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| Washington Capitols | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Division | Eastern |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Folded | 1952 |
| History | Washington Capitols 1946–1952 |
| Arena | Uline Arena |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Team colors | Green, white |
| Division titles | 2 (1947,1949) |
TheWashington Capitols were aBasketball Association of America (forerunner of theNational Basketball Association) team based inWashington, D.C. from 1946 to 1951. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of FamerRed Auerbach.
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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 Capitols were one of seven teams that quickly left the NBA: The NBA contracted after the 1949–1950 season, losing six teams: TheAnderson Packers,Sheboygan Red Skins andWaterloo Hawks jumped to theNPBL, while theChicago Stags,Denver Nuggets andSt. Louis Bombers folded. The league went from 17 teams to 11 before the 1950–1951 season started. Midway through the 1950–1951 season, the Washington Capitols folded as well, bringing the number of teams in the league down to ten.[1]
Earl Lloyd, the first African American athlete to play for an NBA team, debuted for the Capitols in Rochester, New York on October 31, 1950.[2]
The franchise played the 1951–52 season in theAmerican Basketball League, but the team folded again in January, 1952.[3] The main reason why the team folded for the second time was related to them and the ABL being sued by the NBA if the new Capitols tried to take the NBA team name's history from them as well.[4]
The teams wore green and white. The NBA returned to the Washington, D.C. area in1973, when theBaltimore Bullets became the Capital Bullets, now known as theWashington Wizards.
The Capitols' 81.7 win percentage in the BAA's inaugural season was the highest in the NBA until surpassed by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1966–67. The Capitols captured two Divisional Championships: (1946–47 and1948–49) and made the playoffs in (1947,1948 tie-breaker,1949 and1950).
The Washington Capitols are also noteworthy for two long win streaks during their short history. In 1946, the Capitols won17 straight games — a single season streak that remained the NBA's longest until 1969. The 15–0 start of the 1948–49 team was the best in NBA history until theGolden State Warriors broke it in2015–16 by starting 24–0, though theHouston Rockets had previously tied the Capitols' record in1993–94, and later, tied by theCleveland Cavaliers in2024–25.
The Capitols played in historicUline Arena, located at 1132, 1140, and 1146 3rd St. NE, Washington, District of Columbia. The capacity was 7,500. The facility still exists and has been repurposed into retail and office space.[5]
| Washington Capitols Hall of Famers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | ||||
| No. | Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted |
| 10 | Bill Sharman | G | 1950–1951 | 1976 |
| Coaches | ||||
| Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted | |
| Red Auerbach | Head coach | 1947–1949 | 1969 | |
| Contributors | ||||
| Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted | |
| Earl Lloyd1 | F | 1950–1951 | 2003 | |
Notes:
| BAA/NBA champions | Division champions | Playoff berth |
| Season | League | Division | Finish | Wins | Losses | Win% | GB | Playoffs | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946–47 | BAA | Eastern | 1st † | 49 | 11 | .817 | — | LostBAA Semifinals (Stags) 2–4 | |
| 1947–48 | BAA | Western | 4th | 28 | 20 | .583 | 1 | LostDivision Tiebreaker (Stags) | |
| 1948–49 | BAA | Eastern | 1st | 38 | 22 | .633 | — | WonDivision semifinals (Warriors) 2–0 WonDivision finals (Knicks) 2–1 LostBAA Finals (Lakers) 2–4 | |
| 1949–50 | NBA | Eastern | 3rd | 32 | 36 | .471 | 21 | LostDivision semifinals (Knicks) 0–2 | |
| 1950–51 ‡ | NBA | Eastern | 6th | 10 | 25 | .286 | 30 | ||
| Regular season record | 157 | 114 | .579 | 1946–1951 | |||||
| Playoff record | 8 | 12 | .400 | Postseason Series Record: 2–4 | |||||
† The inaugural1947 BAA Playoffs did not establish Eastern and Western champions and generated one finalist from the East, one from the West, only by coincidence. Washington and Chicago won the Eastern and Western Divisions and met in a best-of-seven series to determine one league championship finalist. (Washington lost the first two games, both at home, by 16 points each and lost the series four games to two; every game but the last was decided by at least 10 points.) Meanwhile, four runners-up played best-of-three matches to determine the other finalist. Philadelphia, second in the East, won that runners-up bracket and defeated Chicago in a best-of-seven series to win the BAA championship.[7]
‡ The Capitols folded midway during the season on January 9, 1951.