1950–51 Washington Capitols season

1950–51 Washington Capitols season
Head coachBones McKinney
ArenaWashington Coliseum
Results
Record10–25 (.286)
PlaceDivision: 6th (Eastern)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Stats at Basketball Reference
RadioWTOP
The 1950–51 Washington Capitols

The 1950–51 NBA season was the Capitols' fifth and final season in the NBA.[1] Midway through the season, the franchise ceased operations. Despite this being their final season in the NBA, the Capitols would appear in the following season after this one under the original American Basketball League, though that team would also fold during the middle of that season as well (though that related to the NBA threatening to sue the new Capitols and the ABL if they tried to take the original franchise's history away from the NBA alongside the team's name).[2] One lesser known, yet notable aspect from this season had the Capitols be involved in multiple rigged games orchestrated by NBA referee Sol Levy, with Levy failing to rig a match between the Capitols and the Minneapolis Lakers on November 4 to favor the Capitols, but successfully rig a match against the Boston Celtics to have Boston win a week later on November 11, which later led to Levy being arrested for his actions and charged as an accomplice in the CCNY point-shaving scandal of 1951.[3][4]

Draft picks

Main article: 1950 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College
1 4 Dick Schnittker PF  United States Ohio State
2 16 Bill Sharman SG United States United States USC
3 28 Alan Sawyer SF United States United States UCLA
4 40 Tommy O'Keefe PG/SG United States United States Georgetown
5 52 Claude Overton SG United States United States East Central State
6 64 Warren Cartier G United States United States North Carolina State
7 76 Jim Cathcart SF United States United States Arkansas
8 88 Joe Greenbach PG United States United States Santa Clara
9 100 Earl Lloyd F/C United States United States West Virginia State
10 112 Joe Noertker G United States United States Virginia

Earl Lloyd would be the first African American player drafted to officially play in the NBA due to the Capitols making their regular season debut first over the Boston Celtics with Chuck Cooper and the New York Knicks with Nathaniel Clifton. Lloyd's breaking of the racial barrier in the NBA would happen years after Jackie Robinson would do it for Major League Baseball and the all-black Dayton Rens had played in the NBA's precursor in the National Basketball League after replacing the Detroit Vagabond Kings during the NBL's final season of existence. However, this draft would also be the final draft that the Capitols would ever participate in, as well as become the only draft they'd ever take part in under the official NBA draft name, as they would have the magnanimous misnomer of being the first NBA team to fold operations during a season of play, with such a dubious feat not occurring again in the NBA until four seasons later in the 1954-55 NBA season.

Roster

1950–51 Washington Capitols roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
F 17 Edward Bartels 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) NC State
G/F Tommy Byrnes 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Seton Hall
F/C 11 Chuck Gilmur 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Washington
C 14 Chick Halbert 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) West Texas A&M
G/F 18, 23 Frank Kudelka 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 193 lb (88 kg) Saint Mary's
SF Earl Lloyd 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) West Virginia State
F 12 Ariel Maughan 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Utah State
SF 29 Bones McKinney 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) North Carolina
C 15 Ed Mikan 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) DePaul
F 16 Johnny Norlander 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Hamline
G/F 13 Dick O'Keefe 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Santa Clara
G Tommy O'Keefe 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Georgetown
C 15 Don Otten 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Bowling Green
F 17, 29 Alan Sawyer 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) UCLA
SF 22 Dick Schnittker 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Ohio State
PG 20 Fred Scolari 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) San Francisco
SG 10 Bill Sharman 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) USC
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Eastern Division
 W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-Philadelphia Warriors 40 26 .606 – 28–4 11–21 1–1 22–14
x-Boston Celtics 39 30 .565 1 25–5 10–23 4–2 21–19
x-New York Knicks 36 30 .545 4 22–5 10–25 4–0 21–15
x-Syracuse Nationals 32 34 .485 8 23–10 9–24 – 19–17
Baltimore Bullets 24 42 .364 16 20–12 4–24 0–6 12–24
† 10 25 .286 30 7–12 3–12 0–1 6–12

Record vs. opponents

1950–51 NBA records
Team BAL BOS FWP IND MIN NYK PHI ROC SYR TCB WAS
Baltimore — 3–6 4–2 2–4 2–4 2–5 3–6 1–5 3–5 3–3 1–2
Boston 6–3 — 5–1 4–1 3–3 4–4 4–4 2–4 2–5 4–2 4–3
Fort Wayne 2–4 1–5 — 5–3 5–3 2–4 3–3 3–5 3–3 5–5 3–1
Indianapolis 4–2 1–4 3–5 — 3–7 5–1 1–5 5–4 3–3 4–4 2–2
Minneapolis 4–2 3–3 3–5 7–3 — 3–3 4–2 4–4 4–2 10–0 2–0
New York 5–2 4–4 4–2 1–5 3–3 — 5–3 3–3 5–5 4–2 2–1
Philadelphia 6–3 4–4 3–3 5–1 2–4 3–5 — 4–2 6–2 4–2 3–0
Rochester 5–3 5–2 3–3 3–3 2–4 5–5 2–6 — 4–2 5–3 5–0
Syracuse 5–3 5–2 3–3 3–3 2–4 5–5 2–6 2–4 — 3–3 2–0
Tri-Cities 3–3 2–4 5–5 4–4 0–10 2–4 2–4 3–5 3–3 — 1–1
Washington 2–1 3–4 1–3 2–2 0–2 1–2 0–3 0–5 0–2 1–1 —

Game log

1950–51 game log
Total: 10–25
October
Game Date Team Score High points Location
Attendance		 Record
1 October 31 @ Rochester L 70–78 Fred Scolari (18) 0–1
November
Game Date Team Score High points Location
Attendance		 Record
2 November 1 Indianapolis W 100–84 Alan Sawyer (17) 1–1
3 November 4 Minneapolis L 85–91 Sawyer, Sharman (19) 1–2
4 November 8 Baltimore W 86–81 Fred Scolari (24) 2–2
5 November 11 Boston L 77–78 Fred Scolari (21) 2–3
6 November 12 @ Fort Wayne L 73–87 Fred Scolari (14) 2–4
7 November 14 New York L 87–92 Fred Scolari (16) 2–5
8 November 15 vs Boston L 74–79 Bill Sharman (20) 2–6
9 November 18 Fort Wayne W 118–75 Schnittker, Scolari (20) 3–6
10 November 19 @ Boston W 81–75 Frank Kudelka (15) 4–6
11 November 21 @ Philadelphia L 78–83 Frank Kudelka (13) 4–7
12 November 22 Tri-Cities W 65–60 Fred Scolari (13) 5–7
13 November 23 @ New York L 78–109 Schnittker, Scolari (17) 5–8
14 November 25 Syracuse L 67–77 Don Otten (22) 5–9
15 November 26 @ Syracuse L 76–90 Chick Halbert (17) 5–10
16 November 28 @ Rochester L 71–87 Fred Scolari (17) 5–11
17 November 29 Rochester L 71–72 Bill Sharman (20) 5–12
18 November 30 @ Boston W 85–81 Fred Scolari (23) 6–12
December
Game Date Team Score High points Location
Attendance		 Record
19 December 2 Boston L 75–83 Bill Sharman (18) 6–13
20 December 6 Indianapolis L 79–101 Dick Schnittker (16) 6–14
21 December 9 New York W 91–84 Fred Scolari (22) 7–14
22 December 10 @ Fort Wayne L 81–97 Dick Schnittker (18) 7–15
23 December 13 Boston W 110–79 Fred Scolari (24) 8–15
24 December 16 Philadelphia L 88–96 Fred Scolari (15) 8–16
25 December 20 Rochester L 76–94 Bill Sharman (15) 8–17
26 December 23 Indianapolis L 79–87 (OT) Dick Schnittker (19) 8–18
27 December 25 @ Minneapolis L 79–93 Fred Scolari (17) 8–19
28 December 26 @ Indianapolis W 88–81 Fred Scolari (24) 9–19
29 December 28 @ Tri-Cities L 80–97 Fred Scolari (19) 9–20
30 December 30 @ Rochester L 77–91 Bill Sharman (19) 9–21
January
Game Date Team Score High points Location
Attendance		 Record
31 January 1 @ Baltimore L 71–83 Bill Sharman (18) 9–22
32 January 3 Baltimore W 92–82 Bill Sharman (21) 10–22
33 January 6 Fort Wayne L 76–91 Bill Sharman (17) 10–23
34 January 7 @ Boston L 86–91 (OT) Fred Scolari (19) 10–24
35 January 9 @ Philadelphia L 74–102 Bill Sharman (17) 10–25

Dispersal Draft

After the Capitols franchise folded operations on January 9, 1951, the NBA would conduct a dispersal draft on the team's players later that same day. It effectively became the final dispersal draft of the 1950–51 season, following the dispersal drafts involving the Waterloo Hawks, Anderson Packers, St. Louis Bombers, and Chicago Stags franchises earlier in the 1950 offseason period. As such, the following teams acquired these players from the Capitols during the dispersal draft period.

References

  1. ^ "1950-51 Washington Capitols Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  2. ^ "Washington Capitols". nbahoopsonline.com. Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  3. ^ "ESPN Classic - Explosion: 1951 scandals threaten college hoops". www.espn.com. November 19, 2003. Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  4. ^ "When an NBA Referee Was Convicted of Shaving Points". July 24, 2007.
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