Washington Capitols

This article is about the Basketball Association of America team from 1946 to 1951. For the current National Hockey League team, see Washington Capitals. For the American Basketball Association team from 1969 to 1970, see Washington Caps.

Washington Capitols
Division	Eastern Division
Founded	1946
History	Washington Capitols 1946–1951
Arena	Uline Arena
Location	Washington, D.C.
Team colors	Green, white
Division titles	1: (1949) – or 2 ‡

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 team would try to make a comeback in the 1951–52 season in the American Basketball League, but the team folded again in January 1952. The home arena was Uline Arena in Washington, capacity 7,500. The teams wore green and white. The NBA returned to the Washington, D.C. area in 1973, when the Baltimore Bullets became the Capital Bullets, now known as the Washington Wizards.

Franchise history

The Capitols' 81.7 win percentage in the BAA's inaugural season was the highest in the NBA until surpassed by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1966–67.

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 remained the NBA's longest until 1969. The 15–0 start of the 1948–49 team was the best in NBA history until the Golden State Warriors broke it in 2015–16 by starting 24-0, though the Houston Rockets had previously tied the Capitols' record in 1993–94.

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

Basketball Hall of Famers:

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

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

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

Season-by-season records

League Champions

Conference Champions

Division Champions

Playoff Berth

Season	League	Conference	Finish	Division	Finish	Wins	Losses	Win%	GB	Playoffs	Awards
1946–47	BAA	–	–	Eastern	1st †	49	11	.817	–	Lost BAA Semifinals (Stags) 2–4
1947–48	BAA	–	–	Western	2nd	28	20	.583	1	Lost Division Tiebreaker (Stags)
1948–49	BAA	–	–	Eastern	1st	38	22	.633	–	Won Division Semifinals (Warriors) 2–0 Won Division Finals (Knicks) 2–1 Lost BAA Finals (Lakers) 2–4
1949–50	NBA	–	–	Eastern	3rd	32	36	.471	21	Lost Division Semifinals (Knicks) 0–2
1950–51 ‡	NBA	–	–	Eastern	6th	10	25	.286	30
Regular Season record						157	114	.579	1946–1951
Playoff record						8	12	.400	Postseason Series Record: 2–4

† The inaugural 1947 BAA Playoffs did not establish Eastern and Western champions and generated one finalist from the East, one from the West, only by coincidence. Washington and Chicago won the Eastern and Western Divisions and met in a best-of-seven series to determine one league championship finalist. (Washington lost the first two games, both at home, by 16 points each and lost the series four games to two; every game but the last was decided by at least 10 points.) Meanwhile, four runners-up played best-of-three matches to determine the other finalist. Philadelphia, second in the East, won that runners-up bracket and defeated Chicago in a best-of-seven series to win the BAA championship.

‡ The Capitols folded midway during the season on January 9, 1951.

External links

• Washington Capitols history
• Team page at Basketball-reference.com