1940–41 Detroit Eagles season

The 1940–41 Detroit Eagles season was the fourth and final professional season of play for the Detroit Eagles franchise in the National Basketball League, which also was the fourth season that it existed as a professional basketball league after previously existing as a semi-pro or amateur basketball league called the Midwest Basketball Conference in its first two seasons back in 1935. However, if one were to include their previous seasons where they first started out as a team in the Central Basketball League called the Warren Buckeyes^[1][2] back in 1926 before becoming an independent team called the Warren Crescents, the Corry Keystones of the short-lived original NYPBL,^[3] the Warren Merchants, the Warren Transits, and the Warren HyVis Oilers (sometimes shortened down to the Warren HyVis Oils, including during the MBC's second and final season under that name when they entered the MBC that season^[4][5]) before becoming the Warren Penns in their first season of the NBL's official existence, this would officially be the franchise's fifteenth season of existence as a team, including the brief time they would be renamed to the Cleveland White Horses and the unofficial period of time they were known as the Elmira Colonels in the similarly short-lived revived New York-Pennsylvania Basketball League.^[6]

Initially, they were planned to have joined the Indianapolis Kautskys as one of the two NBL teams to drop out of the league for this season because of them having issues with securing a new deal with playing in the Detroit Light Guard Armory, but by November, the team would get their venue situation resolved and the team would rejoin the NBL in time to start out the new season as a seven team league that's without divisions for the first time in league history.^[7] The team would also get themselves new team owners (which involved an executive from Chrysler (originally known as the Chrysler Motors Corporation at the time), a banker, and an auto dealer) and a new head coach in Dutch Dehnert taking over the remaining roles that longtime member and owner/coach Gerry Archibald held with the team throughout its many years of existence.^[8] For this season, each team played two home and away games against each other for a total of 24 league games played for every team in the NBL this season and the semifinal rounds would have the first and third place teams competing against each other, while the second and fourth place teams compete against each other before the winners of each respective match faced off against each other in the championship round.^[9]

By the end of the regular season, the Eagles finished their season with a worse record than their previous season with an average 12–12 record, which resulted in them finishing with a completely middle of the road fourth-place finish. However, that record would be just good enough to enter the NBL Playoffs for the second and final time in their history as a team, though this season's playoffs involved the first place team competing against the third place team and the second place team competing against the fourth place team, with the winners there competing against each other in the championship series matchup. In Detroit's case, they played against the Sheboygan Red Skins (who was tied for second place with the Akron Firestone Non-Skids), with Sheboygan winning their semifinal round 2–1. The Eagles were also one of four NBL teams to compete in the 1941 World Professional Basketball Tournament alongside the Sheboygan Red Skins, the eventual NBL champion Oshkosh All-Stars, and the Chicago Bruins. Despite them being expected to be eliminated by the second round against the world famous Harlem Globetrotters (the winners of the 1940 WPBT) at the earliest and then the New York Renaissance (another independent all-black team that also won the inaugural event) soon after they beat down the (also independently ran) Indianapolis Kautskys in the first round there, they ended up upsetting the new NBL champions Oshkosh All-Stars to become the NBL's first ever champions for the WPBT, though they would end up leaving the NBL soon afterward to become an independent barnstorming team for their final seasons of existence going forward.

By the season's end, the Detroit Eagles would see future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Buddy Jeannette and Ed Sadowski make it to the All-NBL First Team (with Sadowski also being named the NBL's Rookie of the Year winner), while Bob Calihan made it to the All-NBL Second Team. Jeannette and Sadowski would also end up making it to the All-WPBT Tournament Team, with Jeannette also being named the MVP of the NBL this season.

Please note that due to the way records for professional basketball leagues like the NBL and the ABL were recorded at the time, some information on both teams and players may be harder to list out than usual here.

Note: Adam Filipczak, Bill Lane, Bernard Opper, and Rusty Saunders were not a part of the playoff roster.^[10] Not only that, but Jerry Bush would replace Jack Piana on the roster for the 1941 World Professional Basketball Tournament.^[11] In addition to that, there was also a player with only the last name of Page being known that only played one game for the Eagles in their final regular season in the NBL, with him also not playing in either the playoffs or the subsequent World Professional Basketball Tournament that they competed in as well.^[12][13]

Not to be confused with exhibition or other non-NBL scheduled games that did not count towards Fort Wayne'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 Detroit Eagles during their fourth and final season (second season under the Detroit Eagles name) in the NBL.

• December 4, 1940 @ Detroit, MI: Akron Firestone Non-Skids 41, Detroit Eagles 35
• December 9, 1940 @ Detroit, MI: Sheboygan Red Skins 33, Detroit Eagles 40
• December 13, 1940 @ Akron, OH: Detroit Eagles 34, Akron Firestone Non-Skids 33
• December 18, 1940 @ Detroit, MI: Hammond Ciesar All-Americans 36, Detroit Eagles 43
• December 26, 1940 @ Sheboygan, WI: Detroit Eagles 32, Sheboygan Red Skins 34
• December 28, 1940 @ Oshkosh, WI: Detroit Eagles 37, Oshkosh All-Stars 52
• January 3, 1941 @ Detroit, MI: Akron Firestone Non-Skids 42, Detroit Eagles 52
• January 8, 1941 @ Chicago, IL: Detroit Eagles 30, Chicago Bruins 39
• January 9, 1941 @ Detroit, MI: Akron Goodyear Wingfoots 52, Detroit Eagles 49
• January 12, 1941 @ Akron, OH: Detroit Eagles 42, Akron Firestone Non-Skids 48
• January 13, 1941 @ Akron, OH: Detroit Eagles 31, Akron Goodyear Wingfoots 39
• January 17, 1941 @ Detroit, MI: Chicago Bruins 43, Detroit Eagles 45
• January 23, 1941 @ Detroit, MI: Hammond Ciesar All-Americans 52, Detroit Eagles 61
• January 29, 1941 @ Detroit, MI: Oshkosh All-Stars 34, Detroit Eagles 36
• February 6, 1941 @ Detroit, MI: Sheboygan Red Skins 47, Detroit Eagles 29
• February 8, 1941 @ Akron, OH: Detroit Eagles 41, Akron Goodyear Wingfoots 40
• February 13, 1941 @ Detroit, MI: Oshkosh All-Stars 41, Detroit Eagles 30
• February 17, 1941 @ Detroit, MI: Chicago Bruins 46, Detroit Eagles 52
• February 19, 1941 @ Chicago, IL: Detroit Eagles 28, Chicago Bruins 55
• February 20, 1941 @ Sheboygan, WI: Detroit Eagles 30, Sheboygan Red Skins 54
• February 22, 1941 @ Oshkosh, WI: Detroit Eagles 57, Oshkosh All-Stars 59
• February 23, 1941 (Game 1 @ Hammond, IN): Detroit Eagles 47, Hammond Ciesar All-Americans 42
• February 23, 1941 (Game 2 @ Hammond, IN): Detroit Eagles 40, Hammond Ciesar All-Americans 39
• February 27, 1941 @ Detroit, MI: Akron Goodyear Wingfoots 48, Detroit Eagles 50

(2) Sheboygan Red Skins vs. (4) Detroit Eagles: Sheboygan wins series 2–1

• Game 1: March 6, 1941 @ Detroit: Detroit 43, Sheboygan 32
• Game 2: March 7, 1941 @ Sheboygan: Sheboygan 22, Detroit 19
• Game 3: March 8, 1941 @ Sheboygan: Sheboygan 54, Detroit 40

• First Team All-NBL – Buddy Jeannette and Ed Sadowski
• Second Team All-NBL – Bob Calihan
• NBL Rookie of the Year Award – Ed Sadowski
• NBL All-Time Team – Buddy Jeannette

After declining to participate in the first two World Professional Basketball Tournaments held in 1939 and 1940, the Detroit Eagles would join the new NBL champion Oshkosh All-Stars, the Sheboygan Red Skins (the team that eliminated them in the 1941 NBL Playoffs), and the Chicago Bruins (the runner-up team from the 1940 WPBT) as over half of the teams representing the NBL this season joining in for the 1941 World Professional Basketball Tournament held at the International Amphitheater in Chicago, which took place on March 15–19, 1941. The Eagles' debut in the WPBT would have them compete in the tournament where, in addition to the other NBL teams that joined the event, they were mostly going up against other teams that were considered independently ran franchises (including the Indianapolis Kautskys, who left the NBL the previous year before returning to the NBL the following year, as well as future NBL teams in the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons and Rochester Seagrams (later Royals) to become the future NBA teams known as the Detroit Pistons and Sacramento Kings) alongside the rivaling American Basketball League's own champions, the Philadelphia Sphas. In the first round on March 15, the Eagles would face off against the Indianapolis Kautskys, the team that left the NBL to become a barnstorming team this season. While Carlisle Towery led the Kautskys with 11 total points scored for their team, both Ed Sadowski and Bob Calihan both led the Eagles with 19 points each as Detroit defeated the former NBL team with a 58–43 beatdown for what would later become the easiest match the Eagles would have in the WPBT for this year's event.

In the only second round that would be played the following day afterward on March 16, Detroit would go up against the world famous Harlem Globetrotters, the defending champions of the World Professional Basketball Tournament. As per usual from the Harlem Globetrotters, they would compete in this match (much like in other previous WPBT matches) by utilizing their typical mixture of comedic chicanery with the intent to win the game as best as they possibly could do so. However, this game in question would prove to be a very low-scoring effort from both teams this time around, especially from the Eagles' ends since the Globetrotters only scored 38 points in their first round match. Despite that, Detroit would keep the game very close to make it end in a 37–36 victory for them, with Ed Sadowski leading the team in scoring with 12 points that night.

After a day of rest that the Eagles had over the rest of the competition at hand, their semifinal round opponent would be the very first winners of the World Professional Basketball Tournament, the New York Renaissance. Similar to the Harlem Globetrotters by this point in time, the New York Renaissance were an independent barnstorming team that was all-black like the Globetrotters were, with the only difference involving the Renaissance being their performance as a team was 100% serious on their ends. While many people attending the match expected New York to defeat Detroit in order to have the Renaissance squad likely go up against the new NBL champions, the Eagles would end up stunning the second straight championship winning team in the WPBT in another close match with a close 43–42 victory on their ends to see them go into the championship round unexpectedly. Detroit's main players that helped get them the victory were Ed Sadowski with 16 points and Bob Calihan with 8 points, while the Renaissance had a tie for the leading scorers of the team with both Pop Gates and Wilmeth Sidat-Singh (the latter being his last match in the WPBT before tragically passing away during service in World War II^[14]) scoring 11 points.

Finally, for the championship match, Detroit would go up against the only other remaining NBL team that was in the WPBT up until the semifinal round, the new NBL champions of the season, the Oshkosh All-Stars. Oshkosh finished their season with the best record in the entire NBL and won the league's championship for the first time ever after previously being in the NBL Finals for the league's first three seasons as well by first sweeping the Akron Firestone Non-Skids and then beating the Sheboygan Red Skins team that beat the Eagles earlier on. However, due to the WPBT occurring three days before the All-Stars swept the Red Skins, Oshkosh would see their tired legs finally catch up with them with Detroit leading 35–23 over the All-Stars when they entered the fourth quarter. While the All-Stars tried to fight hard all throughout the fourth quarter to catch up and upset the Eagles, to the point of holding them to only four total points scored that quarter, Detroit managed to hold onto their lead just long enough to win 39–37 (with Oshkosh shooting a lowly 13/78 from the field that night^[15]) to not just upset the NBL champions in the WPBT, but also be the first NBL team to win that tournament's championship in the process.^[16][17] The three Eagles players that led the team to a surprising upset championship victory over the new NBL champions were Ed Sadowski with 11 points, Jake Ahearn with 9 points, and Bob Calihan with 8 points. Despite that in mind, it would be Buddy Jeannette that would be named the WPBT's MVP this year, with both Jeannette and Ed Sadowski both being named members of the All-Tournament Team this time around. Their surprise performance would help influence their decision to exit out of the NBL for the upcoming season and become a barnstorming team for the rest of their existence going forward.

• Won first round (58–43) over the Indianapolis Kautskys
• Won quarterfinal round (37–36) over the Harlem Globetrotters
• Won semifinal round (43–42) over the New York Renaissance
• Won championship round (39–37) over the Oshkosh All-Stars

• Buddy Jeannette, All-Tournament Team, MVP
• Ed Sadowski, All-Tournament Team