Washington Capitols

• 1. Introduction

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  The Washington Capitols posted a win percentage of 81.7 in professional basketball's inaugural 1946-47 season, going 49-11. No franchise would match that figure for twenty years, until the Philadelphia 76ers surpassed it in 1966-67. Yet by the winter of 1951, the Capitols were gone, dissolved mid-season while losing far more games than they had won. What drove a team this dominant to extinction? And why does one night in Rochester, New York, matter more to their legacy than any of those early victories?

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• 2. Auerbach's Capitols

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  Red Auerbach joined the Washington Capitols as head coach in 1946, when the Basketball Association of America began play. Washington won the Eastern Division in 1946-47, their first BAA season, but fell in the playoff series against the Chicago Stags. They lost the first two home games by 16 points apiece and fell in the series, two wins to four. The Capitols came back to win the division again in 1948-49. This time, they swept the Philadelphia Warriors and edged the New York Knicks before facing the Minneapolis Lakers in the BAA Finals. Washington fell to the Lakers, two games to four. Auerbach stepped away after that season and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1969. Bob Feerick had led the team in scoring in each of those three years, peaking at 16.8 points per game in 1947.

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• 3. The Win Streaks

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  In 1946, the Washington Capitols won 17 consecutive games. That record for the longest single-season winning streak in BAA and NBA history stood for 23 years, until 1969. Two seasons later, the 1948-49 squad opened the year with 15 straight wins, the best start in league history at the time. That opening mark proved even more durable. The Houston Rockets tied it in 1993-94, and the record stood until the Golden State Warriors began the 2015-16 season with 24 straight wins. The Cleveland Cavaliers then matched the Capitols' 15-0 start in 2024-25, nearly eight decades after Washington first set it. Both streaks unfolded at Uline Arena on 3rd Street NE in Washington. The arena held 7,500 spectators and still stands today, repurposed as office and retail space.

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• 4. October 31, 1950

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  On the 31st of October 1950, Earl Lloyd walked onto a court in Rochester, New York. In doing so, Lloyd became the first African American to play in an NBA game. He wore number 1 for the Washington Capitols and played as a forward. The Basketball Hall of Fame recognized his achievement in 2003, inducting him as a contributor. He was honored for being the first African American to play in the NBA and for his later service as the first Black bench coach in the league. Lloyd joined a Capitols team already in its final season. Fewer than three months separated that night in Rochester from the franchise's end.

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• 5. Dissolution

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  The NBA contracted sharply before the 1950-51 season, dropping from 17 teams to 11. Six franchises disappeared at once. The Anderson Packers, Sheboygan Red Skins, and Waterloo Hawks jumped to the NPBL. The Chicago Stags, Denver Nuggets, and St. Louis Bombers folded outright. Washington survived that first wave of cuts but continued to falter. On the 9th of January 1951, the Capitols folded mid-season with a record of 10 wins and 25 losses. The league now stood at ten teams.

  The 1951-52 season saw a reorganized Capitols squad playing in the American Basketball League. When that new organization tried to claim the original NBA team's name and history as its own, the NBA filed suit. The team folded again in January 1952. Washington would not see another NBA franchise until 1973, when the Baltimore Bullets relocated and became the Capital Bullets. That team is now known as the Washington Wizards.

  Bill Sharman led the Capitols in scoring during their final NBA season, averaging 12.2 points per game. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976, a quarter-century after the franchise folded.

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