Syracuse One of 22 Cities With NBA Championship

Many may not realize Syracuse had a professional basketball team at one time.

Mike McAllister | Jun 2, 2022

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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Published Jun 2, 2022

MIKE MCALLISTER

Title: Publisher All Syracuse Education: Roberts Wesleyan College Location: Syracuse, New York Expertise: Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting. EXPERIENCE Mike McAllister has been covering Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting for more than a decade. Mike's career started with his own free blog as a way to vent following sporting events. Shortly thereafter, a network of basketball sites called Coast 2 Coast Hoops asked him to run their Syracuse site. That site was called Nation of Orange, and Mike quickly established it as a go-to for Syracuse fans. After running Nation of Orange for several months, a position with the Syracuse site on the Scout network became available. After one year as the recruiting expert with Cuse Nation, he was named the publisher. Mike oversaw the transition from Scout to 247Sports, and ran the site on that network for years. Presented with the opportunity to join one of the biggest names in the sports journalism industry, Sports Illustrated, Mike jumped at the chance. All Syracuse was started from scratch by Mike and the Fan Nation team. It has now become a staple for Orange fans of various sports. Mike has broken news on recruiting, Syracuse basketball and football team information and has established himself as the top recruiting inside in the market. He has appeared on local radio shows, television broadcasts, national radio shows and much more. Mr. McAllister has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Information Management from Roberts Wesleyan College.