1948–49 Minneapolis Lakers season

1948–49 Minneapolis Lakers season
BAA champions
Head coach	John Kundla
General manager	Max Winter
Owners	Ben Berger
Arena	Minneapolis Auditorium
Results
Record	44–16 (.733)
Place	Division: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finish	BAA Champions (Defeated Capitols 4–2)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	WLOL

The 1948–49 BAA season was the Lakers' first season in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) (which later became the National Basketball Association (NBA) after the conclusion of this season).

This season saw the Lakers win their first BAA championship, defeating the Washington Capitols in six games in the BAA Finals.

The last remaining active member of the 1948–49 Minneapolis Lakers was center George Mikan, who played his final NBA game in the 1955–56 season, although he missed the 1954–55 season. After long being honored by the Lakers following their eventual move to Los Angeles, Mikan's #99 would eventually be retired properly (albeit posthumously) on October 30, 2022.

Draft

Main article: 1948 BAA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	9	Chuck Hanger	–	United States	California
–	–	Cliff Crandall	–	United States	Oregon State
–	–	Arnie Ferrin	G/F	United States	Utah
–	–	Earl Gardner	F	United States	DePauw
–	–	Dee Gibson	G/F	United States	Western Kentucky
–	–	Ken Jastrow	–	United States	Denver
–	–	Bob Lowther	–	United States	LSU
–	–	Johnny Orr	F	United States	Beloit
–	–	Junior Skogland	–	United States	Gustavus Adolphus
–	–	Quentin Stinson	–	United States	Southern Illinois

Roster

1948–49 Minneapolis Lakers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From F/C 11 Bloom, Mike 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1915-01-14 Temple G/F 15 Carlson, Don 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1919-03-22 Minnesota G/F 19 Dwan, Jack 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1921-05-03 Loyola Chicago C 18 Ellefson, Ray 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1922-11-18 West Texas A&M G/F 18 Ferrin, Arnie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1925-07-29 Utah G 22 Forman, Donnie 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1926-01-17 NYU F 14 Gardner, Earl 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1923-09-18 DePauw G/F 13 Jaros, Tony 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1920-02-22 Minnesota G/F 16 Jorgensen, Johnny 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1921-12-28 DePaul G 20 Kachan, Whitey 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1925-09-15 DePaul C 99 Mikan, George 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1924-06-18 DePaul SF 17 Pollard, Jim 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1922-07-09 Stanford G/F 24 Schaefer, Herm 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1918-12-20 Indiana G/F 12 Smith, Don 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1920-07-27 Minnesota F 19 Tingle, Jack 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1924-12-30 Kentucky

Head coach John Kundla Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

Season standings

#	Western Division
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	x-Rochester Royals	45	15	.750	–
2	x-Minneapolis Lakers	44	16	.733	1
3	x-Chicago Stags	38	22	.633	7
4	x-St. Louis Bombers	29	31	.483	16
5	Fort Wayne Pistons	22	38	.367	23
6	Indianapolis Jets	18	42	.300	27

x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

1948–49 BAA records
Team	BAL	BOS	CHI	FWP	IND	MIN	NYK	PHI	PRO	ROC	STL	WAS
Baltimore	—	4–2	1–4	4–1	5–0	1–4	2–4	4–2	2–4	1–4	2–3	3–3
Boston	2–4	—	0–5	4–1	3–2	2–3	3–3	3–3	3–3	1–4	3–2	1–5
Chicago	4–1	5–0	—	4–2	5–1	2–4	3–2	2–3	5–0	2–4	3–3	3–2
Fort Wayne	1–4	1–4	2–4	—	3–3	2–4	1–4	5–0	4–1	0–6	1–4	2–3
Indianapolis	0–5	2–3	1-5	3–3	—	0–6	1–4	1–4	4–1	1–5	3–3	2–3
Minneapolis	4–1	3–2	4–2	4–2	6–0	—	4–1	4–1	5–0	4–2	4–2	2–3
New York	4–2	3–3	2–3	4–1	4–1	1–4	—	2–4	5–1	1–4	3–2	2–3
Philadelphia	2–4	3–3	3–2	0–5	4–1	1–4	4–2	—	6–0	0–5	3–2	2–4
Providence	4–2	3–3	0–5	1–4	1–4	0–5	1–5	0–6	—	2–3	0–5	0–6
Rochester	4–1	4–1	4–2	6–0	5–1	2–4	4–1	5–0	3–2	—	6–0	2–3
St. Louis	3–2	2–3	3–3	4–1	3–3	2–4	2–3	2–3	5–0	0–6	—	2–3
Washington	3–3	5–1	2–3	3–2	3–2	3–2	3–2	4–2	6–0	3–2	3–2	—

Game log

#	Date	Opponent	Score	High points	Record
1	November 4	@ Baltimore	84–72	Herm Schaefer (23)	1–0
2	November 6	@ Washington	62–67	George Mikan (27)	1–1
3	November 9	@ Boston	55–77	George Mikan (29)	1–2
4	November 11	@ New York	77–68	George Mikan (34)	2–2
5	November 13	@ Providence	90–67	George Mikan (38)	3–2
6	November 14	@ Rochester	75–92	George Mikan (36)	3–3
7	November 17	Boston	72–74	George Mikan (21)	3–4
8	November 19	@ Chicago	85–81	Herm Schaefer (28)	4–4
9	November 21	Baltimore	94–81	George Mikan (33)	5–4
10	November 23	@ Indianapolis	88–82	George Mikan (33)	6–4
11	November 24	Providence	117–89	George Mikan (20)	7–4
12	November 27	@ St. Louis	87–71	George Mikan (26)	8–4
13	November 28	Philadelphia	88–67	Herm Schaefer (25)	9–4
14	November 30	vs Boston	94–84	George Mikan (32)	10–4
15	December 1	@ Fort Wayne	74–84	George Mikan (44)	10–5
16	December 4	@ Chicago	100–104 (OT)	George Mikan (47)	10–6
17	December 5	St. Louis	78–68	George Mikan (27)	11–6
18	December 8	Washington	83–94	George Mikan (34)	11–7
19	December 10	@ Rochester	96–75	George Mikan (31)	12–7
20	December 12	Rochester	67–58	George Mikan (22)	13–7
21	December 15	Indianapolis	79–61	Jim Pollard (19)	14–7
22	December 19	Chicago	94–84	George Mikan (31)	15–7
23	December 21	@ Philadelphia	64–72	George Mikan (18)	15–8
24	December 22	@ New York	79–97	George Mikan (24)	15–9
25	December 26	Rochester	99–90	George Mikan (32)	16–9
26	December 29	Washington	91–68	George Mikan (34)	17–9
27	January 1	Fort Wayne	92–72	George Mikan (22)	18–9
28	January 5	St. Louis	101–76	George Mikan (31)	19–9
29	January 8	@ St. Louis	59–64	George Mikan (22)	19–10
30	January 9	St. Louis	74–58	George Mikan (29)	20–10
31	January 12	Providence	98–64	George Mikan (26)	21–10
32	January 16	Indianapolis	75–66	Jim Pollard (21)	22–10
33	January 18	@ Indianapolis	81–56	George Mikan (19)	23–10
34	January 20	Fort Wayne	83–65	George Mikan (29)	24–10
35	January 23	Philadelphia	89–71	George Mikan (33)	25–10
36	January 26	Chicago	84–49	Jim Pollard (20)	26–10
37	January 30	Washington	84–79	George Mikan (48)	27–10
38	February 2	@ Fort Wayne	82–79 (OT)	George Mikan (31)	28–10
39	February 3	@ Philadelphia	78–76	George Mikan (30)	29–10
40	February 6	Rochester	74–85	George Mikan (32)	29–11
41	February 10	New York	95–75	George Mikan (21)	30–11
42	February 11	@ Chicago	97–105	George Mikan (36)	30–12
43	February 13	Baltimore	91–74	Jim Pollard (32)	31–12
44	February 16	Chicago	90–71	George Mikan (25)	32–12
45	February 18	@ Boston	85–71	George Mikan (28)	33–12
46	February 19	@ Providence	94–80	George Mikan (29)	34–12
47	February 22	@ New York	101–74	George Mikan (48)	35–12
48	February 24	Fort Wayne	77–73	George Mikan (31)	36–12
49	February 26	@ Baltimore	115–114 (2OT)	George Mikan (53)	37–12
50	February 27	@ Fort Wayne	50–74	George Mikan (14)	37–13
51	March 3	@ Indianapolis	82–79	George Mikan (24)	38–13
52	March 6	Providence	68–59	George Mikan (21)	39–13
53	March 9	Boston	74–67	George Mikan (22)	40–13
54	March 10	@ St. Louis	71–88	George Mikan (26)	40–14
55	March 12	vs Indianapolis	97–69	Arnie Ferrin (22)	41–14
56	March 13	New York	100–90	George Mikan (51)	42–14
57	March 16	@ Washington	72–85	George Mikan (24)	42–15
58	March 17	@ Baltimore	67–101	Jim Pollard (22)	42–16
59	March 19	@ Rochester	99–85	George Mikan (46)	43–16
60	March 20	Philadelphia	91–78	George Mikan (28)	44–16

Playoffs

1949 playoff game log
Division Semifinals: 2–0 (home: 1–0; road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points Location Series 1 March 23 Chicago W 84–77 George Mikan (37) Minneapolis Auditorium 1–0 2 March 24 @ Chicago W 101–85 George Mikan (38) Chicago Stadium 2–0
Division Finals: 2–0 (home: 1–0; road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points Location Series 1 March 27 @ Rochester W 80–79 George Mikan (32) Edgerton Park Arena 1–0 2 March 29 Rochester W 67–55 George Mikan (31) St. Paul Auditorium 2–0
BAA Finals: 4–2 (home: 3–0; road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points Location Attendance Series 1 April 4 Washington W 88–84 George Mikan (42) Minneapolis Auditorium 8,210 1–0 2 April 6 Washington W 76–62 Don Carlson (16) Minneapolis Auditorium 10,212 2–0 3 April 8 @ Washington W 94–74 George Mikan (35) Uline Arena 4,919 3–0 4 April 9 @ Washington L 71–83 George Mikan (27) Uline Arena 4,471 3–1 5 April 11 @ Washington L 65–74 George Mikan (22) Uline Arena 3,840 3–2 6 April 13 Washington W 77–56 George Mikan (29) St. Paul Auditorium 10,482 4–2
1949 schedule

Awards and records

• George Mikan, All-BAA First Team
• Jim Pollard, All-BAA First Team