BALTIMORE BULLETS 1961 CHAMPIONS

Baltimore Bullets
EPBL 1958-1961

During the time period between 1954, when the NBA's Baltimore Bullets folded, and 1964, when the Bullets returned to the NBA (and today are better known as the Washington Wizards), a Baltimore Bullets franchise operated for three years in the Eastern League. While the team initially struggled in its first season, its second and third seasons showed championship strength. In fact, there was a tie to the NBA's Bullets, as that team's head coach, Buddy Jeannette, was the owner and coach of the Eastern League Bullets as well.

The 1958-59 Bullets were one of three new teams to join the EPBL that season, along with Rochester and Allentown (which had relocated from Wilmington). The Bullets started off slow, then rattled off a six-game winning streak to bring themselves within playoff contention. But because the team was severely undercapitalized - it ran through its $15,000 operating budget by midseason, and barely averaged 600 fans a night - the franchise folded with one week left in the 1958-59 season; the team's last three games were declared forfeits.

The team returned for the 1959-60 season with stronger backing, and finished the season one game out of the top spot in the league. Bill Spivey, the 7'2" University of Kentucky center who previously toiled for the Wilkes-Barre Barons, played for the Bullets for the next two seasons, and made the All-League team both years running. Baltimore made the playoffs in the 1959-60 and 1960-61 seasons, winning the President's Cup in 1961 in a thrilling one-game final over Allentown. Ironically, the Bullets were tied with the Allentown Jets at the end of the 1960-61 season; and Allentown beat Baltimore in a one-game tie-breaker playoff.

In the 1961-62 season, the Bullets relocated to Camden, N.J., and Buddy Jeannette won a championship there as well. When Baltimore returned to the NBA in 1964, Buddy Jeannette left Camden to become its head coach as well.

A note about Bill Spivey: Spivey was accused of shaving points in college, but he vehemently denied ever doing so. Despite this, he was barred from the NBA, and spent his entire career in the Eastern League (and a stint in Abe Saperstein's American Basketball League in 1961). In the late 1960's, Spivey played in an exhibition old-timer's contest as a member of the "Baltimore Bullets All-Stars" (which, technically, he was). He then retired after that game, commenting that he had finally gotten the chance to play in the NBA - even if it was in an old-timer's contest.

EPBL STATISTICS
             W   L  PCT   GB     Result
1958-1959   12  16  .429   9     folded in mid-season; three forfeits
1959-1960   20   8  .714   1     lost in semifinals
1960-1961   19   9  .679  --     Won EPBL Championship

EASTERN PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE
1958-1959 folded in mid-season
1959-1960 Won in semifinals over Allentown, 103-89
          Lost EPBL Championship to Easton, 1 game to 2
1960-1961 Won in semifinals over Scranton, 133-107
          Won EPBL Championship over Allentown, 119-104