The Indianapolis Jets were a Basketball Association of America (BAA) team based in Indianapolis. They were founded as the Indianapolis Kautskys and used that name until the team joined the BAA. They played for one year in the BAA and then ceased operations due to the formation of the Indianapolis Olympians.
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Franchise history
In 1931, Frank Kautsky, an Indianapolis grocer, formed a professional basketball team and named it the Indianapolis Kautskys. They were initially known as the Indianapolis Kautsky A.C.'s during their first independent season of existence, as Kautsky had operated both a basketball club and a baseball club under that banner during that period of time. Their first game was on November 24, 1931, which they won 37–18 against the Kokomo 66ers in Kokomo, Indiana. Their first home game would be on December 11, where they'd win 31–17 over the Fort Wayne Firemen. After playing in the National Professional Basketball League (NPBL) in 1932–33 and the Midwest Basketball Conference (MBC) in the 1935–36 and 1936–37) seasons, the Kautskys became one of the original members of the newly formed National Basketball League (NBL) in 1937.
The franchise's best season was in 1946–47; led by Arnie Risen, they set the franchise mark for most wins (27) and won the World Professional Basketball Tournament.
With the Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals, and Fort Wayne Pistons, the team moved to the Basketball Association of America (BAA) for the 1948–49 season. At that time the team's name was changed to the Indianapolis Jets because the BAA prevented its teams from having commercial sponsors, similar to how the Fort Wayne Pistons removed the Zollner sponsor from their original name. With the team's inclusion into the BAA, they effectively replaced the already defunct BAA Indianapolis franchise that was originally planned for the league, but never played a single game there.
Following the 1948–49 season, the Jets folded alongside the Providence Steamrollers on August 3, 1949. This coincided with the BAA and the NBL merging to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). For the 1949–50 season, a new Indianapolis franchise, the Indianapolis Olympians, was created.
Season-by-season records
Note: W = wins, L = losses, % = win–loss %
Players
Ernie Andres
George Chestnut
Norman Cottom
Gene Cramer
Gus Doerner
Glynn Downey
Leroy Edwards
Hal Gensichen
George Glamack
Bruce Hale
Bob Kessler
Branch McCracken
Charles "Stretch" Murphy
William Perigo
Cy Proffitt
Ash Resnick
Arnie Risen
Herm Schaefer
Jim Springer
Dave Strack
Earl Thomas
John Wooden
Jewell Young