Washington Capitols Information & Washington Capitols Links at HealthHaven.com

This article is about the BAA team from the 1940s and 1950s. For the current NHL team, see Washington Capitals. For the old ABA team, see Washington Caps.

The Washington Capitols were a charter Basketball Association of America (forerunner of the National Basketball Association) team based in Washington, D.C. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerbach.

The team was founded in 1946 as a charter BAA team; it became a charter NBA team in 1949. It folded on January 9, 1951 (with a 10–25 record). The home arena was Uline Arena in Washington, capacity 7,500. The teams wore green and white. The NBA would return to the Washington, D.C. area in 1973, when the Baltimore Bullets became the Capital Bullets.

[edit] Franchise history

The Capitols' 81.7 win percentage in the BAA's inaugural season is still one of the top 10 winning percentages in NBA history.

The Washington Capitols are also noteworthy for two long win streaks during their short history. In 1946, the Capitols won 17 straight games — a single season streak that would remain the NBA's longest until 1969. The 15–0 start of the 1948–49 team is still the best in NBA history (albeit tied in 1993–94 by the Houston Rockets).

NBA Championships: None
Divisional Championships: Regular Season: 2 (1946–47 and 1948–49) ; playoffs (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950)

Basketball Hall of Famers:

Bill Sharman (leading scorer in the 1951 season)
Red Auerbach (coach)

[edit] Leading scorers by season

1947 – Bob Feerick – 16.8 ppg
1948 – Bob Feerick – 16.1 ppg
1949 – Bob Feerick – 13.0 ppg
1950 – Don Otten – 14.9 ppg (in 18 games. Jack Nichols scored 13.1 over 49 games, but Fred Scolari scored the most points, with 860 in 66 games.)
1951 – Bill Sharman – 12.2 ppg

[edit] Coaches and others

1947–1949 – Red Auerbach
1950 – Bob Feerick – player-coach
1951 – Bones McKinney – player-coach
1950 – Earl Lloyd – first African American to play in the NBA

[edit] Season-by-season records

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, % = Win–Loss %

Season	W	L	%	Playoffs	Results
Washington Capitols (BAA)
1946–47	49	11	0.817	2–4	Lost Semifinals
1947–48	28	20	0.583	0–1	Lost West Div Tie
1948–49	38	22	0.633	6–5	Lost BAA Finals
Washington Capitols (NBA)
1949–50	32	36	0.471	0–2	Lost East Div Semis
1950–51	10	25	0.286	Did not qualify

[edit] See also

List of defunct National Basketball Association teams

[edit] External links

Team page at Basketball-reference.com

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