The 1945–46 Rochester Royals season was the franchise's first season in the National Basketball League.NBA Team Roots This would also be considered the franchise's first official season as the Rochester Royals after previously being a mostly independent franchise that went by the name of the Rochester Seagrams all the way back in 1923 and then used the names of the Rochester Eber Seagrams and Rochester Pros in their last few seasons before utilizing the Rochester Royals name once they officially became a professional franchise. However, if those earlier incarnations are included, this season would represent the franchise's 23rd year of continuous play. This season was notable for the fact that the Royals would have the biggest victory in NBL history with a 70–27 blowout win on January 5, 1946, over the Youngstown Bears, who were also a new NBL team (one who only scored eleven total field-goals and five free-throws that night), though they would end up playing in that league for only one more season before folding operations altogether. They would also win their only NBL championship (and first professional basketball championship) during that season. The Royals would later win an NBA Finals championship five years later in 1951 after they later moved out into the National Basketball Association (which would become their only other professional basketball championship won ever since then), with the franchise now currently going by the Sacramento Kings.
Roster
Note: Chuck Connors, Buddy O'Grady, Delbert Rice, and Tommy Rich were not a part of the playoff roster this season for one reason or another.
Season standings NBL Schedule Not to be confused with exhibition or other non-NBL scheduled games that did not count towards Rochester's official NBL record for this season. An official database created by John Grasso detailing every NBL match possible (outside of two matches that the Kankakee Gallagher Trojans won over the Dayton Metropolitans in 1938) would be released in 2026 showcasing every team's official schedules throughout their time spent in the NBL. As such, these are the official results recorded for the Rochester Royals during their first ever season in the NBL. # Date Opponent Score Record 1 November 24 Sheboygan 53–52 1–0 2 December 1 Cleveland 60–49 2–0 3 December 2 @ Fort Wayne 56–54 3–0 4 December 3 @ Youngstown 48–40 4–0 5 December 8 Youngstown 61–47 5–0 6 December 9 @ Cleveland 65–45 6–0 7 December 18 Sheboygan 61–49 7–0 8 December 25 @ Cleveland 60–48 8–0 9 December 29 Fort Wayne 59–63 8–1 10 January 5 Youngstown 70–27 9–1 11 January 12 Chicago 63–32 10–1 12 January 13 @ Cleveland 59–48 11–1 13 January 14 @ Youngstown 58–50 12–1 14 January 19 @ Fort Wayne 61–43 13–1 15 January 20 Fort Wayne 53–58 13–2 16 January 22 Oshkosh 64–55 14–2 17 January 24 @ Sheboygan 41–52 14–3 18 January 25 @ Chicago 48–53 14–4 19 January 26 @ Oshkosh 45–52 14–5 20 February 2 Cleveland 59–49 15–5 21 February 3 @ Indianapolis 36–47 15–6 22 February 4 @ Youngstown 50–47 16–6 23 February 9 Indianapolis 65–57 17–6 24 February 10 Indianapolis 49–56 17–7 25 February 12 @ Cleveland 55–47 18–7 26 February 17 Fort Wayne 58–55 19–7 27 February 19 @ Fort Wayne 64–59 20–7 28 February 23 Chicago 68–56 21–7 29 February 26 Oshkosh 50–58 21–8 30 February 28 @ Sheboygan 35–59 21–9 31 March 1 @ Chicago 51–58 21–10 32 March 2 @ Oshkosh 64–62 22–10 33 March 4 @ Indianapolis 72–52 23–10 34 March 9 Youngstown 70–47 24–10
Eastern Division
Western Division
NBL Playoffs NBL Eastern Division Playoff (2E) Rochester Royals vs. (1E) Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons: Rochester wins series 3–1 Game 1: March 12, 1946 @ Fort Wayne: Fort Wayne 54, Rochester 44 Game 2: March 13, 1946 @ Fort Wayne: Rochester 58, Fort Wayne 52 Game 3: March 15, 1946 @ Rochester: Rochester 58, Fort Wayne 52 Game 4: March 16, 1946 @ Rochester: Rochester 70, Fort Wayne 54
NBL Championship (2E) Rochester Royals vs. (1W) Sheboygan Red Skins: Rochester wins series 3–0 Game 1: March 19, 1946 @ Rochester: Rochester 60, Sheboygan 50 Game 1: March 21, 1946 @ Rochester: Rochester 61, Sheboygan 54 Game 1: March 24, 1946 @ Sheboygan: Rochester 66, Sheboygan 48
Statistics Regular season RkPlayerPositionGames playedField goalsPer GameFree ThrowsPer GameFree ThrowsAttempted Per GamePoints PerGame1George GlamackC-F344.43.45.412.32Red HolzmanG344.22.33.410.73Al CerviG-F284.02.73.910.74Bob DaviesG-F273.22.63.89.05Otto GrahamF-G321.81.52.35.26John MahnkenC163.11.42.47.77Andrew LevaneF-G222.40.40.95.18Al NegrattiF-C161.20.6—3.09Tommy RichF171.10.5—2.610Jack GarfinkelG180.80.3—1.911Bob FitzgeraldF-C100.91.5—3.312Chuck ConnorsF-C140.80.4—2.013Delbert RiceF110.70.5—2.014Buddy O'GradyG10.00.0—0.015Bernard VoorheisG80.00.0—0.0
NBL Playoffs RkPlayerPositionGames playedField goalsPer GameFree ThrowsPer GameFree ThrowsAttempted Per GamePoints PerGame1George GlamackC-F74.92.93.912.62Bob DaviesG-F74.04.35.912.33Red HolzmanG74.33.04.411.64Al CerviG-F73.33.44.310.05John MahnkenC72.71.11.36.66Al NegrattiF-C71.31.02.03.67Bob FitzgeraldF-C60.31.01.71.78Otto GrahamF-G50.60.0—1.29Jack GarfinkelG60.20.20.30.510Andrew LevaneF-G30.00.70.70.711Bernard VoorheisG10.00.0—0.01945-46 Rochester Royals Stats | Basketball-Reference.com
Awards and records NBL Coach(es) of the Year: Les Harrison and Eddie Malanowicz NBL Rookie of the Year: Red Holzman All-NBL First Team: George Glamack and Red Holzman All-NBL Second Team: Al Cervi1945-46 NBL Season Summary | Basketball-Reference.com All-Time NBL Team – Al Cervi, Bob Davies, and George Glamack
References
External links Sacramento Kings History Timeline | Sacramento Kings