May 15, 1963 - The Syracuse Nationals of the NBA were sold today and will move to Philadelphia. Dan Biasone (pictured far left with the 1954-55 champions), president of the club, said the sale price, to Philadelphia interests, was $500,000. According to Biasone, the Nationals had a deficit of $20,000 last season, and he said he would have lost $100,000 in Syracuse next season. “I’d be rapped pretty hard if the Nats couldn’t pay their bills,” he said. “We’ve always paid our bills.” The Nationals, coached by Alex Hannum, finished second in the Eastern Division last season with a 48-32 record. They were eliminated by the Cincinnati Royals in the first round of the playoffs. In their first league season in 1949-50, the Nationals won the Eastern Division crown and went to the finals, where they bowed to the old Minneapolis Lakers, led by George Mikan. They won their only world championship in 1955, when they outlasted the old Fort Wayne Pistons in a 7-game series. Philadelphia was represented in the NBA until the end of the 1961-62 season, when Wilt Chamberlain and the Warriors were transferred to San Francisco.
Comments