Washington Capitols

Washington Capitols
Division	Eastern Division
Founded	1946
History	Washington Capitols 1946–1951
Arena	Uline Arena
City	Washington, D.C.
Team colors	Green and White
Championships	0
Division titles	1: (1949)

This article is about the BAA team from the 1940s and 1950s. For the current NHL team, see Washington Capitals. For the old ABA team, see Washington Caps.

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 home arena was Uline Arena in Washington, capacity 7,500. The teams wore green and white. The NBA would return to the Washington, D.C. area in 1973, when the Baltimore Bullets became the Capital Bullets.

Franchise history

The Capitols' 81.7 win percentage in the BAA's inaugural season is still one of the top 10 winning percentages in NBA history.

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 would remain the NBA's longest until 1969. The 15–0 start of the 1948–49 team is still the best in NBA history (albeit tied in 1993–94 by the Houston Rockets).

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

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, % = Win–Loss %

Season	W	L	%	Playoffs	Results
Washington Capitols (BAA)
1946–47	49	11	0.817	2–4	Lost Semifinals
1947–48	28	20	0.583	0–1	Lost West Div Tie
1948–49	38	22	0.633	6–5	Lost BAA Finals
Washington Capitols (NBA)
1949–50	32	36	0.471	0–2	Lost East Div Semis
1950–51	10	25	0.286	Did not qualify

External links

• Team page at Basketball-reference.com