Legend has it the agreement to create the National Basketball Association was finalized on the kitchen table of Pistons owner Fred Zollner in 1949. So how is the NBA celebrating its 75th anniversary this season?
When the NBA actually began is a bit controversial, or is commissioner Adam Silver simply using this year as the 75th anniversary to try and juice up some interest in the league.
Pistons played big part in start of NBA
Here are the facts, you can decide whether this is really the NBA’s 75th anniversary:
- The NBA office says the league started with the creation of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946, hence it is their 75th anniversary.
- The BAA merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) officially on August 3, 1949 and changed its name to the National Basketball Association.
- The Pistons had been a member of the NBL until switching to the BAA in 1948.
Its NBL titles in 1944 and 1945 were the last time the Pistons won a league championship until 1989. Oddly, the NBA does not recognize any records from the NBL, as most leagues when they merge (AFL-NFL, AHL-NHL) do count what occurred beforehand.
In 1949, there were 17 teams in the first year of the new NBA, 10 from the BAA and seven came from the NBL. There are six teams from back then still active, but only two are still in their original cities.: the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics.
The Pistons, Lakers, Warriors and Kings also were part of the original NBA.
(Note: The Lakers began as the Detroit Gems of the NBL. When the Gems went under, a group of Minneapolis businessman purchased the rights to the franchise.)
Detroit had a BAA team 75 years ago to start NBA
The Pistons as a professional basketball team have been around since 1941 (and even earlier as a semi-pro squad). It was run by Fred Zollner, whose family owned the Zollner piston factory in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Officially, the club was in the factory’s name. Since Fred and his sister Janet co-owned the company, Janet became one of the first women to own part of a pro team.
The name of the team was actually the Zollner Pistons until they joined the BAA in 1948, when they became the Fort Wayne Pistons, before moving to Detroit in 1957.
But Detroit was part of the BAA’s birth. In 1946-47, the Detroit Falcons played that season at the Olympia on Grand River Avenue, and then folded. So the city was part of the NBA’s first year, whichever version you go with.
Whether it is the 75th or really the 72nd anniversary of the NBA, one thing is clear. Detroit, and the Pistons, have been a major part of the league from the start.