| 1943 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
| Dates | 15 March–18 March |
| Venue | International Amphitheater |
| Teams | 12 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Washington Bears |
| 1st runner-up | Oshkosh All-Stars |
| 2nd runner-up | Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons |
| MVP | Curly Armstrong |
The1943 World Professional Basketball Tournament was the fifth edition of theWorld Professional Basketball Tournament. It was held inChicago, Illinois, during the days of 15–18 March 1943 and featured 12 teams, with the teams mostly being independently run teams that also competed alongside the four remaining teams that were from theNational Basketball League at the time because ofWorld War II (though theChicago Studebaker Flyers would move toSouth Bend, Indiana after they were eliminated from the 1943 NBL Playoffs and rebranded themselves to the South Bend Studebaker Champions, with them having the same roster there outside of the last minute addition of former Chicago Collegians andHarlem Globetrotters player Agis Bray[1][2]). TheFort Wayne Zollner Pistons got their revenge on the NBL championSheboygan Red Skins by winning 48–40 over them in the quarterfinal match, but were upset by theOshkosh All-Stars in the semifinals by a close 40–39 win by Oshkosh. Meanwhile, the other finalist team, theWashington Bears, were an all-black team that was composed ofNew York Renaissance players that lost only one time in the over 50 games they played in during the independent season they had under that name. One player that was originally on the Bears' roster earlier in the season,Wilmeth Sidat-Singh, had left the team to enlist in the all-blackTuskegee Airmen fighter squadron, but tragically died in a plane crash duringWorld War II months after the tournament concluded on May 9, 1943 (though his body wasn't found until over a month passed on June 27), at the young age of 25.[3] This year's event was won by the Washington Bears, which included many formerNew York Renaissance players and coincidentally was the final year that an independent team would win the WPBT,[4][5] who defeated theOshkosh All-Stars 43–31 in the championship game. TheFort Wayne Zollner Pistons came in third after beating theDayton Dive Bombers 58–52 in the third-place game.[6] Despite his team not even making it to the championship match,Curly Armstrong of the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.[7]
17 March 1943 9:30 p.m.[9] |
| Washington Bears43,Oshkosh All-Stars 31 | ||
| Scoring by half: 27–15, 16–16 | ||
| Pts:J. Isaacs – 11 | Pts:R. Vaughn,L. Edwards – 6 | |
