W 87–70 | Kleggie Hermsen (21) | 11–7 |
| 19 | December 28 | @ St. Louis | L 63–67 | Dick Schulz (16) | 11–8 |
| 20 | January 1 | Philadelphia | L 60–72 | Chick Reiser (13) | 11–9 |
| 21 | January 3 | @ New York | W 79–70 | Kleggie Hermsen (18) | 12–9 |
| 22 | January 6 | Providence | W 82–64 | Chick Reiser (17) | 13–9 |
| 23 | January 8 | Chicago | W 78–75 | Hoffman, Jeannette (15) | 14–9 |
| 24 | January 11 | @ St. Louis | L 54–69 | Paul Hoffman (12) | 14–10 |
| 25 | January 15 | @ Providence | W 98–78 | Bloom, Hoffman (19) | 15–10 |
| 26 | January 16 | @ Philadelphia | L 63–72 | Chick Reiser (16) | 15–11 |
| 27 | January 17 | Philadelphia | L 77–79 | Mike Bloom (18) | 15–12 |
| 28 | January 22 | St. Louis | L 68–71 | Mike Bloom (14) | 15–13 |
| 29 | January 24 | @ New York | W 72–58 | Chick Reiser (16) | 16–13 |
| 30 | January 27 | @ Chicago | L 74–78 | Chick Reiser (20) | 16–14 |
| 31 | January 30 | Washingtona | W 95–71 | Chick Reiser (18) | 17–14 |
| 32 | January 31 | @ Providence | W 68–62 | Kleggie Hermsen (22) | 18–14 |
| 33 | February 4 | @ Washington | L 72–77 | Paul Hoffman (18) | 18–15 |
| 34 | February 5 | Providence | W 100–74 | Hoffman, Jeannette (19) | 19–15 |
| 35 | February 12 | New York | W 96–86 | Kleggie Hermsen (24) | 20–15 |
| 36 | February 15 | @ St. Louis | L 63–69 | Paul Hoffman (17) | 20–16 |
| 37 | February 19 | @ Boston | W 79–76 (OT) | Paul Hoffman (17) | 21–16 |
| 38 | February 21 | @ Washington | W 72–85 | Kleggie Hermsen (14) | 21–17 |
| 39 | February 24 | @ Philadelphia | L 71–83 | Paul Hoffman (16) | 21–18 |
| 40 | February 26 | Washington | W 97–70 | Connie Simmons (17) | 22–18 |
| 41 | February 28 | @ New York | W 78–56 | Connie Simmons (14) | 23–18 |
| 42 | February 29 | @ Boston | L 62–65 | Grady Lewis (12) | 23–19 |
| 43 | March 4 | St. Louis | W 84–75 | Carl Meinhold (16) | 24–19 |
| 44 | March 6 | Boston | W 81–68 | Connie Simmons (23) | 25–19 |
| 45 | March 11 | Chicago | W 86–83 | Carl Meinhold (16) | 26–19 |
| 46 | March 13 | Philadelphia | W 64–62 | Chick Reiser (18) | 27–19 |
| 47 | March 18 | Washington | L 64–71 | Hermsen, Hoffman (15) | 27–20 |
| 48 | March 20 | Providence | W 75–58 | Buddy Jeannette (19) | 28–20 |
a: Game Played at Fifth Regiment Armory
Playoffs
Western Division tiebreaker
Chicago Stags vs. Baltimore Bullets: Bullets win series 1-0
- Game 1 @ Chicago (Thursday, March 25): Baltimore 75, Chicago 72
First round
(W2) Baltimore Bullets vs. (E2) New York Knicks: Bullets win series 2-1
- Game 1 @ Baltimore (Saturday, March 27): Baltimore 85, New York 81
- Game 2 @ New York (Easter Sunday, March 28): New York 79, Baltimore 69
- Game 3 @ Baltimore (Thursday, April 1): Baltimore 84, New York 77
Semifinals
(W2) Baltimore Bullets vs. (W3) Chicago Stags: Bullets win series 2-0
- Game 1 @ Chicago (Wednesday, April 7): Baltimore 73, Chicago 67
- Game 2 @ Baltimore (Thursday, April 8): Baltimore 89, Chicago 72
BAA Finals
(E1) Philadelphia Warriors vs. (W2) Baltimore Bullets: Bullets win series 4-2
- Game 1 @ Philadelphia (Saturday, April 10): Philadelphia 71, Baltimore 60
- Game 2 @ Philadelphia (Tuesday, April 13): Baltimore 66, Philadelphia 63
- Game 3 @ Baltimore (Thursday, April 15): Baltimore 72, Philadelphia 70
- Game 4 @ Baltimore (Saturday, April 17): Baltimore 78, Philadelphia 75
- Game 5 @ Philadelphia (Tuesday, April 20): Philadelphia 91, Baltimore 82
- Game 6 @ Baltimore (Wednesday, April 21): Baltimore 88, Philadelphia 73
Transactions
Trades
| January 20, 1948 |
To Baltimore Bullets Grady Lewis[4] |
To St. Louis Bombers Irv Rothenberg |
| February 9, 1948 |
To Baltimore Bullets Connie Simmons[4] |
To Boston Celtics Mike Bloom |
Purchases
| Player | Date purchased | Former team |
|---|---|---|
| Jerry Rullo[4] | October 14, 1947 | Philadelphia Warriors |
References
- ^ "1947-48 Baltimore Bullets Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
- ^ 1946–47 Baltimore Bullets (ABL) Peach Basket Society
- ^ Nelson, Murry R. (2009). The National Basketball League: A History, 1935–1949. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4006-1., pp. 179, 201–203
- ^ a b c "1947–48 Baltimore Bullets Transactions". Basketball Reference. Retrieved October 2, 2018.