1940 World Professional Basketball Tournament

The 1940 World Professional Basketball Tournament was the second edition of the World Professional Basketball Tournament. It was held in Chicago, Illinois, during the days of 18–22 March 1940 and featured 14 teams, with the teams mostly comprising of independently ran teams (including the Rochester Seagrams, who had roots to the modern-day Sacramento Kings NBA team) who also competed alongside three teams in the National Basketball League and the Washington Heurich Brewers of the American Basketball League. The tournament gained a local interest when the Chicago Bruins of the NBL made it to the championship round after they beat the ABL's Washington Heurich Brewers in the semifinal round, which only gained further interest when the world famous Harlem Globetrotters (who were originally based in Chicago at the time before moving to New York and then Harlem permanently) made it to the championship round over the defending champion New York Renaissance. The second WPBT championship game was won by the world famous Harlem Globetrotters, who defeated the Chicago Bruins 31–29 in the title game.^[1] The Washington Heurich Brewers came in third after beating the Syracuse Reds 41–30 in the third-place game. Sonny Boswell of the Harlem Globetrotters was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

• C - Leroy Edwards, Oshkosh All-Stars
• F - Sonny Boswell, Harlem Globetrotters (MVP)
• F - Wibs Kautz, Chicago Bruins
• G - Phil Rabin, Washington Heurich Brewers
• G - Pop Gates, New York Rens

• WPBT 1939-48 on apbr.org