American Basketball League (1925–55)
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1925 |
| Ceased | 1955 |
| No. of teams | 40–50? |
| Country | United States |
| Last champion(s) |
Manchester British-Americans |
The American Basketball League (ABL) was an early professional basketball league. During six seasons from 1925–26 to 1930–31, the ABL was the first attempt to create a major professional basketball league in the United States. Joseph Carr, who was, in 1925, the president of the National Football League, organized the ABL from nine of the best independent pro teams from the East and the Midwest.George Halas of the NFL Chicago Bears was the owner of the Chicago Bruins, and department store magnate Max Rosenblum, a part owner of the NFL's Cleveland Bulldogs, financed the Cleveland Rosenblums. Future NFL (Washington Redskins) owner George Preston Marshall, the owner of a chain of laundries, was owner of the Washington Palace Five. Other teams were the Boston Whirlwinds, Brooklyn Arcadians, Buffalo Bisons, Detroit Pulaski Post Five, Fort Wayne Caseys, and Rochester Centrals. With the exception of 1927–28, the ABL season was divided into two halves, with the winner of the first half playing the winner of the second half for the championship. Five games into the 1926–27 season, the Original Celtics were admitted to replace the Brooklyn franchise, and won 32 of the remaining 37 games, then shifted to New York the following season.
For the 1927–28 season, the ABL had an Eastern (New York, Philadelphia, Rochester and Washington) and Western (Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Fort Wayne) division, with the two best teams in each division going to playoffs, and a championship between the playoff winners. Playing in Madison Square Garden, the New York Celtics had a 40–9 record in the regular season and won the championship. At season's end, the champions were voted out of the league by the other owners. The ABL played three more seasons and then, with only five teams playing at the end of 1930–31, folded during the Great Depression.
After more than two years, the league was reorganized in 1933, but as an East Coast league, with teams in Pennsylvania and New York City metro area.
The league did take some measure to help modernize the game. One of the major issues that had plagued basketball was players jumping from team to team. To combat this, players signed contracts with teams, sometimes for amounts like $1,500 a month, not a bad pay for the times. Backboard were mandatory, and new rules, such as three second lane violations, and foul outs were implemented. Another rule the ABL implemented was the collegiate rule, which eliminated the double dribble. This was also done to encourage many of the game's top college stars to play in the league.
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