1953-54 NBA Season Standings

The Indianapolis Olympians folded before this season amid a point-shaving scandal implicating former players, shrinking the league to nine teams and leaving the Western Division with only four clubs. The New York Knicks won the Eastern Division outright, while Boston and Syracuse finished tied for second at 42-30; in the West, Minneapolis again topped the standings en route to a Finals rematch with Syracuse, which the Lakers won 4 games to 3 for their fifth NBA championship in six seasons — the last title of the George Mikan era before the team's eventual relocation to Los Angeles in 1960. This season also marked the NBA's first national television contract, with the DuMont Network paying $39,000 to broadcast 13 games, a landmark moment for the league's visibility. The Baltimore Bullets, mired at 16-56, folded partway into the following season, underscoring the era's continued financial instability even after the post-merger contraction had otherwise stabilized the league near nine to ten teams.