Six teams - Anderson, Chicago, Denver, St. Louis, Sheboygan, and Waterloo - dropped out of the NBA before the 1950-51 season, leaving 11, back in a two-division format. Then the Washington franchise folded in January of 1951 with the league's worst record, 10-25.
Black players entered the league for the first time. Chuck Cooper was the first black player ever drafted, by the Boston Celtics. The New York Knicks acquired the legendary Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton from the Harlem Globetrotters. But the first black actually to appear in a game was Earl Lloyd of Washington, which began play before Boston or New York.
There were two other firsts for the still-young league: The first All-Star game was played March 2, 1951, at the Boston Garden, and rebounds became an official statistical category, though they weren't yet broken down by offense and defense.
Neither first-place team made it to the championship finals. The Minneapolis Lakers, who led the Western Division, were eliminated in the semi-finals by the Rochester Royals, who had finished 2 1/2 games behind them. In the East, the Philadelphia Warriors were embarrased by a first-round loss to the fourth-place Syracuse Nationals, who lost more games than they won during the regular season.
The finals went to seven games for the first time. Rochester finally prevailed with a four-point home win over the Knicks, who had finished third in the Eastern Division.
George Mikan of Minneapolis was the scoring champion for the third year in a row, Philadelphia's Andy Phillip led in assists, and Dolph Schayes of Syracuse won the first rebounding title.
New York 2, Boston 0 New York 83, at Boston 69 Boston 78, at New York 92
Rochester 2, Fort Wayne 1 Fort Wayne 81, at Rochester 110 Rochester 78, at Fort Wayne 83 Fort Wayne 78, at Rochester 97
Syracuse 2, Philadelphia 0 Syracuse 91, at Philadelphia 89 (OT)
Philadelphia 78, at Syracuse 90
Minneapolis 2, Indianapolis 1 Indianapolis 81, at Minneapolis 95 Minneapolis 88, at Indianapolis 108 Indianapolis 80, at Minneapolis 85
Division Finals
New York 3, Syracuse 2 Syracuse 92, at New York 103 New York 80, at Syracuse 102 Syracuse 75, at New York 97 New York 83, at Syracuse 90 Syracuse 81, at New York 83
Rochester 3, Minneapolis 1 Rochester 73, at Minneapolis 76 Rochester 70, at Minneapolis 66 Minneapolis 70, at Rochester 83 Minneapolis 75, at Rochester 80
Finals
Rochester 4, New York 3
New York 65, at Rochester 92 New York 84, at Rochester 99 Rochester 78, at New York 71 Rochester 73, at New York 79 New York 92, at Rochester 89 Rochester 73, at New York 80 New York 75, at Rochester 79
