The 1952–53 NBA season was the seventh season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Minneapolis Lakers winning the NBA championship, beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals.
Notable occurrences The 1953 NBA All-Star Game was played in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with the West beating the East 79–75. George Mikan of the Minneapolis Lakers won the game's MVP award. Don Meineke of the Fort Wayne Pistons wins the inaugural Rookie of the Year award.
+Coaching changesOffseason Team 1951–52 coach 1952–53 coach Milwaukee Hawks Doxie Moore Andrew LevaneIn-season Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach Baltimore Bullets Chick Reiser Clair Bee
Final standings
Eastern Division
Western Division
x – clinched playoff spot
Playoffs
Statistics leaders + Category Player Team Stat Points Neil Johnston Philadelphia Warriors 1,564 Rebounds George Mikan Minneapolis Lakers 1,007 Assists Bob Cousy Boston Celtics 547 FG% Neil Johnston Philadelphia Warriors .452 FT% Bill Sharman Boston Celtics .850
Note: Prior to the 1969–70 season, league leaders in points, rebounds, and assists were determined by totals rather than averages.
NBA awards This season marked the first official season where the NBA would officially name the NBA Rookie of the Year Award winner after previously having Rookie of the Year winners only being recognized by newspaper writers when the NBA officially didn't recognize them in the past. (While the NBA would eventually later publish official recorded results for the pre-1953 Rookie of the Year winners in their 1994–95 edition of the Official NBA Guide and the 1994 Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia, those winners have not been listed in subsequent publications ever since then.) Rookie of the Year: Don Meineke, Fort Wayne Pistons
All-NBA First Team: George Mikan, Minneapolis Lakers Neil Johnston, Philadelphia Warriors Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics Ed Macauley, Boston Celtics Dolph Schayes, Syracuse Nationals All-NBA Second Team: Bob Davies, Rochester Royals Vern Mikkelsen, Minneapolis Lakers Andy Phillip, Philadelphia Warriors Bill Sharman, Boston Celtics Bobby Wanzer, Rochester Royals
See also List of NBA regular season records
References 1952–53 NBA Season Summary basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 10, 2010