The National Industrial Basketball League was founded in 1947 to enable U.S. mill workers a chance to compete in basketball. The league was founded by the industrial teams (teams sponsored by the large companies and made up of their employees) belonging to the National Basketball League (NBL) that did not join the National Basketball Association when the NBL merged with the Basketball Association of America.
The NIBL teams participated every year in the AAU National tournament against teams from other amateur or semi-professional leagues.
League history
The league's first year, 1947–48, featured five teams in an eight-game schedule—the Milwaukee Harnischfeger's (which won the round robin schedule with an 8–0 record), Peoria Caterpillars, Milwaukee Allen-Bradleys, Akron Goodyear Wingfoots, and Fort Wayne General Electrics. The following season (1948-1949), with a 16-game schedule, the new lineup was league champion Bartlesville Phillips 66ers (15-1 record), Denver Chevvies, Peoria Caterpillars, Akron Goodyears/Akron Goodyear Wingfoots, and Milwaukee Allen-Bradleys.
In the 1949–50 season, with the addition of the Dayton Industrialists making the league a six-team circuit, the Phillips 66ers repeated as champions. The league expanded again in the 1950–51 season to eight teams, adding the (Oakland Blue 'n Gold Atlas) and San Francisco Stewart Chevrolets. The Dayton team renamed as the Dayton Air Gems, and the Phillips 66ers repeated for their third consecutive title.
High Point of League Expansion
The league expanded to 11 teams, in 1951-52 with such new teams as the Los Angeles Fibber McGee & Mollys, Artesia REA Travelers, and Santa Maria Golden Dukes. The 66ers just edged the Oakland Atlas-Pacific Engineers and the San Francisco Stewart Chevrolets for their fourth title, with a 17–5 record to their opponents 16-6 records that tied for second. The next season (1952-1953), the league dropped down to nine teams, but saw new opponents in the Houston Ada Oilers and the Los Angeles Kirby's Shoes.[1] The 66ers beat the Caterpillars for the title by one game, with a 13–3 record.
The Peoria Cats tied the 66ers for the 1953-54 title, each with a 10–4 record. The next two seasons, the 66ers and the Cats took first and second respectively. A new team in the greatly reduced circuit of five teams in 1955-56 was the Wichita Vickers.
The 1956–57 season was one of the most competitive in the NIBL history. While the 66ers again took first with a 13–7 record, four teams tied for second with 11-9 records, including the newly added Denver-Chicago Truckers. This proved to be the last season for the Milwaukee Allen-Bradleys, who finished last for the seventh time with a 3–17 record.
The 1957–58 season saw the Vickers move to the forefront, tying the 66ers for the league title with a 21–9 record. A new team that year was the Kansas City Kaycee's.
End of the Phillips 66ers Winning Streak
In the 1958–59 season, the 66ers failed to take the league title for the first time since their coming to the league, finishing in third place. The Truckers finished first with a 21–9 record, with the Vickers runner-up at 19–11. Joining the league that season was the Seattle Buchan Bakers. However, in the 1959–60 season, the 66ers regained their title as league champions.
The 1963-64 Phillips 66ers, from left to right: [standing] Don Watkins (team manager), Jerry Shipp, Ken Charlton, Jim Hagan, Mike Moran, Terry Cerkvenik, Bud Browning, [kneeling] Ken Saylors, Del Ray Mounts, Denny Price, Larry Pursiful, Charlie Bowerman and Bob Turner.
Demise of the NIBL
By the early 1960s, NIBL teams were increasingly struggling to compete with the salaries offered in professional league. Top college graduates increasingly gravitated to the NBA, and the NIBL began to decline in popularity and profitability. This is evidenced by the disbandment of the Peoria Cats at the end of the 1959–60 season.
In the NIBL's final season, 1960–61, the league had dropped down to only six members divided into two divisions, Eastern (Cleveland Pipers, Akron Goodyears, New York Tuck Tapers) and Western (Denver-Chicago Truckers, Phillips 66ers, and Seattle Buchan Bakers). Instead of the round-robin schedule determining a winner, the league sponsored a four-team playoff. The Pipers beat the Truckers for the championship, 136–100. The 66ers beat the Goodyears for in a match for third place, 114–112.
In 1961, the league dropped their industrial sponsors and merged with other amateur leagues to form the National Alliance of Basketball Leagues (NABL).[2] The Pipers and the Tapers left to join the newly formed American Basketball League in 1961.
The amateur nature of the NIBL
In the 1950s the salaries were about the same as the NBA and there was a job for all players in their companies. Some of them ended up being president of their companies, working there for a lifetime. Most of players wanted no part of the uncertain professional game, and instead were accepting a position with the companies, rejecting offers even from NBA.
The NIBL was dedicated to remaining amateur at a time when basketball was desperately trying to carve out some postwar space in the pro sports landscape. But professional basketball staggered forward and the NIBL flourished, mostly because its stability allowed companies to poach stars such as Bob Kurland.
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