1954–55 Baltimore Bullets season

1954–55 Baltimore Bullets season
Head coachClair Bee (2–9)
Albert Barthelme (1–2)
ArenaBaltimore Coliseum
Results
Record3–11 (.214)
Stats at Basketball Reference
RadioWCBM

The 1954–55 NBA season was the Bullets' 8th season in the NBA and eleventh and final overall season of existence.[1] After losing their November 19 game 103–92 to the Fort Wayne Pistons for a 2–9 start to the season, the Bullets would fire head coach Clair Bee and replace him with assistant coach (and former University of Baltimore head coach) Albert Barthelme for what turned out to be the team's final three games ever played in franchise history.[2][3] The franchise ceased operations after playing 14 total games with a 3–11 record on November 27, 1954. The NBA's official record books for the 1954–55 season do not include the Bullets' games and team statistics, nor do they include the statistics of the opposing players and teams in games played against the Bullets.[4]

Baltimore would go without an NBA team until 1963, when the Chicago Zephyrs moved to Baltimore and became the second incarnation of the Baltimore Bullets. The new team, however, would not claim the old Bullets' history as a part of their own team history following the move from Chicago to Baltimore.

Draft picks

Main article: 1954 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College
1 1 Frank Selvy SG/SF  United States Furman
2 7 Bobby Leonard PG  United States Indiana
3 16 Werner Killen PF/C  United States Lawrence Institute of Technology
4 25 Burt Spice F  United States Toledo
5 34 Lou Scott C  United States Indiana
6 43 Bob Heim SG  United States Xavier
7 52 Joe Pehanick C  United States Seattle
8 61 Harry Brooks PG  United States Seton Hall
9 70 Ron Goerrs C  United States Concordia Seminary
10 78 Gary Shivers PF/C  United States Houston
11 87 Elliot Karver SG  United States George Washington

Baltimore would only use eleven of the draft's thirteen rounds worth of selections before opting out of the rest of the draft afterward. This became the second draft in a row where the Bullets would obtain the first overall draft pick and third and final time in franchise history that the original Baltimore Bullets would get the #1 draft pick in the NBA. This draft would also later prove to be the last draft that the original Baltimore Bullets franchise would participate in, as they would fold operations during the very early portions of the season. However, a new Baltimore Bullets squad would be able to return to the NBA draft by the 1964 NBA draft once the Chicago Zephyrs moved to Baltimore to take on the Baltimore Bullets name personally, with them using the Bullets name for most of their existence by that point in time (even after that Bullets squad moved out of Baltimore to be in Washington, D.C. in 1973–74 instead) until 1997 in order for that team to become the current Washington Wizards going forward.

Roster

Baltimore Bullets 1954–55 roster
Pos. # Name Ht. Wt. From
SG 20 Rollen Hans 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Long Island
F/C 17 Don Henriksen 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) California
G/F 11 Paul Hoffman 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Purdue
F/C 10 Bob Houbregs 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Washington
F 22 Dan King 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Western Kentucky
PG 7 Al McGuire 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) St. John's
SG 9 Ken Murray 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) St. Bonaventure
C 18 Jim Neal 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Wofford
SF 12 Al Roges 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Long Island
G/F 28 Frank Selvy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Furman
SF 17 Joe Smyth 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Niagara
F/C 19 Connie Simmons 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 222 lb (101 kg) Flushing High School
Head coach
Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Regular season

Game log

Source:[5]

Date Opponent Score
October 30 Syracuse 67–69
October 31 N Philadelphia 97–102
November 3 Minneapolis 93–92
November 6 @ Rochester 80–128
November 7 Boston 99–101
November 11 N Minneapolis 87–97
November 12 N Minneapolis 88–126
November 13 @ Boston 113–118
November 14 New York 93–95
November 16 @ New York 110–107
November 19 Fort Wayne 92–103
November 20 Milwaukee 99–92
November 21 @ Minneapolis 85–116
November 25 @ Fort Wayne 89–92

Dispersal Draft

After the original Baltimore Bullets franchise folded operations on November 27, 1954, the NBA would conduct a dispersal draft on the team's players later that same day. As of 2025, this would be the last dispersal draft that the NBA had in regards to their own teams folding operations. (The NBA would later host the 1976 ABA dispersal draft due to the NBA-ABA merger earlier that year, but the dispersal draft there would involve teams from the future created rivaling American Basketball Association, not any teams from the NBA.) As such, the following teams acquired these players from the original Bullets franchise during the dispersal draft period.

References

  1. ^ 1954-55 Baltimore Bullets
  2. ^ "Al Barthelme Is New Coach of Baltimore". Reading Eagle. United Press International. November 20, 1954. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  3. ^ Marcus, Jeff (July 1, 2003). A Biographical Directory of Professional Basketball Coaches. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810840072. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
  4. ^ "1954-55 NBA Season Summary"
  5. ^ "1954-1955 Baltimore Bullets". Archived from the original on November 18, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
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