1946–47 New York Knicks season
Season of the Basketball Association of America (NBA) New York Knicks team
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The 1946–47 New York Knickerbockers season was the first ever season of the franchise in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), now known as the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Knickerbockers, or Knicks in shorthand term, named for Father Knickerbocker (a popular symbol of New York), are one of only two teams of the original National Basketball Association still located in its original city (the other being the Boston Celtics), as well as are one of only three teams from the original BAA/NBA to still exist in the present day, with the Golden State Warriors being the third and final team still existing in the present era after previously being known as the Philadelphia Warriors. The Knickerbockers' first head coach was Neil Cohalan (who was considered the team's second choice for head coach behind former Original Celtics player and current (at the time) St. John's University men's basketball coach Joe Lapchick), with Ned Irish (who was well-known for being a stubborn, bossy micromanager) being their first general manager and owner for good measure.[1] During their first season in the BAA/NBA, the Knickerbockers finished the season with a 33–27 record, being five games ahead of the Providence Steamrollers for the last playoff spot in their division. After defeating the Cleveland Rebels in the quarterfinal round, they would eventually get swept 2–0 in the semifinal round to the eventual inaugural champions of the league, the Philadelphia Warriors. Greater details on their first season would be explored in Charley Rosen's book called "The First Tip-Off: The Incredible Story of the Birth of the NBA", with an entire chapter dedicated to the Knickerbockers' first season in the BAA/NBA alongside the various highs and lows (mostly highs from this specific season) that would eventually lead to them becoming the franchise that they are today.[2]
| 1946–47 New York Knicks season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Neil Cohalan |
| General manager | Ned Irish |
| Owners | Ned Irish |
| Arena | Madison Square Garden |
| Results | |
| Record | 33–27 (.550) |
| Place | Division: 3rd (Eastern) |
| Playoff finish | BAA Semifinals (lost to Warriors 0–2) |
| Local media | |
| Television | WCBS-TV/WNBT |
| Radio | WHN |
Roster
Due to this being the first season in the franchise's history, the BAA didn't utilize a draft system like they would in future seasons of the BAA/NBA and instead relied upon some combination of the head coach and the general manager of the team finding and signing players in time to start out their training camp period for the season.[3] For the Knickerbockers, team owner and general manager Ned Irish personally thought he knew better than either Joe Lapchick or head coach Neil Cohalan for players to add onto the opening season roster (primarily when it came to the notion of having local talents being included onto the team's inaugural roster), meaning he would overrule both of them on the final composition to start out the regular season.[4] In this case, Ned Irish would see to it that Sonny Hertzberg from the City College of New York, Leo Gottlieb from DeWitt Clinton High School (and also supposedly attended the City College of New York as well[5]), Tommy Byrnes from Seton Hall College, Ossie Schectman from Long Island University, Ralph Kaplowitz from New York University, Nat Militzok from Cornell University, Hank Rosenstein from the Boys High School in Brooklyn and the City College of New York, Bob Mullens from Fordham University, Stan Stutz from Rhose Island State University, Bob Cluggish from the University of Kentucky, and former Indianapolis Kautskys center Jake Weber from Purdue University would be a part of his opening roster, with many of them not only representing the state of New York, but also being Jewish as well.[6]
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Head coach
Legend
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Regular season
The Knickerbockers' (and the BAA's) first ever game as the New York Knickerbockers was played on November 1, 1946, against the Toronto Huskies at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, where the Knickerbockers won 68–66.[7]
Season standings
| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | |
| 1 | x-Washington Capitols | 49 | 11 | .817 | – |
| 2 | x-Philadelphia Warriors | 35 | 25 | .583 | 14 |
| 3 | x-New York Knicks | 33 | 27 | .550 | 16 |
| 4 | Providence Steamrollers | 28 | 32 | .467 | 21 |
| 5 | Boston Celtics | 22 | 38 | .367 | 27 |
| 6 | Toronto Huskies | 22 | 38 | .367 | 27 |
Game log
| 1946–47 game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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November
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December
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January
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February
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March
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| 1946–47 Schedule |
Playoffs
| 1947 playoff game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First Round: 2–1 (home: 2–0; road: 0–1)
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BAA Semifinals: 0–2 (home: 0–1; road: 0–1)
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| 1947 schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Player statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
Transactions
Trades
| January 21, 1947 |
To New York Knicks Bob Fitzgerald[8] |
To Toronto Huskies Bob Mullens |
Sales
| Player | Date sold | New team |
|---|---|---|
| Jake Weber[8] | December 2, 1946 | Providence Steamrollers |
| Ralph Kaplowitz[8] | January 16, 1947 | Philadelphia Warriors |
| Hank Rosenstein[8] | January 26, 1947 | Providence Steamrollers |
| Nat Militzok[9] | February, 1947 | Toronto Huskies |
Season Profits
Throughout this season, the New York Knickerbockers only had an average total of 3,406 paid attendees per game, with net receipts totaling up to $204,043 for the season, which led to the New York franchise being the only team out of every single BAA team operating this season to actually earn a profit this season with an estimated total profit margin of around $20,000 at hand for this particular season of play.[10] As a result of this surprising profit margin of theirs (at least when compared to every other BAA team operating at a loss for this season) combined with the Knickerbockers' performance throughout the season, New York would be one of six teams to fully confirm their interest in staying on board for another season while playing in the BAA.[11] To this day, they join the Boston Celtics as the only inaugural BAA/NBA team to still operate in their original location, with the Golden State Warriors (formerly known as the Philadelphia Warriors) also being the only other BAA/NBA team from this time still existing in the present day.