The 1948–49 BAA season was the Stags' 3rd season in the NBA/BAA.1948-49 Chicago Stags This season would also see both the Stags and the St. Louis Bombers get their Western Division shifted up in a significant way due to four of the teams from the rivaling National Basketball League (NBL) in the former NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals, Fort Wayne Pistons, and Indianapolis Jets defecting from the NBL into the Basketball Association of America (BAA) this season. Despite this significant shift from the Western Division, the Stags would still remain as one of the better teams in the league this season with a 38–22 record, though they were ultimately swept in the 1949 BAA playoffs in the Western Division Semifinals by the eventual champion Minneapolis Lakers. Following the conclusino of this season, the Stags were one of ten BAA teams (removing only the former NBL turned BAA Indianapolis Jets and the Providence Steamrollers teams) to join up with six of the surviving nine NBL teams (with an expansion team in the Indianapolis Olympians also being added) to create the present-day National Basketball Association.

Draft

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 5 Ed Mikan F/C DePaul 2 17 Hook Dillon F North Carolina 3 29 Whitey Kachan G DePaul 4 41 Odie Spears G Western Kentucky 5 53 Mickey Marty F Loras 6 65 Ed Mills – Wisconsin 7 76 Don Reagan – Murray State 8 86 Joe Shafer – Wheaton 9 96 Fred Weber – Siena Top selection Ed Mikan is the younger brother of Minneapolis Lakers star center George Mikan.

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Game log #DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsVenueRecord 1 November 6 Baltimore W 82–69 Max Zaslofsky (24) 1–0 2 November 13 Indianapolis W 79–72 Max Zaslofsky (20) 2–0 3 November 19 Minneapolis L 81–85 Max Zaslofsky (22) 2–1 4 November 21 @ Fort Wayne W 70–69 Max Zaslofsky (15) 3–1 5 November 27 @ Rochester L 103–105 (2OT) Max Zaslofsky (21) 3–2 6 November 30 Philadelphia W 74–68 Andy Phillip (19) 4–2 7 December 1 @ St. Louis L 61–72 Max Zaslofsky (15) 4–3 8 December 4 Minneapolis W 104–100 (OT) Max Zaslofsky (29) 5–3 9 December 5 @ Fort Wayne W 88–79 Kenny Rollins (22) 6–3 10 December 10 Fort Wayne W 78–70 Max Zaslofsky (22) 7–3 11 December 13 vs Baltimore W 75–70 Andy Phillip (19) 8–3 12 December 14 Rochester L 78–85 Max Zaslofsky (20) 8–4 13 December 17 @ Indianapolis W 71–67 Max Zaslofsky (21) 9–4 14 December 19 @ Minneapolis L 84–94 Max Zaslofsky (35) 9–5 15 December 23 @ Baltimore L 89–96 Max Zaslofsky (25) 9–6 16 December 25 @ New York W 70–64 Andy Phillip (18) 10–6 17 December 26 Boston W 84–73 Max Zaslofsky (22) 11–6 18 December 28 @ Boston W 76–74 Max Zaslofsky (22) 12–6 19 December 30 @ Providence W 101–89 Max Zaslofsky (24) 13–6 20 January 1 @ Washington L 90–92 Andy Phillip (23) 13–7 21 January 2 New York W 81–79 Max Zaslofsky (21) 14–7 22 January 4 @ Providence W 115–104 Max Zaslofsky (21) 15–7 23 January 6 @ Providence W 89–78 Odie Spears (18) 16–7 24 January 8 @ Rochester W 91–88 Ed Mikan (21) 17–7 25 January 9 Rochester L 75–90 Max Zaslofsky (22) 17–8 26 January 12 @ St. Louis W 75–66 Odie Spears (26) 18–8 27 January 14 @ Indianapolis W 88–61 Max Zaslofsky (27) 19–8 28 January 15 vs Boston W 94–86 Kenny Rollins (21) 20–8 29 January 16 Washington W 92–70 Max Zaslofsky (25) 21–8 30 January 19 Fort Wayne L 96–104 (2OT) Max Zaslofsky (24) 21–9 31 January 20 @ Philadelphia L 72–92 Max Zaslofsky (24) 21–10 32 January 21 @ Boston W 86–76 Max Zaslofsky (24) 22–10 33 January 25 Philadelphia 77–86 Max Zaslofsky (21) 22–11 34 January 26 @ Minneapolis L 49–84 Stan Miasek (11) 22–12 35 January 28 St. Louis W 83–65 Max Zaslofsky (26) 23–12 36 January 29 vs Indianapolis W 87–81 (OT) Ed Mikan (23) 24–12 37 February 2 Baltimore W 77–67 Max Zaslofsky (23) 25–12 38 February 5 @ Providence W 91–75 Max Zaslofsky (24) 26–12 39 February 6 @ New York W 87–75 Max Zaslofsky (26) 27–12 40 February 8 St. Louis L 73–75 Max Zaslofsky (24) 27–13 41 February 11 Minneapolis W 105–97 Stan Miasek (28) 28–13 42 February 12 @ Rochester L 73–87 Max Zaslofsky (19) 28–14 43 February 15 Fort Wayne W 83–69 Max Zaslofsky (17) 29–14 44 February 16 @ Minneapolis L 71–90 Mikan, Phillip (14) 29–15 45 February 19 @ St. Louis L 59–63 Andy Phillip (14) 29–16 46 February 20 Indianapolis 95–72 Andy Phillip (22) 30–16 47 February 23 @ Philadelphia W 102–85 Gene Vance (22) 31–16 48 February 24 @ Baltimore W 87–68 Max Zaslofsky (14) 32–16 49 February 26 @ Washington 103–90 Max Zaslofsky (35) 33–16 50 February 28 Washington L 57–67 Max Zaslofsky (20) 33–17 51 March 1 @ Indianapolis 69–79 Ed Mikan (20) 33–18 52 March 2 @ New York L 79–81 Max Zaslofsky (32) 33–19 53 March 3 @ Philadelphia L 75–90 Max Zaslofsky (24) 33–20 54 March 5 @ Washington W 106–95 Max Zaslofsky (23) 34–20 55 March 8 Providence W 110–82 Max Zaslofsky (25) 35–20 56 March 12 New York L 80–85 Max Zaslofsky (19) 35–21 57 March 13 @ Fort Wayne L 78–81 Stan Miasek (12) 35–22 58 March 16 vs Boston W 107–82 Max Zaslofsky (29) 36–22 59 March 17 St. Louis W 85–79 Max Zaslofsky (33) 37–22 60 March 20 Rochester W 98–61 Odie Spears (24) 38–22

BAA Playoffs BAA West Division Semifinals (2) Minneapolis Lakers vs. (3) Chicago Stags: Lakers win series 2-0 Game 1 @ Minneapolis: Minneapolis 84, Chicago 77 Game 2 @ Chicago: Minneapolis 101, Chicago 85

Last Playoff Meeting: This is the first meeting between the Stags and Lakers.

Awards and records Max Zaslofsky, All-BAA First Team

References