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| 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) |
TheSt. Louis Bombers were aNational Basketball Association team based inSt. Louis from 1946 to 1950.
The St. Louis Bombers were originally part of theBasketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946.Ken Loeffler, head coach at theUniversity 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 signedSaint Louis University starEd Macauley to one of the highest contracts in professional basketball.[2] Later that year, the BAA merged with theNational Basketball League (NBL) to form theNational Basketball Association (NBA).[3]
On January 27, 1950, general managerEmory 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 the1949–50 season.[6]
The NBA would return to St. Louis in 1955 when the Milwaukee Hawks became theSt. Louis Hawks. Ed Macauley would end up back in St. Louis in a deal that sentBill Russell to theBoston 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.
The Bombers played at theSt. Louis Arena. The arena was torn down in 1999.[7]
| 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 | |
| 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 | LostFirst round (Warriors) 1–2 | |
| 1947–48 | BAA | Western | 1st | 29 | 19 | .604 | — | LostBAA Semifinals (Warriors) 3–4 † | |
| 1948–49 | BAA | Western | 4th | 29 | 31 | .483 | 16 | LostDivision 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 | |||||
