Remembering the first game in NBA history ... at Maple Leaf Gardens

On Nov. 1, 1946, the Toronto Huskies faced the New York Knickerbockers in the NBA’s inaugural match-up.

A basketball game at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens in 1946 — Maple Leaf Gardens made up for basketball in 1946. (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1257, Series 1057, Item 7523)

It’s a league with 30 teams, the cheapest of which is valued at $1.5 billion. It celebrated its 75th season in 2021–22, and over the years has boasted a host of legendary athletes — from Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

We’re speaking, of course, about the National Basketball Association. And it all started — all of it — on a rainy November night in Toronto.

Almost exactly 50 years before the Raptors made their debut, the first NBA game took place at Maple Leaf Gardens. The date was Nov. 1, 1946, and the two teams on the marquee were the New York Knickerbockers and a local club called the Toronto Huskies.

#OTD in 1946, the first #NBA game was played between the #Toronto Huskies and the N.Y. Knickerbockers. Toronto was defeated 68-66 pic.twitter.com/tsxq15ROup
— CanadianEncyclopedia (@CdnEncyclopedia) November 1, 2016

Hmm?

Yeah — it’s a lot.

At the time of the game in question, the NBA went by another name — the Basketball Association of America, which makes it all the weirder that the first game of the new 11-team league would take place somewhere other than, you know, America. But it is what is.

Records show the tilt drew 7,090 fans, at tickets priced in four tiers — 75 cents, $1.25, $2.00, and $2.50. (Roughly $12 to $40 in today’s currency.) And those who showed up were treated to a contest that went down to the wire.

The first basket in league history was scored by the Knickerbockers’ Ossie Schechtman off a one-dribble, touch-pass-heavy fast break that would bring a tear to any gym teacher’s eye:

The First Basket

A look at the box score reveals standout performances from Huskies “Big Ed” Sadowski (18 points) and the 6’8” George Nostrand (16). But it was also a chippy game, with exactly 27 free throws for each team.

On that last point, the day-after write-up from the Toronto Daily Star provides a little context:

[The players] had plenty of occasion to scream, too, for the whistle-tooters were letting exactly nothing pass them by. No body contact, [referee Pat] Kennedy had told the Huskies Thursday, and evidently he wasn’t talking to keep his tonsils in condition. No body contact, and that’s all there was to it. If a player so much as waved too aggressively in the general direction of his check, he was not only called for it, but also dressed down before the entire assemblage.

Five players — including Huskies team captain Sadowski — fouled out, which would be unheard of in a game today.

At the end of four quarters, the home team lost by a score of 68–66.

What happened to the Huskies?

The team played 60 games in the 1946–47 season, finishing with a 22-38 record and not making the playoffs.

Sadly, interest in the team reportedly fell off over the course of the season, and the Huskies disbanded once it was complete.

The BAA itself lasted two more seasons before absorbing the National Basketball League and re-branding as the National Basketball Association — the NBA we know today, albeit with different teams.

So that’s it?

Not remotely.

When it was announced Toronto had won an NBA expansion franchise in the early 1990s, a public naming contest yielded several options — with Huskies as a main contender. While “Raptors” eventually won out, a vocal contingent continued to support the historical moniker. (A website calling for a name change still exists.)

The Raptors began play at the Skydome (now Rogers Centre) before moving to the Air Canada Centre (now Scotiabank Arena), but played six games between 1997 and 1999 at the home arena of their Toronto hoops forebears — Maple Leaf Gardens.

The modern-day team has also honoured the Huskies several times over the years, first donning throwback jerseys in 2009, and then doing so six times in the 2016–17 alone. Impressively, the team went 6-0 in those 2016–17 Huskies Night games.

The @AirCanadaCentre is Blue tonight & it ain't a Leafs game. #HuskiesNight pic.twitter.com/J96a15fmaK
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) November 12, 2016

No plans have been announced for further celebrations of the former team, and, to be totally fair, the Raptors have had a lot to celebrate of late.

But the Huskies will always hold a place in Toronto — and NBA — history.

Share `;