World Professional Basketball Tournament
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1939
Ceased	1948
Country	United States

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The World Professional Basketball Tournament was an invitational tournament held in Chicago and sponsored by the Chicago Herald American. The annual event was held from 1939 to 1948, and the winner was generally acknowledged as the World Champions of basketball.^{[according to whom?]} Many teams came from the National Basketball League, but it also included the best teams from other leagues and the best independent barnstorming teams such as the New York Rens and Harlem Globetrotters. Games were played at various sites including Chicago Coliseum, International Amphitheater and Chicago Stadium.

The NBL champion usually won this tournament, with three exceptions: the New York Rens won the first WPBT in 1939, while the Harlem Globetrotters—a strongly competitive squad in those days—won the following year. In 1943, the Washington Bears (with many New York Rens players on their roster) won the tournament. The NBL's Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons won the most titles (three, from 1944–46), while the NBL's Oshkosh All-Stars made the most finals appearances with five, winning only once (in 1942). The tournament disbanded in 1949, after the BAA and NBL merged to form the NBA.

Tournament finals results[edit]

1939 New York Rens 34–25 Oshkosh All-Stars
1940 Harlem Globetrotters 31–29 Chicago Bruins
1941 Detroit Eagles 39–37 Oshkosh All-Stars
1942 Oshkosh All-Stars 43–41 Detroit Eagles
1943 Washington Bears 43–31 Oshkosh All-Stars
1944 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 50–33 Brooklyn Eagles
1945 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 78–52 Dayton Acmes
1946 Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 73–57 Oshkosh All-Stars
1947 Indianapolis Kautskys 62–47 Toledo Jeeps
1948 Minneapolis Lakers 75–71 New York Rens

Tournament MVPs[edit]

1939 Puggy Bell, New York Rens
1940 Sonny Boswell, Harlem Globetrotters
1941 Buddy Jeannette, Detroit Eagles
1942 Ed Riska, Oshkosh All-Stars
1943 Curly Armstrong, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons
1944 Bobby McDermott, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons
1945 Buddy Jeannette, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons
1946 George Mikan, Chicago American Gears
1947 Jule Rivlin, Toledo Jeeps
1948 George Mikan, Minneapolis Lakers

All-time championship game scoring records[edit]

*	Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Player	Team	Games	Pts	PPG
Leroy Edwards	Oshkosh	5	53	10.6
Bobby McDermott	Ft. Wayne	3	49	16.3
Jake Pelkington	Det/Ft. W	4	45	11.2
Buddy Jeannette	Det/Ft. W	4	42	10.5
George Mikan	Minneapolis	1	40	40
Pop Gates	NY/Wash	3	37	12.3
Ed Sadowski	Det/Ft. W	3	34	11.3
Jerry Bush	Det/Ft. W	5	30	6.0
Nat Clifton	NY	1	24	24.0
Gene Englund	Oshkosh	3	22	7.3
Chick Reiser	Ft. Wayne	3	22	7.3
Bob Tough	Bkn/Ft. W	2	21	10.5
Duke Cumberland	Harlem/NY	2	20	10.0
Jake Ahearn	Detroit	2	20	10.0
George Sobek	Toledo	1	20	20.0

All-time World Tournament team records[edit]

Team	App.	Gms	W	L	1st	2nd
Oshkosh All-Stars	9	30	20	10	1	4
New York Rens-Washington Bears	10	28	18	10	2	1
Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons	8	21	15	6	3	0
Harlem Globetrotters	7	20	13	7	1	0
Detroit Eagles	3	10	8	2	1	1
Chicago American Gears	2	9	7	2	0	0
Chicago Bruins-Ramblers	4	9	5	4	0	1
Toledo White Huts-Whites-Jeeps	4	10	5	5	0	1
Sheboygan Redskins	8	14	5	9	0	0
Anderson Chiefs-Duffey Packers	3	7	4	3	0	0
Minneapolis Lakers	1	3	3	0	1	0
Brooklyn Eagles	1	4	3	1	0	1
L.I. Grumman Flyers/Hellcats	2	5	3	2	0	0
Dayton Acmes-Mickeys	2	5	3	2	0	1
Midland Dow Chemicals	3	6	3	3	0	0
Indianapolis Kautskys	5	7	3	4	1	0
Washington Heurlick Brewers	1	3	2	1	0	0
Tri-Cities Blackhawks	2	5	2	3	0	0
Baltimore Bullets	2	6	2	4	0	0

Twenty-seven teams entered the tournament in various years but did not win a game; eight teams had one win.
The world-famous New York Celtics played in the initial tournament in 1939, but lost their only game. Another well-known team, the Philadelphia Sphas, had a win and a loss in their only appearance, in 1941 .

Recap by year[edit]

1939[edit]

1st Place: New York Rens 34- Oshkosh All-Stars 25
MVP- Puggy Bell (New York Rens)
Leading Championship Game Scorers:
Pop Gates (New York Rens) 12
Leroy Edwards (Oshkosh All-Stars) 12
3rd Place: Harlem Globetrotters 36- Sheboygan Redskins 33
5th Place: New York Yankees, Chicago Harmons, New York Celtics
8th Place: Fort Wayne Harvesters, Brenton Harbor House of David, Illinois Grads, Clarksburg Oilers

1940[edit]

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1st Place: Harlem Globetrotters 31- Chicago Bruins 29
MVP- S