Washington Capitols
Encyclopedia
The Washington Capitols were a charter Basketball Association of America
Basketball Association of America
The Basketball Association of America was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. The league merged with the National Basketball League in 1949, forming the National Basketball Association ...

 (forerunner of the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

) team based in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerbach
Red Auerbach
Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach was an American basketball coach of the Washington Capitols, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and the Boston Celtics. After he retired from coaching, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death...

.

The team was founded in 1946 as a charter BAA team; it became a charter NBA team in 1949. It folded on January 9, 1951 (with a 10–25 record). The home arena was Uline Arena in Washington, capacity 7,500. The teams wore green and white. The NBA would return to the Washington, D.C. area in 1973
1973-74 NBA season
The 1973–74 NBA season was the 28th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.- Notable occurrences :...

, when the Baltimore Bullets
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...

 became the Capital Bullets.

Franchise history

The Capitols' 81.7 win percentage in the BAA's inaugural season is still one of the top 10 winning percentages in NBA history.

The Washington Capitols are also noteworthy for two long win streaks during their short history. In 1946, the Capitols won 17 straight games — a single season streak that would remain the NBA's longest until 1969. The 15–0 start of the 1948–49 team is still the best in NBA history (albeit tied in 1993–94 by the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...

).
  • NBA Championships: None
  • Divisional Championships: Regular Season: 2 (1946–47 and 1948–49) ; playoffs (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950
    1949-50 NBA season
    The 1949–50 NBA season was officially the 4th season of the National Basketball Association. However, it is the first season that the league is officially called the National Basketball Association...

    )


Basketball Hall of Famers:
  • Bill Sharman
    Bill Sharman
    William Walton "Bill" Sharman is a former professional basketball player and coach. Sharman completed high school in the rural city of Porterville, California and is mostly known for his time with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s, partnering with Bob Cousy in what some consider the greatest...

     (leading scorer in the 1951 season)
  • Red Auerbach
    Red Auerbach
    Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach was an American basketball coach of the Washington Capitols, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and the Boston Celtics. After he retired from coaching, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death...

     (coach)

Leading scorers by season

  • 1947 – Bob Feerick
    Bob Feerick
    Robert Joseph Feerick was an American professional basketball player, coach and general manager. He was born in San Francisco, California....

     – 16.8 ppg
  • 1948 – Bob Feerick – 16.1 ppg
  • 1949 – Bob Feerick – 13.0 ppg
  • 1950 – Don Otten
    Don Otten
    Donald F. Otten was an American professional basketball player.A 6'10" center from Bellefontaine High School and Bowling Green State University, Otten began his professional career in 1946 with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks of the National Basketball League...

     – 14.9 ppg (in 18 games. Jack Nichols scored 13.1 over 49 games, but Fred Scolari
    Fred Scolari
    Fred J. Scolari was an American professional basketball player. At 5'10", he played the guard position....

     scored the most points, with 860 in 66 games.)
  • 1951 – Bill Sharman
    Bill Sharman
    William Walton "Bill" Sharman is a former professional basketball player and coach. Sharman completed high school in the rural city of Porterville, California and is mostly known for his time with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s, partnering with Bob Cousy in what some consider the greatest...

     – 12.2 ppg

Coaches and others

  • 1947–1949 – Red Auerbach
  • 1950 – Bob Feerick – player-coach
  • 1951 – Bones McKinney
    Bones McKinney
    Horace Albert "Bones" McKinney was an American professional basketball player and coach....

     – player-coach
  • 1950 – Earl Lloyd
    Earl Lloyd
    Earl Francis Lloyd is a retired American basketball player. He was the first African-American to play in the National Basketball Association, in the 1950-51 NBA season...

    – first African American to play in the NBA

Season-by-season records

|-
!colspan="6"| Washington Capitols (BAA)
|-
|1946–47||49||11||0.817||2–4||Lost Semifinals
|-
|1947–48||28||20||0.583||0–1||Lost West Div Tie
|-
|1948–49||38||22||0.633||6–5||Lost BAA Finals
|-
!colspan="6"| Washington Capitols (NBA)
|-
|1949–50 ||32||36||0.471||0–2|| Lost East Div Semis
|-
|1950–51 ||10||25||0.286||Did not qualify||

External links

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