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The St. Louis Bombers were a National Basketball Association team based in St. Louis from 1946 to 1950.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2017) |
| St. Louis Bombers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Division | Western |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Folded | 1950 |
| History | St. Louis Bombers 1946–1950 |
| Arena | St. Louis Arena |
| Location | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Team colors | Red and White |
| General manager | Emory D. Jones |
| Head coach | Ken Loeffler (1946–1948) Grady Lewis (1948–1950) |
| Division titles | 1 (1948) |
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The St. Louis Bombers were originally part of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946. Ken Loeffler, head coach at the University of Denver, was the team's first head coach. He left the team in 1948 due to a disagreement with team president C. D. Hamilton Jr. over a bonus.[1]
On May 7, 1949, the Bombers signed Saint Louis University star Ed Macauley to one of the highest contracts in professional basketball.[2] Later that year, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) to form the National Basketball Association (NBA).[3]
On January 27, 1950, general manager Emory D. Jones announced that the ownership was looking to sell the team due to poor on-court performance and low attendance (3,550 per game).[4] On April 22, 1950, the Bombers announced that they were dropping their franchise.[5] The Bombers were one of six teams that either folded or departed the NBA after the 1949–50 season.[6]
The NBA would return to St. Louis in 1955 when the Milwaukee Hawks became the St. Louis Hawks. Ed Macauley would end up back in St. Louis in a deal that sent Bill Russell to the Boston Celtics, and played a key role in the Hawks 1958 NBA championship.[7] The Hawks have played in their current home of Atlanta since 1968.
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The Bombers played at the St. Louis Arena. The arena was torn down in 1999.[7]
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Players
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
| St. Louis Bombers Hall of Famers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | ||||
| No. | Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted |
| 50 | Ed Macauley | C/F | 1949–1950 | 1960 |
| Coaches | ||||
| Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted | |
| Ken Loeffler | Head coach | 1946-1948 | 1964 | |
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| BAA/NBA champions | Division champions | Playoff berth |
| Season | League | Division | Finish | Wins | Losses | Win% | GB | Playoffs | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946–47 | BAA | Western | 2nd | 38 | 23 | .623 | 1 | Lost First round (Warriors) 1–2 | |
| 1947–48 | BAA | Western | 1st | 29 | 19 | .604 | — | Lost BAA Semifinals (Warriors) 3–4 † | |
| 1948–49 | BAA | Western | 4th | 29 | 31 | .483 | 16 | Lost Division semifinals (Royals) 0–2 ‡ | |
| 1949–50 | NBA | Central | 5th | 26 | 42 | .382 | 25 | ||
| Regular season record | 122 | 115 | .515 | 1946–1950 | |||||
| Playoff record | 4 | 8 | .333 | Postseason Series Record: 0–3 | |||||
- † The 1948 BAA Playoffs did not establish Eastern and Western finalists and generated one finalist from the East, one from the West, only by coincidence. Philadelphia and St. Louis were the finalists from the Eastern and Western divisions and met in a best-of-seven series to determine one league championship finalist.[8]
- ‡ The 1949 BAA Playoffs matched Eastern teams exclusively, and Western teams exclusively, so that the league semifinals generated Eastern and Western finalists as well as championship finalists.
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