National Basketball Association (NBA)
1953-54 NBA Season Overview

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The 1953–54 NBA season was the eighth season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Minneapolis Lakers winning their 5th NBA Championship in 6 years, beating the Syracuse Nationals 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. It was also the final time the Lakers would win an NBA Championship before the franchise moved to Los Angeles in 1960. The Indianapolis Olympians folded prior to the start of the season. Indianapolis would return to professional basketball with the Pacers of the ABA in 1967. The NBA returned to Indianapolis for the 1976–77 season, when the Pacers joined the Association as part of the NBA-ABA merger. The 1954 NBA All-Star Game was played in New York City, with the East beating the West 98–93 in overtime. Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics won the game's MVP award. This marked the first year the NBA had a national television contract. The contract had the DuMont Television Network televising 13 games, paying 39,000 dollars for the rights.

The 1953–54 NBA season was the eighth season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Minneapolis Lakers winning their 5th NBA Championship in 6 years, beating the Syracuse Nationals 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals. It was also the final time the Lakers would win an NBA Championship before the franchise moved to Los Angeles in 1960. The Indianapolis Olympians folded prior to the start of the season. Indianapolis would return to professional basketball with the Pacers of the ABA in 1967. The NBA returned to Indianapolis for the 1976–77 season, when the Pacers joined the Association as part of the NBA-ABA merger. The 1954 NBA All-Star Game was played in New York City, with the East beating the West 98–93 in overtime. Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics won the game's MVP award. This marked the first year the NBA had a national television contract. The contract had the DuMont Television Network televising 13 games, paying 39,000 dollars for the rights.

1954 NBA champion Minneapolis Lakers

1954 Minneapolis Lakers

1954 NBA Season
Minneapolis Lakers

9 teams competed during the regular season

Minneapolis Lakers defeated Syracuse Nationals for the championship

Commissioner

Maurice Podoloff

Players' President

Bob Cousy

1954 NBA Draft

Pick Player Team

1 Frank Selvy Bullets

2 Bob Pettit Hawks

3 Gene Shue Warriors

4 Dick Rosenthal Pistons

5 Togo Palazzi Celtics

View Entire 1954 NBA Draft

1 Comment

Davan S. Mani says:

April 17, 2020 at 11:36 pm

what a year. the competitiveness of the ABL really brought the NBA out of its duldrums.

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