First Game in NBA History (original) (raw)
On November 1, 1946, the first NBA (at the time called the BAA) basketball game took place in Toronto, Canada. The game was between The New York Knicks and the Toronto Huskies at Maple Leaf Gardens and drew in over 7000 spectators, most who knew very little about basketball; The Knicks won 68-66.
Interesting Facts:
-Player salaries were around $5000 per season.
-The first BAA teams paid a $10,000 franchise fee.
-If you were taller than the tallest Huskies player (6 ft 8 in), you could attend the opening game for free.
Advertising Marquee
Promo ads for first ever NBA game.
Ossie Schectman scores the first ever basket in NBA history.
New York
| Player | FG | FT | FTA | FT% | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leo Gottlieb | 6 | 2 | 4 | .500 | 14 |
| Ossie Schectman | 4 | 3 | 5 | .600 | 11 |
| Stan Stutz | 2 | 5 | 5 | 1.000 | 9 |
| Ralph Kaplowitz | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 7 |
| Jake Weber | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1.000 | 6 |
| Dick Murphy | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 5 |
| Hank Rosenstein | 2 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 5 |
| Nat Militzok | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 5 |
| Tommy Byrnes | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 4 |
| Sonny Hertzberg | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 2 |
| Bob Mullens | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 24 | 20 | 27 | .740 | 68 |
Toronto
| Player | FG | FT | FTA | FT% | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Sadowski | 8 | 2 | 6 | .333 | 18 |
| George Nostrand | 7 | 2 | 7 | .286 | 16 |
| Charlie Hoefer | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1.000 | 8 |
| Mike McCarron | 1 | 4 | 5 | .800 | 6 |
| Ray Wertis | 3 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 6 |
| Dick Fitzgerald | 3 | 0 | 3 | .000 | 6 |
| Bob Fitzgerald | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 4 |
| Harry Miller | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 1 |
| Frank Fucarino | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 1 |
| Roy Hurley | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Hank Biasatti | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 25 | 16 | 27 | .592 | 66 |
Newspaper article about the game
News articles about the first ever BAA game.