Syracuse One of 22 Cities With NBA Championship
With the NBA Finals set to begin Thursday night between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors, it is worth a reminder that even though the city has not had an NBA franchise since 1963, Syracuse remains one of 22 cities with an NBA championship. Many may not even realize that Syracuse once had a very successful professional basketball organization, the Syracuse Nationals, from 1946-1963. The team moved to Philadelphia in 1963 and became the 76ers. The Nats won the title in 1955, beating the Fort Wayne Pistons in the NBA Finals.
The other 21 cities with an NBA championships are Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Rochester, San Antonio, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Toronto and Washington D.C.
The Baltimore Bullets won in 1948 when it was then known as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). Minneapolis is on the list as the home of the Lakers prior to moving to Los Angeles. The Rochester Royals won in 1951, and after a couple of stops in other cities, eventually became the Sacramento Kings. St. Louis won as the Hawks in 1958.
In 1946, the Syracuse Nationals was purchased by Danny Biasone for $5,000 as part of the National Basketball League (NBL). The NBL merged with the BAA in 1949 to form the NBA.
The Nationals made the NBA Finals twice before winning it all in 1955. In each of those two previous appearances, 1950 and 1954, Syracuse lost to the Minneapolis Lakers. The Finals in 1950 was a six game series, while the Nats fell in game seven in 1954. The 1955 championship was the last Finals appearance for Syracuse.
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