NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Western Division
Finished: 40-32 .556, 3rd place
Eliminated in Western Division Round Robin
Fort Wayne finished in third place again, but were eliminated from the playoffs in the round robin stage. The team's record was improved, but their fortunes were not. The club ran into serious troubles early on in the season when Jack Molinas, a 6-foot-6 forward from Columbia, admitted to betting on Pistons games. He was suspended in early January and never played again in the NBA. Coach Paul Birch said he noticed a few things suspicious with Molinas' play, but Molinas maintained that although he bet on Pistons games, he never did anything except try his best. The Molinas incident shook the team at first, but eventually the team used it as a unifying event and they played well the rest of the season until the playoffs. Birch resigned after the season, stating that the Molinas incident was too hard on the team and their fans, and Birch felt that the team needed a new coach and he needed a new team. Birch never did coach again.
- Head Coach: Paul Birch (January 4, 1910 - June 5, 1982)
PLAYERS:
- Leo Barnhorst (May 11, 1924 - August 25, 2000)
- Frankie Brian (May 1, 1923 - May 14, 2017)
- Larry Foust (June 24, 1928 - October 27, 1984)
- Mel Hutchins (November 22, 1928 - December 19, 2018)
- Monk Meineke (October 30, 1930 - September 3, 2013)
- Jack Molinas (October 31, 1932 - August 3, 1975)
- Ken Murray (April 20, 1928 - June 15, 2008)
- Andy Phillip (March 7, 1922 - April 28, 2001)
- Fred Schaus (June 30, 1925 - February 10, 2010)
- Fred Scolari (March 1, 1922 - October 17, 2002)
- Chuck Share (March 14, 1927 - June 7, 2012)
- Zeke Sinicola (January 25, 1929 - June 6, 2011)
- George Yardley (November 3, 1928 - August 13. 2004)
- Max Zaslofsky (December 7, 1925 - October 15, 1985)
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