The 1944 World Professional Basketball Tournament was the sixth edition of the World Professional Basketball Tournament. It was held in Chicago, Illinois,[1] during the days of 20–24 March 1944 and featured 14 teams, with the teams mostly independently run teams alongside the teams that were from the National Basketball League at the time and also the American Basketball League'sBrooklyn Eagles, which was composed of star players from the ABL. Entering the tournament, the NBL's Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (who had likely already won that league's championship earlier on) were slated to win the entire event, despite them competing against the New York Renaissance, who were competing as themselves after their players participated in last year's event as the Washington Bears, in the semifinal event. The Globetrotters advanced past the Oshkosh All-Stars in the quarterfinals in a contest officially recorded as a 41–31 Harlem victory, though the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel reported the game was in fact declared a 2–0 forfeit in Harlem’s favor after a series of fights within the final six minutes escalated to the point that police became involved, prompting Oshkosh head coach Lon Darling to withdraw his team.[2] The Zollner Pistons would end up stunning the Renaissance with a close 42–38 victory in Fort Wayne's favor, while the ABL's Brooklyn squad ended up upsetting the Harlem Globetrotters in their semifinal match with a 63–41 blowout victory due to their fast-paced action. Ultimately, the championship match was won by the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons for the first time in the franchise's history alongside the NBL championship, who defeated the ABL's based Brooklyn Eagles 50–33 in the championship game in what ultimately became the best performance for an ABL team in a WPBT event.[3] The Harlem Globetrotters came in third after beating the New York Rens 37–29 in the third-place game. Bobby McDermott of Fort Wayne was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.[4]
On 21 March, with three minutes remaining in the quarter-finals match between the Harlem Globetrotters and the Oshkosh All-Stars, a fight broke out between the players which needed officials and police to restore order. Thirty seconds after play resumed, trouble broke out again and Oshkosh coach Lon Darling decided to call his team from the game.[7]
^"Eagles go to Finals; Meet Trotters here". The Cincinnati Enquirer. March 25, 1944. p. 10. Retrieved April 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Bob Tough, former Seton Hall star, equalled the tourney record by scoring 32 points against the Trotters, former champions.
External links
WPBT 1939-48 on apbr.org
1943-44 WPBT Tournament Overview on retroseasons.com
