In 1946, World War II had just recently ended. More and more people were flooding to sporting events, especially college basketball. It's popularity was due, in large, to the efforts of Ned Irish. He promoted and held college basketball double headers at Madison Square Garden. There was also an influx of talent as war veterans returned to play again, and due to new strategies, the level of play on the college level was increasing.
There were two existing professional leagues, but both were situated in around a 100-mile radius. The NBL, however, did claim hold to some of the best players around, however, the best professional teams were still barnstormers.
Max Kase, a sports editor of the New York Journal-American, saw how well basketball was doing on the college level, and realized the possibilities of a major professional league. He told the owner of the National Hockey League, Walter Brown, about his idea, and Brown took the idea to Ned Irish. Although Irish was not really interested in professional basketball, he did not want an outsider promoting any kind of basketball in his building. He stated he was already working on such a league, and Kase was pushed aside. Kase did eventually receive several thousand dollars for his efforts.
On June 6, 1946, the first meeting of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), as the newly formed league was called, was held at the Hotel Commodore in New York. The original members were the Boston Celtics, owned by Walter Brown, the Chicago Stags, owned by Arthur Morse, the Cleveland Rebels, owned by the Olympia (a hockey team), the New York Knickerbockers, owned by Irish, the Philadelphia Warriors, owned by Peter Tyrell, the Pittsburgh Ironmen owned by John Harris, the Providence Steamrollers, owned by Lou Pieri, the St. Louis Bombers, owned by Emory Jones, the Toronto Huskies, owned by the Maple Leaf Gardens, and the Washington Capitals, owned by Mike Ulrine.
At first, the best players remained in the NBL. Irish knew for his league to succeed, he had to have the cream of the crop. In 1950, the BAA and NBL merged, giving the new league the name it has today, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the commissioner was the same as had been for the BAA, Maurice Podoloff. A year later, they had their first All-Star game, Bob Cousy entered the league, Chuck Cooper became the first African-American to be drafted, and the NBA was on its way up.
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