Sheboygan Red Skins
| Sheboygan Red Skins | |
|---|---|
| Division | Western (1949–1950) |
| Founded | 1933 |
| Arena |
Eagle Auditorium (1938–1942) Sheboygan Municipal Auditorium and Armory (1942–1952) |
| Location | Sheboygan, Wisconsin |
| Team colors | Cardinal and White |
| Championships | NBL: 1 (1943) |
The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) were a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. They played for three different professional sports leagues, as well as an independent team. Their three league associations were chronologically the National Basketball League (NBL), National Basketball Association (NBA, charter member, one year of play), and the National Professional Basketball League (a single season organization).
The team has origins from 1933 in informal clubs sponsored by local businesses. By 1938, they had joined the NBL, with a syndicate owning the team, and a new name, the Red Skins. They played in the NBL from 1938 to 1949, led the league in defense five times, appeared in five championship series and won the 1942–43 title, defeating the league-leading Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (today's Detroit Pistons) in the finals.
They were undone by the 1949 merger of the NBL into the NBA. The other league that merged into the NBA, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) had more money, played in larger cities, and generally fielded better teams. The Red Skins did not fit well, left the league, and joined the short-lived NPBL. When the NPBL folded, the team went back to its independent roots for one more year of play before it, too, disappeared.
The team formed in Sheboygan as the Ballhorns in 1933. Sponsors changed every couple of years, and the team changed its name to match each sponsor. After success against regional rivals and against touring teams from farther away, they were invited to join the fledgling NBL in 1938. As a more consistent, full-time, professional organization, with an extensive traveling schedule, it took more than a single local business to support the team. A syndicate of Sheboygan community members took over and formally incorporated the team as the Red Skins. After some growing pains, they developed into a successful, professional team.
Before joining the NBL, Sheboygan built a reputation in the Midwest, starting in the early 1930s, with successful industrial-league and barnstorming teams. First came the Ballhorns (sponsored by a local florist and funeral home) in 1933. A local cleaners, the Art Imigs, took over in 1935, and that became the team's second name. By 1937, a gelatin producer had taken over the team and it became the Enzo Jels.
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