SNSyracuse Nationals
SNSyracuse Nationals has reached the nba champions decider 3 times on record, first in 1949-50 and most recently in 1954-55. 1 win against 2 runner-up finishes is recorded below, sourced from our full nba champions list.
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
SNSyracuse Nationals — 1 nba champions (1954-55).
Franchise history
The Syracuse Nationals were founded in 1946 by Danny Biasone, an Italian-immigrant bowling-alley owner, who paid roughly $5,000 for the franchise in the National Basketball League, joining the merged NBA in 1949. Biasone's most lasting contribution to the sport came in 1954, when he devised the 24-second shot clock to speed up a game that had been bogged down by stalling tactics — an innovation widely credited with saving professional basketball and still used league-wide today.
On the court, the Nationals were built around Dolph Schayes, a Syracuse native and future Hall of Famer, and guard Paul Seymour. In the 1955 NBA Finals, Syracuse defeated the Fort Wayne Pistons 4-3, clinching the franchise's only championship on a decisive Game 7 free throw and steal by George King. The Nationals remained competitive through the late 1950s, but as small-market NBA teams struggled financially, owners sold the franchise to Philadelphia investors, and it relocated in March 1963, becoming the 76ers.
Sources
NBA Champions won (1)
Runner-up finishes (2)
See the full nba champions list for the winner each of these years.
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