Detroit Gems
The Detroit Gems were an American professional basketball team based in Detroit, Michigan. Supposedly, the Detroit Gems had played some sort of team-based basketball at a competitive level earlier on either as an independent team or as a more local, competitive team within the state of Michigan before joining the National Basketball League. The team played only one season, the 1946–47 season, in the Western Division of the National Basketball League, which eventually became a predecessor organization to the National Basketball Association. Following the season, the franchise was sold and moved to Minneapolis to become the Minneapolis Lakers. In 1960, they relocated again, this time to Los Angeles, and became the Los Angeles Lakers.
History
The Gems were a team mostly made up of local players and coached by Joel Mason. The only season of the Gems under that name was also the NBL's first official season where they actually implemented a drafting system similar to what the future rivaling Basketball Association of America had for the eventual NBA draft system a year later following the conclusion of their inaugural league season for the purpose of controlled player salaries and limiting the idea of outbidding other players outside of their own 12-player teams at hand, as well as implementing key players to signing binding contracts as soon as they could and the NBL looking to have full-time referees on display. They started their season with an exhibition game against the Oshkosh All-Stars, which ended with a 54–69 loss. They later started their 44-game regular season schedule on November 11 in Anderson, Indiana, with a 52–64 loss against the Anderson Duffey Packers. The Gems, who were owned by local jewelers Maurice Winston and C. King Boring, planned to build a "sports palace" in Dearborn, which was mooted to hold 7,000–10,000 people. But the Dearborn Forum was never built; instead, they played their home games at various locations, including the Holy Redeemer High School Gymnasium in Detroit and Lincoln High School Gym in Ferndale. They also played a few doubleheaders with the Basketball Association of America's Detroit Falcons at the Detroit Olympia, and even transferred some home games out into Flint, Michigan. Attendance for their games was slim, with an estimated average being about 300 per game.For their only season of existence in the NBL, the Gems won only four out of 44 games ; and a close 56–55 win on January 16, 1947 against the Indianapolis Kautskys ) – ending that season with a woeful 23-game losing streak – and finishing last in the league; ownership claimed the poor crowds had cost them some $30,000. If the Gems' only season of play were to count as a part of the Lakers franchise's history, this season would be marked as not just the worst season of all time, but also worse than the most dubious failed seasons ever recorded in NBA history. Not only that, but the Gems' record would be considered the worst record in NBL history in terms of teams that completed their seasons properly. Despite this, NBL commissioner Ward "Piggy" Lambert announced in May that the Gems would return for another season; however, the franchise was put up for sale and purchased for US$15,000 by Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen. The new owners relocated the franchise to Minneapolis and renamed it the Minneapolis Lakers, effectively hard rebooting the franchise. Many years afterwards, it was reported by Boring's granddaughter that C. King Boring later lamented that he did not maintain a minority ownership interest in the team that now became the Lakers for himself.
Roster
National Basketball League
1946–47 Regular season
Detroit Gems NBL Schedule
Not to be confused with exhibition or other non-NBL scheduled games that did not count towards Detroit's official NBL record for this season. An official database created by John Grasso detailing every NBL match possible would be released in 2026 showcasing every team's official schedules throughout their time spent in the NBL. As such, these are the official results recorded for the Detroit Gems during their first season in the NBL.† – Game was originally recorded as a 74–73 overtime victory for Detroit, but a faulty time clock in the overtime period near the end of the game when Youngstown looked to make an extra, final shot in their game caused the Bears to protest the initial results to NBL Commissioner Ward Lambert. While the game was still recorded as a Gems victory for at least one more scheduled NBL game the Gems played in, the results of the December 25, 1946 game ended with the commissioner accepting Youngstown's grievances and led to the Gems getting a 75–74 overtime defeat that day instead.