American Basketball League (ABL)-Flash Back
In 1925, Joseph Carr, the president of National Football League (NFL) made an attempt to establish a genuine professional basketball league called, American Basketball League (ABL). The league was made up of the top teams from East and Midwest region. The league was mainly composed of the teams located in small cities and sponsored by the industrial firms. The players were signed on the contracts and facilitated by the financers of the team.
The First Season 1925-26
In the first season, the league had nine teams Chicago Bruins, Cleveland Rosenblums, Washington Palace Five, Boston Whirlwinds, Brooklyn Arcadians, Buffalo Bisons, Detroit Pulaski Post Five, Fort Wayne Caseys and Rochester Centrals. Cleveland Rosenblums became the champion of the first season, they defeated Brooklyn Arcadians in the finals by 3-0.
Original Celtics Joined ABL
Original Celtics joined the league in 1926, as a replacement of Brooklyn Arcadians (the team left the season after playing 5 games) with a new name Brooklyn Celtics. The Brooklyn Celtics won back to back two championships and dominated the league for two seasons before dropping out in 1929.
The League Ran Out of Money
Despite having some big teams, the league was remained unsuccessful to bring spectators into the basketball courts, most of the financers backed out of the league, as a result the league was folded in 1931, when only 5 teams were left in the league.
ABL made a Come Back
Two years later, the league was reorganized in 1933, but as an East Coast League, based on the teams of Pennsylvania and New York City area. Philadelphia SPHAs entered the league in 1933, they won 7 championships in ABL before their last appearance in 1948-49 season.
ABL Disbanded
The league started to lose its popularity when NBL came into the limelight again in 1937. In 1946-47 season, Baltimore Bullets left the league and joined BAA, a newly formed basketball league. ABL could not continue its operation in 1953-54 season and eventually disbanded in 1955.
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