1940–41 Akron Goodyear Wingfoots season

The 1940–41 Akron Goodyear Wingfoots season was the Goodyear Wingfoots' fourth year in the United States' National Basketball League (NBL), which was also the fourth year the league existed.^[2] However, if you include their previous seasons of existence as an independent team, alongside seasons where they competed in the Amateur Athletic Union, the National Industrial League (not to be confused with the National Industrial Basketball League that they would later compete in, with the Goodyear Wingfoots winning a championship in the NIL in 1932), and what were considered to be predecessors to the NBL in the National Professional Basketball League and the Midwest Basketball Conference (the latter of which the Goodyear Wingfoots won that league's final championship under that name before it folded operations and was considered to be rebranded as the NBL according to some basketball historians^[3][4][5]), this season would officially be considered their 23rd season of play as a team. This season would see only seven teams competing in the NBL this time around due to the Indianapolis Kautskys opting to leave the league in order to experiment as a barnstorming club (with the Detroit Eagles initially joining them at first also due to venue issues before ultimately returning in time to start the season properly), meaning this season would be the first season where the NBL would compete without any divisions involved whatsoever.^[6] For the fourth and final time in the NBL's history, the Goodyear Wingfoots would be one of two works teams from Akron, Ohio participating in the league, with the other team being the rivaling Akron Firestone Non-Skids.^[2]

The Wingfoots played their home games at the Goodyear Hall.^[7] This season would end up being the worst season in the franchise's history throughout their time in the NBL, with them finishing their season with a below-average 11–13 record. Despite the Goodyear Wingfoots not being able to worry about divisional placement this time around, they would not only finish with a tied record with the Chicago Bruins for a fifth-place finish, but both of those teams would also finish behind the Detroit Eagles by one game for the fourth and final playoff spot, as well as both the Sheboygan Red Skins and Akron Firestone Non-Skids for second place and then the Oshkosh All-Stars for the eventual first place champions of the league.^[6] Despite the failures the team had this season, the Goodyear squad would still see Ben Stephens not only be named the NBL's Most Valuable Player (winning the award over Leroy Edwards of the Oshkosh All-Stars, who had won the previous MVP honors for the first three seasons in the NBL's existence), but also be named a member of the All-NBL First Team, with Jake Pelkington also earning All-NBL Second Team honors as well.^[6]