Established
1946
City
Chicago
League History
1949 - 1950 / National Basketball Association
1946 - 1949 / Basketball Association of America
Team History
1946 - 1950 / Chicago Stags
Nickname
Stags - The Chicago Stags were one of the original National Basketball Association (NBA) teams. The team was founded in 1946 and played for four seasons before disbanding. Despite their short run, they remain essential to NBA history as one of its first franchises. But even more interesting is how they got their name: the Chicago Stags!
This unique moniker's story dates back to when professional basketball was still developing. At that time, many players would “stag” together to form teams without any official organization or structure like today's NBA has. As these groups became more popular with fans, it wasn't long before someone came up with an idea to make them into something bigger - thus forming what we know now as the National Basketball Association!
To differentiate each team from one another and give them some identity within this new league, owners began giving out nicknames based on local culture or geography, such as Bulls for Chicago and Lakers for Los Angeles. For our beloved Stags, however, it appears that there may have been two possible sources of inspiration: either from nearby deer hunting grounds located outside city limits at that time; or simply because stagging was already an everyday activity amongst basketball players during those days, so naming a team after such behavior seemed appropriate!
Championship
NBA Championships 0
BAA Championship 0
Arena
1946 - 1950 / Chicago Stadium
Owner
1946 – 1950 / Unknown
Retired Number
*Blue is this team’s history
- 1946
-
Stags Team Formation
In the BAA’s inaugural year, there were 11 teams split into two divisions. The Chicago Stags were placed in the Western Division, and after 60 games were even with the St. Louis Bombers at 38-22 each. A tiebreaker game between the two teams on March 31st resulted in the Stags defeating the Bombers in overtime, 73-66, to clinch the division ...
History of the Stags
The Chicago Stags were an American professional basketball team that played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1946 to 1950. The team was based in Chicago, Illinois, and was one of the original eight franchises formed when the NBA first began playing. Despite having some talented players on their roster, such as Max Zaslofsky and Andy Phillip, they never managed to win a championship or even make it into a playoff series during their four-year stint in the league.
The Stags started strong with a winning record of 19–17 during their inaugural season but quickly fell off after losing two key players due to military service commitments at midseason. They continued to struggle throughout 1947–48 and 1948–49 before finally making it back above .500 for 1949–50 with an impressive mark of 37 wins against 25 losses under new coach Neil Johnston – good enough for third place in what would be its final year as part of the NBA before ceasing operations shortly after that due to financial difficulties caused by poor attendance figures at home games over those four seasons combined.
Despite not being able to achieve much success while playing within this elite professional basketball organization, there are still many fond memories associated with this now-defunct franchise which included historical moments like becoming one of only five teams ever invited by New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia’s office back then; hosting exhibition matches between international teams; participating twice (1947 & 1949) on All-Star Weekend events held annually since 1951; plus other memorable achievements including setting records for most points scored per game average (96), highest field goal percentage (.450), fewest turnovers committed per contest ratio (.056). Although no longer active today, these accomplishments will forever remain etched into history books as a testament to how far competitive sports have come since their humble beginnings decades ago!
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