 The National Basketball Association is enjoying a period of great growth. There's even been talk of international expansion in the near future. But when the league started, it consisted of a lot of franchises in small cities. Mark Cuncannon reports on the NBA's Wisconsin roots. Pro basketball in the 1990s, the big stars playing for the big bucks in the big towns. But it wasn't always that way. In fact, 40 years ago, the NBA had a franchise right here in Sheboygan. The Sheboygan Redskins played one season in the NBA, the 1949-50 campaign. They played at the Sheboygan Armory, which still stands today. The original floored bleachers are still there. And if you listen closely, you can hear the echoes from a bygone era. What was that happening? Dwight Palkin was sports editor for the Sheboygan Press. He covered the Redskins. He just had a feeling of pride that, hey, now we're playing with the big boys. Sheboygan played in the old National Basketball League from 1939 to 48 before joining the NBA in 49. Former Badger star Bobby Cook was the Redskins' highest-paid player. He made $5,800 a year. Cook, who now lives in Lake Geneva, remembers some wild games at the Old Armory and how Sheboygan fans idolized their Redskins. They would have us over as a team and they'd fry brats and maybe once a month. They treated the Redskins like a million dollars. You could buy a Redskins ticket for a dollar, two bucks for courtside, and there was a dance after every home game. When the team hit the road, they drove two DeSoto's, the official cars of the Redskins, which logged many miles. I remember getting in those cars, playing in Syracuse, and the next night we're playing in Anderson, Indiana, and we have to drive from Syracuse all the way to Anderson, Indiana, which was 800 miles and play the next night. So it was tough playing, but the guys didn't seem to mind it. The Redskins had some shining moments like when Cook scored an NBA record 44 points against Denver, but Sheboygan won just 22 games and lost 40, and with the Armory's capacity at only 4,000, Sheboygan couldn't compete financially with the New York's, Boston's, and Chicago's, whose arenas could hold three or four times that many people. So the NBA said goodbye to Sheboygan after just one season, and the townspeople were bitter. I don't think the New Yorkers liked the idea that the little town in Sheboygan could come to Madison Square Garden and give them a run for their money and beat them once in a while. The Redskins played one more year in the NBL in 1951 and then disbanded, but the skins will always be part of this basketball town's proud tradition. It was a once in a lifetime, and I think the people who were part of it then just will never forget it. The Redskins were unique all right. Community-owned, they played in a National Guard Armory, and if you had 40 cents to $2, you could get in. This actually covered players' contracts. Everybody got 50 bucks a week. There were no bonuses, but there was an enthusiastic crowd. The crowds were just intense. It had a contagious feeling that when you were part of it, that you weren't just a spectator, you were part of the Sheboygan Redskins' crowd. And oh, the cheers. The Redskins brought home three division titles and NBA scoring record 44 points in one whole game. And in the playoffs of 1943, they beat Fort Wayne. To be champions of the world, of course, was quite a thing for Sheboygan, and we had this feeling here in Sheboygan that we were the best in the world. The team may have been too good for its gym shorts after beating the big city guys too many times. They were asked to fold in 1950 by the league, leaving only the memories. Sometimes the good old days is a misnomer, but in this case, I think the good old days is true. For the 1949-50 season, the Sheboygan Redskins were in the NBA. Nowadays, they say Redskins and people would wonder, Redskins, who, what? But then... In 1949, the Redskins and the National League merged with the Basketball Association of America to make up the NBA. The Redskins played to packed houses at the Sheboygan Armory against teams from the big cities like the Knicks, Celtics and Lakers. Ken Seasons was the coach of the Redskins. It's a big problem they had is they came into Milwaukee and then they would take a bus up here and then go back to Milwaukee and fly back home after the game. And of course, you know the weather around here in December, January and February, so that was the problem. Despite a 22-40 record, the Redskins made the 1950 NBA playoffs. They lost in the first round to Indianapolis. Dwight Belkin covered the Redskins for the Sheboygan press. It was a ball. It wasn't like it is today. I mean, now there's such an emphasis on statistics. You know, you've got your chart for the assists and the type of rebounds, the offense, the defense. Back in those days, we didn't worry about stats that much. We marked down the buckets and the rebounds. The thing is that the ball players are playing for the love of it and for the little money that they got. Prestige and they weren't in it for the bucks. But after only one season in the NBA, the Redskins were kicked out by a league looking for bigger cities and more money. Naturally, we wanted to continue playing in the league, but it wasn't hard to understand why they wanted to leave the small city out. We were seating 3,500 people and at that time there was no revenue from television. How about bitter? We all felt that we were picked on by the big cities. I don't think they liked the idea of our occasionally knocking off New York. The Redskins went back to the National Professional Basketball League for the 1950-51 season before folding. But those involved with the Redskins in Sheboygan still follow the NBA of today. Of course, it's terrific. These fellas are airborne all the time. One of the rules then was you couldn't dunk the ball in our time, but now with the dunk coming in too and the extra step going to the basket, it's fantastic. These are great athletes. There's no question about it. Northeast Wisconsin is known for more than just football. We'll take a look at our rich basketball tradition. That's coming up next in our in-depth reports. Some of the best players in professional basketball competed right here in Northeast Wisconsin. Sheboygan and Oshkosh both featured National Basketball League teams. And as Derek Benkis tells us, in 1949, the Sheboygan Redskins spent one memorable season in the NBA. Sheboygan press writer Dwight Pelkin hits the typewriter keys. While Bob Cook hits three pointers in a small gym in Lake Geneva, the link between the two of them is a Sheboygan pro basketball team from 50 years ago. My first contract with the Redskins was for the new automobile in $4,000 a year. On those days, of course, it was the big thing. You know, the NBA was the equivalent of the NBA now. The Sheboygan Redskins became part of the NBA when their National Basketball League merged with the Basketball Association of America. The result was the NBA. Cook's fans in Northeast Wisconsin knew they had something very special. They knew that these were the best basketball players around because they were former All-Americans and so on. They did know that we didn't realize it would become anything like what it's become. While other teams in the NBA were playing at stadiums like the Madison Square Garden and the Boston Garden, the Redskins were playing right here at the Sheboygan Municipal Auditorium and Armory. This gym held only about 3,000 fans, but they were some of the best fans in the entire NBA. Everybody knew you in Sheboygan. You know, if you had a bad game way, they never thought it was their fault. But it was really nice to play in Sheboygan. Not only were the Sheboygan fans special, but the entire league was different from the NBA we know today. The Redskins traveled the games into solo station wagons and a camaraderie existed among the players. The guys and the coaches would go to a tavern afterwards, have some beers together and slap each other on the back of it. Oh, you really stuck it to me. I'll get you next time. Sheboygan had a record of 22 and 40 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. That would be their only season in the NBA. The league changed management and they had New York people come in and they wanted to get rid of the small towns. These guys were heroes. They were heroes. Heroes in a time and a town that bring back fond memories for Bob Cook and for Dwight Pelkin. The NBA is long gone from Sheboygan, but those memories will last forever. Now, after leaving the NBA, the Sheboygan Redskins would move to the National Professional Basketball League for one more year. The franchise later folded after the 1951 season.