1947–48 Chicago Stags season
NBA professional basketball team season
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The 1947–48 BAA season was the Stags' second season in the Basketball Association of America (later known as the NBA).[1] During this season only, a vast majority of the Stags' home games would actually have the Stags' match-up be considered the main headliner for what would become a unique arrangement between the Basketball Association of America and the older National Basketball League where for 24 games of the season (starting on November 15, 1947 and ending on March 18, 1948), the Stags would agree to host an official NBL match involving one of their eleven teams as the headliner match-up of a doubleheader series agreed upon for that specific night before the Stags would play their official BAA-scheduled home match-up against one of the seven remaining BAA teams (the ABL-added Baltimore Bullets alongside the Boston Celtics, New York Knickerbockers, Philadelphia Warriors, Providence Steamrollers, St. Louis Bombers, and Washington Capitols) that entered the league's second season of existence.[2] While the agreement was made to look for both leagues to have financial stability throughout the season and look for an eventual agreement with each other following the NBL's defending-champion Chicago American Gears defecting from that league to create their own short-lived, rivaling professional basketball league called the Professional Basketball League of America (PBLA), the agreement plans between the two leagues would ultimately fall apart by the end of the season once the BAA persuaded four of the NBL's teams to switch leagues for the following season of play, which led to the end of the doubleheader series that Chicago held between the NBL and the BAA; the season after that would later see the two leagues merge operations to create the National Basketball Association (NBA), the present successor for both leagues (more so for the BAA than the NBL).
| 1947–48 Chicago Stags season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Harold Olsen |
| Arena | Chicago Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 28–20 (.583) |
| Place | Division: 3rd (Western) |
| Playoff finish | Lost BAA Semifinals |
Stats at Basketball Reference | |
| Local media | |
| Television | WBKB |
| Radio | WIND |
Draft picks
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Paul Huston | F |  United States | Ohio State |
| 2 | 18 | Ben Schadler | F | United States | Northwestern |
| 3 | 28 | Jimmy Darden | G | United States | Denver |
| 4 | 38 | Gene Vance | G/F | United States | Illinois |
| 5 | 47 | Andy Phillip | G/F | United States | Illinois |
| 6 | 55 | Ralph Bishop | G/F | United States | Washington |
| 7 | 62 | Jim Pollard | F/C | United States | Stanford |
| 8 | 68 | Don Smith | G/F | United States | Minnesota |
| 9 | 73 | Jack Stone | G/F | United States | Kansas State |
| 10 | 77 | Hank Decker | – | United States | West Texas A&M |
Despite making it to the inaugural BAA (now NBA) Finals championship series against the Philadelphia Warriors, the Stags admitted to the rest of the league that they alongside the Canadian-based Toronto Huskies were completely unsure of their personal standings on whether they'd be able to play for another season or not (partially due to the perceived competition against the rivaling National Basketball League and their rivaling team in the new defending champions in the Chicago American Gears).[3] Even though they were uncertain about their personal status as a franchise, however, the Stags joined the Huskies in participating in the inaugural 1947 BAA draft, with the Stags later proving that they would be able to play for a few more seasons beyond this one at hand.
Roster
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Head coach
Legend
|
Regular season
Season standings
| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | |
| 1 | x-St. Louis Bombers | 29 | 19 | .604 | – |
| 2 | x-Baltimore Bullets | 28 | 20 | .583 | 1 |
| 3 | x-Chicago Stags | 28 | 20 | .583 | 1 |
| 4 | x-Washington Capitols | 28 | 20 | .583 | 1 |
Game log
| # | Date | Opponent | Score | High points | Record |
| 1 | November 13 | St. Louis | W 80–70 | Andy Phillip (15) | 1–0 |
| 2 | November 15 | Baltimore | L 63–67 | Stan Miasek (17) | 1–1 |
| 3 | November 19 | @ New York | W 81–63 | Max Zaslofsky (26) | 2–1 |
| 4 | November 20 | Washington | W 81–77 | Andy Phillip (20) | 3–1 |
| 5 | November 22 | @ Baltimore | L 72–75 | Stan Miasek (27) | 3–2 |
| 6 | November 28 | Philadelphia | W 75–71 | Max Zaslofsky (20) | 4–2 |
| 7 | December 3 | Washington | W 81–73 | Stan Miasek (25) | 5–2 |
| 8 | December 6 | Baltimore | W 73–65 | Stan Miasek (24) | 6–2 |
| 9 | December 12 | St. Louis | L 75–85 | Max Zaslofsky (20) | 6–3 |
| 10 | December 18 | Washington | L 64–70 | Gene Vance (15) | 6–4 |
| 11 | December 21 | Baltimore | W 93–83 | Max Zaslofsky (24) | 7–4 |
| 12 | December 23 | @ Boston | W 83–75 | Max Zaslofsky (24) | 8–4 |
| 13 | December 25 | @ Baltimore | L 70–87 | Max Zaslofsky (16) | 8–5 |
| 14 | December 27 | @ New York | W 79–70 | Max Zaslofsky (24) | 9–5 |
| 15 | December 30 | @ Providence | W 85–73 | Max Zaslofsky (34) | 10–5 |
| 16 | January 3 | @ Providence | W 79–76 | Max Zaslofsky (20) | 11–5 |
| 17 | January 7 | @ New York | W 79–74 | Stan Miasek (25) | 12–5 |
| 18 | January 8 | @ Baltimore | L 75–78 | Stan Miasek (17) | 12–6 |
| 19 | January 9 | @ Philadelphia | W 77–60 | Max Zaslofsky (35) | 13–6 |
| 20 | January 11 | New York | W 99–86 | Max Zaslofsky (31) | 14–6 |
| 21 | January 14 | @ Washington | L 67–75 | Stan Miasek (21) | 14–7 |
| 22 | January 16 | @ Boston | L 61–75 | Max Zaslofsky (20) | 14–8 |
| 23 | January 18 | Boston | W 72–48 | Max Zaslofsky (20) | 15–8 |
| 24 | January 22 | Providence | L 50–56 | Max Zaslofsky (17) | 15–9 |
| 25 | January 27 | Baltimore | W 78–74 | Max Zaslofsky (28) | 16–9 |
| 26 | January 29 | @ St. Louis | L 60–62 | Stan Miasek (19) | 16–10 |
| 27 | January 31 | @ Washington | L 48–54 | Max Zaslofsky (17) | 16–11 |
| 28 | February 1 | Philadelphia | L 78–85 | Max Zaslofsky (17) | 16–12 |
| 29 | February 5 | @ St. Louis | W 77–71 | Phillip, Zaslofsky (19) | 17–12 |
| 30 | February 8 | Philadelphia | W 80–74 (2OT) | Max Zaslofsky (26) | 18–12 |
| 31 | February 11 | St. Louis | L 78–80 | Andy Phillip (30) | 18–13 |
| 32 | February 12 | @ St. Louis | W 80–74 | Max Zaslofsky (27) | 19–13 |
| 33 | February 15 | Providence | L 79–85 | Max Zaslofsky (24) | 19–14 |
| 34 | February 19 | New York | W 82–74 | Max Zaslofsky (26) | 20–14 |
| 35 | February 21 | @ Providence | W 92–73 | Seminoff, Zaslofsky (22) | 21–14 |
| 36 | February 22 | @ Boston | W 97–77 | Max Zaslofsky (21) | 22–14 |
| 37 | February 25 | @ Washington | W 73–66 | Stan Miasek (21) | 23–14 |
| 38 | February 26 | @ Philadelphia | L 80–89 | Andy Phillip (25) | 23–15 |
| 39 | February 27 | Boston | W 69–83 | Max Zaslofsky (23) | 23–16 |
| 40 | February 29 | Washington | W 76–75 (OT) | Max Zaslofsky (28) | 24–16 |
| 41 | March 7 | Providence | W 89–81 | Max Zaslofsky (40) | 25–16 |
| 42 | March 9 | @ Philadelphia | W 93–79 | Gilmur, Seminoff (21) | 26–16 |
| 43 | March 10 | @ Washington | W 71–54 | Max Zaslofsky (28) | 27–16 |
| 44 | March 11 | @ Baltimore | L 83–86 | Max Zaslofsky (25) | 27–17 |
| 45 | March 13 | New York | W 58–51 | Max Zaslofsky (22) | 28–17 |
| 46 | March 18 | Boston | L 72–77 | Max Zaslofsky (19) | 28–18 |
| 47 | March 20 | @ St. Louis | L 63–75 | Max Zaslofsky (21) | 28–19 |
| 48 | March 21 | St. Louis | L 70–82 | Max Zaslofsky (24) | 28–20 |
BAA-NBL Doubleheader Series
This season was the only regular season where a BAA/NBA team would host multiple doubleheader series of games with many other teams from another professional basketball league, in this case, the rivaling National Basketball League. (It would also likely explain where the alternative version of the Basketball Association of America's logo would come from.) As such, all of the games that were played before the Chicago Stags played their regular season games this season, including the Minneapolis Lakers' famous exhibition game against the Harlem Globetrotters, will be displayed here in this case. However, due to the combination of the games all being hosted in the Chicago Stadium (home of the Stags) and the NBL not having their home and road opponents being confirmed to the general public so easily (at least, not as of 2026) due to their matches being considered neutral territory games, recording of scores for each game here will be determined by winning team and losing team with respective team scores shown on each side instead.
For the other seven games involved in the NBL's part of the doubleheader series with the BAA in Chicago, it's likely that the NBL's games in question were exhibition games played against either their own teams in the NBL (which would explain why the final results weren't officially recorded for the NBL's season) or were against other teams like the Harlem Globetrotters during this season.
BAA Playoffs
BAA Western Division Tiebreaker Series Match-Ups
Chicago Stags vs. Washington Capitols: Stags win series 1-0
- Game 1 @ Chicago (March 23): Chicago 74, Washington 70
Chicago Stags vs. Baltimore Bullets: Bullets win series 1-0
- Game 1 @ Chicago (March 25): Baltimore 75, Chicago 72
BAA Quarterfinals
(E3) Boston Celtics vs. (W3) Chicago Stags: Stags win series 2-1
- Game 1 @ Boston (March 28): Chicago 79, Boston 72
- Game 2 @ Boston (March 31): Boston 81, Chicago 77
- Game 3 @ Boston (April 2): Chicago 81, Boston 74
BAA Semifinals
(W2) Baltimore Bullets vs. (W3) Chicago Stags: Bullets win series 2-0
- Game 1 @ Chicago (April 7): Baltimore 73, Chicago 67
- Game 2 @ Baltimore (April 8): Baltimore 89, Chicago 72
Transactions
Sales
| Player | Date sold | New team |
|---|---|---|
| Kenny Sailors[4] | November, 1947 | Philadelphia Warriors |