SRSSheboygan Red Skins

Franchise history

Sheboygan's pro basketball team traced back to sponsor-named amateur clubs in the 1930s before a local business syndicate took over and renamed it the Red Skins upon entering the National Basketball League in 1938. The name reflected imagery of Native Americans that was a common, if now widely considered offensive, choice for team branding in that era. Sheboygan was a strong NBL club through the 1940s, with Hall of Famers Buddy Jeannette and Ken Suesens among its players. In the 1949-50 season, its only year in the merged NBA, Sheboygan went 22-40 and finished fourth in the six-team Western Division, an upset win over the Minneapolis Lakers among the highlights of a season undercut by injuries after a 7-2 start. Like the other small former-NBL markets, Sheboygan could not compete financially with the larger BAA-descended franchises, and the team dropped to the minor National Professional Basketball League for 1950-51 before folding after one further independent season in 1951-52. There is no continuing NBA lineage.

Sources

• Sheboygan Red Skins — Wikipedia
• 1949-50 Sheboygan Red Skins season — Wikipedia
• Sheboygan Red Skins — Basketball-Reference