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1950–51 Washington Capitols season
Aborted NBA professional basketball team season
Aborted NBA professional basketball team season
The 1950–51 Washington Capitols season was the Capitols' fifth and final season in the NBA. Midway through the season, the franchise ceased operations. Despite this being their final season in the NBA, the Capitols would appear in the following season after this one under the original American Basketball League, though that team would also fold during the middle of that season as well (though that related to the NBA threatening to sue the new Capitols and the ABL if they tried to take the original franchise's history away from the NBA alongside the team's name). One lesser known, yet notable aspect from this season had the Capitols be involved in multiple rigged games orchestrated by NBA referee Sol Levy, with Levy failing to rig a match between the Capitols and the Minneapolis Lakers on November 4 to favor the Capitols, but successfully rig a match against the Boston Celtics to have Boston win a week later on November 11, which later led to Levy being arrested for his actions and charged as an accomplice in the CCNY point-shaving scandal of 1951.
Draft picks
Main article: 1950 NBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position(s) | Nationality | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Dick Schnittker | PF | USA | Ohio State |
| 2 | 16 | Bill Sharman | SG | USA United States | USC |
| 3 | 28 | Alan Sawyer | SF | USA United States | UCLA |
| 4 | 40 | Tommy O'Keefe | PG/SG | USA United States | Georgetown |
| 5 | 52 | Claude Overton | SG | USA United States | East Central State |
| 6 | 64 | Warren Cartier | G | USA United States | North Carolina State |
| 7 | 76 | Jim Cathcart | SF | USA United States | Arkansas |
| 8 | 88 | Joe Greenbach | PG | USA United States | Santa Clara |
| 9 | 100 | Earl Lloyd | F/C | USA United States | West Virginia State |
| 10 | 112 | Joe Noertker | G | USA United States | Virginia |
Earl Lloyd would be the first African American player drafted to officially play in the NBA due to the Capitols making their regular season debut first over the Boston Celtics with Chuck Cooper and the New York Knicks with Nathaniel Clifton. Lloyd's breaking of the racial barrier in the NBA would happen years after Jackie Robinson would do it for Major League Baseball and the all-black Dayton Rens had played in the NBA's precursor in the National Basketball League after replacing the Detroit Vagabond Kings during the NBL's final season of existence. However, this draft would also be the final draft that the Capitols would ever participate in, as well as become the only draft they'd ever take part in under the official NBA draft name, as they would have the magnanimous misnomer of being the first NBA team to fold operations during a season of play, with such a dubious feat not occurring again in the NBA until four seasons later in the 1954-55 NBA season.
Roster
- Bones McKinney
Regular season
Season standings
Game log
|- | 1 | October 31 | @ Rochester | L 70–78 | Fred Scolari (18) |
| 0–1 |
|---|
| 2 |
| November 1 |
| Indianapolis |
| W 100–84 |
| Alan Sawyer (17) |
|
| 1–1 |
|---|
| 3 |
| November 4 |
| Minneapolis |
| L 85–91 |
| Sawyer, Sharman (19) |
|
| 1–2 |
|---|
| 4 |
| November 8 |
| Baltimore |
| W 86–81 |
| Fred Scolari (24) |
|
| 2–2 |
|---|
| 5 |
| November 11 |
| L 77–78 |
| Fred Scolari (21) |
|
| 2–3 |
|---|
| 6 |
| November 12 |
| @ Fort Wayne |
| L 73–87 |
| Fred Scolari (14) |
|
| 2–4 |
|---|
| 7 |
| November 14 |
| New York |
| L 87–92 |
| Fred Scolari (16) |
|
| 2–5 |
|---|
| 8 |
| November 15 |
| L 74–79 |
| Bill Sharman (20) |
|
| 2–6 |
|---|
| 9 |
| November 18 |
| Fort Wayne |
| W 118–75 |
| Schnittker, Scolari (20) |
|
| 3–6 |
|---|
| 10 |
| November 19 |
| @ Boston |
| W 81–75 |
| Frank Kudelka (15) |
|
| 4–6 |
|---|
| 11 |
| November 21 |
| @ Philadelphia |
| L 78–83 |
| Frank Kudelka (13) |
|
| 4–7 |
|---|
| 12 |
| November 22 |
| Tri-Cities |
| W 65–60 |
| Fred Scolari (13) |
|
| 5–7 |
|---|
| 13 |
| November 23 |
| @ New York |
| L 78–109 |
| Schnittker, Scolari (17) |
|
| 5–8 |
|---|
| 14 |
| November 25 |
| Syracuse |
| L 67–77 |
| Don Otten (22) |
|
| 5–9 |
|---|
| 15 |
| November 26 |
| @ Syracuse |
| L 76–90 |
| Chick Halbert (17) |
|
| 5–10 |
|---|
| 16 |
| November 28 |
| @ Rochester |
| L 71–87 |
| Fred Scolari (17) |
|
| 5–11 |
|---|
| 17 |
| November 29 |
| Rochester |
| L 71–72 |
| Bill Sharman (20) |
|
| 5–12 |
|---|
| 18 |
| November 30 |
| @ Boston |
| W 85–81 |
| Fred Scolari (23) |
|
| 6–12 |
|---|
| 19 |
| December 2 |
| Boston |
| L 75–83 |
| Bill Sharman (18) |
|
| 6–13 |
|---|
| 20 |
| December 6 |
| Indianapolis |
| L 79–101 |
| Dick Schnittker (16) |
|
| 6–14 |
|---|
| 21 |
| December 9 |
| New York |
| W 91–84 |
| Fred Scolari (22) |
|
| 7–14 |
|---|
| 22 |
| December 10 |
| @ Fort Wayne |
| L 81–97 |
| Dick Schnittker (18) |
|
| 7–15 |
|---|
| 23 |
| December 13 |
| Boston |
| W 110–79 |
| Fred Scolari (24) |
|
| 8–15 |
|---|
| 24 |
| December 16 |
| Philadelphia |
| L 88–96 |
| Fred Scolari (15) |
|
| 8–16 |
|---|
| 25 |
| December 20 |
| Rochester |
| L 76–94 |
| Bill Sharman (15) |
|
| 8–17 |
|---|
| 26 |
| December 23 |
| Indianapolis |
| L 79–87 (OT) |
| Dick Schnittker (19) |
|
| 8–18 |
|---|
| 27 |
| December 25 |
| @ Minneapolis |
| L 79–93 |
| Fred Scolari (17) |
|
| 8–19 |
|---|
| 28 |
| December 26 |
| @ Indianapolis |
| W 88–81 |
| Fred Scolari (24) |
|
| 9–19 |
|---|
| 29 |
| December 28 |
| @ Tri-Cities |
| L 80–97 |
| Fred Scolari (19) |
|
| 9–20 |
|---|
| 30 |
| December 30 |
| @ Rochester |
| L 77–91 |
| Bill Sharman (19) |
|
| 9–21 |
|---|
| 31 |
| January 1 |
| @ Baltimore |
| L 71–83 |
| Bill Sharman (18) |
|
| 9–22 |
|---|
| 32 |
| January 3 |
| Baltimore |
| W 92–82 |
| Bill Sharman (21) |
|
| 10–22 |
|---|
| 33 |
| January 6 |
| Fort Wayne |
| L 76–91 |
| Bill Sharman (17) |
|
| 10–23 |
|---|
| 34 |
| January 7 |
| @ Boston |
| L 86–91 (OT) |
| Fred Scolari (19) |
|
| 10–24 |
|---|
| 35 |
| January 9 |
| @ Philadelphia |
| L 74–102 |
| Bill Sharman (17) |
| | 10–25
Dispersal Draft
After the Capitols franchise folded operations on January 9, 1951, the NBA would conduct a dispersal draft on the team's players later that same day. It effectively became the final dispersal draft of the 1950–51 season, following the dispersal drafts involving the Waterloo Hawks, Anderson Packers, St. Louis Bombers, and Chicago Stags franchises earlier in the 1950 offseason period. As such, the following teams acquired these players from the Capitols during the dispersal draft period.
- Baltimore Bullets: Chick Halbert
- Boston Celtics: Bones McKinney & Frank Kudelka
- Fort Wayne Pistons: Bill Sharman
- Minneapolis Lakers: Dick Schnittker
- Syracuse Nationals: Earl Lloyd & Fred Scolari
- Tri-Cities Blackhawks: Alan Sawyer
References
References
- "1950-51 Washington Capitols Roster and Stats".
- "Washington Capitols".
- (2003-11-19). "ESPN Classic - Explosion: 1951 scandals threaten college hoops".
- (24 July 2007). "When an NBA Referee Was Convicted of Shaving Points".
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