The NBA recognizes the three BAA seasons as part of its own history, sometimes without comment,[1] so BAA 1947–48 is sometimes considered the second NBA season.
Preseason events
Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Toronto folded before the season started, leaving the BAA with only seven teams. The Baltimore Bullets were brought into the league from the American Basketball League to provide a more convenient number, eight.
^ abcdThe 1948 BAA Playoffs did not generate Eastern and Western champions and runners-up, as NBA Playoffs have done from 1951 to present. Eastern and Western leaders, or perhaps champions, Philadelphia and St. Louis played off to determine one finalist while four runners-up played off to determine the other finalist.
The listed teams were BAA playoff finalists and semifinalists, as Eastern and Western champions and runners-up in the NBA have been playoff finalists and semifinalists from 1951 to present.
^Philadelphia may reasonably be called Eastern champion.
References
^"NBA Season Recaps". NBA History (nba.com/history). July 1, 2014. Retrieved 2015-03-04.