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| 1954–55 Baltimore Bullets season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach | Clair Bee (2–9) Albert Barthelme (1–2) | ||
| Arena | Baltimore Coliseum | ||
| Results | |||
| Record | 3–11 (.214) | ||
Stats atBasketball Reference | |||
| Radio | WCBM | ||
| |||
The1954–55 Baltimore Bullets season was the Bullets' 8th season in theNBA and eleventh and final overall season of existence.[1] After losing their November 19 game in a 103–92 defeat to theFort Wayne Pistons for a 2–9 start to the season, the Bullets would fire head coachClair Bee and replace him with assistant coach (and formerUniversity of Baltimore head coach)Albert Barthelme for what turned out to be the team's final three games ever played in franchise history.[2][3] The franchise ceased operations after playing 14 total games with a 3–11 record on November 27, 1954. The NBA's official record books for the 1954–55 season do not include the Bullets' games and team statistics, nor do they include the statistics of the opposing players and teams in games played against the Bullets.[4]
Baltimore would go without an NBA team until1963, when theChicago Zephyrs moved to Baltimore and became the second incarnation of theBaltimore Bullets. The new team, however, would not claim the old Bullets' history as a part of their own team history following the move from Chicago to Baltimore.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position(s) | Nationality | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Frank Selvy | SG/SF | Furman | |
| 2 | 7 | Bobby Leonard | PG | Indiana | |
| 3 | 16 | Werner Killen | PF/C | Lawrence Institute of Technology | |
| 4 | 25 | Burt Spice | F | Toledo | |
| 5 | 34 | Lou Scott | C | Indiana | |
| 6 | 43 | Bob Heim | SG | Xavier | |
| 7 | 52 | Joe Pehanick | C | Seattle | |
| 8 | 61 | Harry Brooks | PG | Seton Hall | |
| 9 | 70 | Ron Goerrs | C | Concordia Seminary | |
| 10 | 78 | Gary Shivers | PF/C | Houston | |
| 11 | 87 | Elliot Karver | SG | George Washington |
Baltimore would only use eleven of the draft's thirteen rounds worth of selections before opting out of the rest of the draft afterward. This became the second draft in a row where the Bullets would obtain the first overall draft pick and third and final time in franchise history that the original Baltimore Bullets would get the #1 draft pick in the NBA. This draft would also later prove to be the last draft that the original Baltimore Bullets franchise would participate in, as they would fold operations during the very early portions of the season. However, a new Baltimore Bullets squad would be able to return to theNBA draft by the1964 NBA draft once the Chicago Zephyrs moved to Baltimore to take on the Baltimore Bullets name personally, with them using the Bullets name for most of their existence by that point in time (even after that Bullets squad moved out of Baltimore to be inWashington, D.C. in 1973–74 instead) until 1997 in order for that team to become the currentWashington Wizards going forward.
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head coach
Legend
|
Source:[5]
| Date | Opponent | Score |
| October 30 | Syracuse | L 67–69 |
| October 31 | vs.Philadelphia | L 97–102 |
| November 3 | Minneapolis | W 93–92 |
| November 6 | @Rochester | L 80–128 |
| November 7 | Boston | L 99–101 |
| November 11 | vs.Minneapolis | L 87–97 |
| November 12 | vs.Minneapolis | L 88–126 |
| November 13 | @Boston | L 113–118 |
| November 14 | New York | L 93–95 |
| November 16 | @New York | W 110–107 |
| November 19 | Fort Wayne | L 92–103 |
| November 20 | Milwaukee | W 99–92 |
| November 21 | @Minneapolis | L 85–116 |
| November 25 | @Fort Wayne | L 89–92 |
After the original Baltimore Bullets franchise folded operations on November 27, 1954, the NBA would conduct a dispersal draft on the team's players later that same day. As of 2025, this would be the last dispersal draft that the NBA had in regards to their own teams folding operations. (The NBA would later host the1976 ABA dispersal draft due to theNBA-ABA merger earlier that year, but the dispersal draft there would involve teams from the future created rivalingAmerican Basketball Association, not any teams from the NBA.) As such, the following teams acquired these players from the original Bullets franchise during the dispersal draft period.