In 1946, the first professional basketball league in the United States–and what would become the National Basketball Association (NBA)–initially formed as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league initially had 11 teams for its inaugural season, but dropped down to just seven teams in its second season in 1947, with teams like the Philadelphia Warriors, Washington Capitals, and Chicago Stags dominating the early years. In 1948, year three of the BAA, the league had 12 teams again, adding teams like the Cleveland Rebels and the Detroit Falcons.
By 1949, the BAA had merged with its rival National Basketball League (NBL) to form a 17-team league that we now know as the NBA, a league that would go on to be one of the most successful sports enterprises in history.
But also in 1948, the Bowman Gum Company (“Gum, Inc.”) was busy launching a successful enterprise of its own: selling picture cards with bubble gum.
“Gum, Inc.”, as it was initially formed, began making non-sports picture cards in the late 1930’s. Most notably its 1938 “Horrors of War” release, which was intended as anti-war propaganda for children. The company soon pivoted to sports cards with its “Play Ball” sets beginning in 1939 and running every year until World War 2 stopped production.
By the end of the 1940’s, J.W. Bowman, the founder of the Bowman Gum company, knew that his success at selling bubble gum was synonymous with his success at selling sports cards. In fact, in post-War America, the latter sold the former, sparking the great “Bubble Gum Card War” between Bowman and Topps in the 1950’s.
The advent of a new professional sports league led Bowman, a company not hesitant about printing sports cards of any kind to sell more bubble gum, to design a set of basketball cards to highlight some of the top players of the BAA in 1948.
What followed was the first ever basketball card set release, Bowman’s 1948 Basketball set.
1948 Bowman Basketball – Low Series
Bowman’s 1948 basketball set consisted of 72 cards which measured 2 1/16″ by 2 1/2″, the same size Bowman would use for its initial baseball set a year later. Among the 72 cards were 62 different players and 10 “plays” which highlighted in-game strategic diagrams.
The first series is card #1 through #36 (“low series”) and the second series is card #37 through #72 (“high series”). The second series is considered more difficult to find, especially in high grades.
Card #1 belonged to Ernie Calverley, a Rhode Island native who played for the Providence Steamrollers during all three seasons in the BAA. Calverley played point guard and led the league in assists his first two seasons. When the BAA merged with the NBL to become the NBA in 1949, Calverley was drafted by the Boston Celtics, but cut soon after. He never played professionally again.
Key cards in the first series were Bob Davies (#10), Ken Sailors (#12), and Red Holzman (#32). Davies played guard for the Rochester Royals, winning a championship in 1951 and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970. Sailors played for the Providence Steamrollers with Calverley, then spent time with the Nuggets, Celtics, and Bullets in the NBA. Holzman is most known for coaching the New York Knicks to two NBA championships in the early 1970’s, but before that he played for the Rochester Royals in the BAA and NBA for eight years.
Most key cards in the low series can be obtained for under $50 in VG-EX condition, with the exception of Red Holzman, which usually goes for north of $100.
1948 Bowman Basketball – High Series
The high series of 1948 Bowman has some especially notable players, including Buddy Jeanette (#38), Max Zaslofsky (#55), George Mikan (#69), and Carl Braun (#72).
Jeanette played guard and won a championship with the Baltimore Bullets in 1948, but before that he won three NBL championships between 1943 and 1945. He was known as a top offensive player in these early leagues. Mid-grade (PSA 5) copies of Jeanette sell for around $560.
In October 2017, a PSA 9 copy of Jeanette sold for $4,800, the record high in any grade.
Max Zaslofsky played shooting guard for the Chicago Stags during the BAA’s existence. He won the league’s scoring title in 1948 with 21.0 points per game, then eventually played for the New York Knicks in the NBA. Zaslofsky was of Jewish descent and was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
Mid-grade copies of Zaslofsky sell for around $212. In January 2010, a PSA 9 copy of Zaslosky sold for $2,953, a record high in any grade.
George Mikan is by far the most accomplished player in the 1948 Bowman set and his card prices definitely reflect that.
Standing at 6′ 10″, Mikan was the first successful “big man” in professional basketball. Over the course of just seven seasons, Mikan amassed over 10,000 points and over 4,000 rebounds for the Minneapolis Lakers. He won five championships with the Lakers during that time (and two NBL titles before that), mostly because no other team could match up with such a large presence in the middle of the court.
Mikan was a basketball pioneer, not just because of his size, but how he played the game. He developed rebounding and training techniques that still exist in the game today. He revolutionized the sport, paving the way for future “big men” in the league.
From the text included with Mikan’s enshrinement to the Basketball Hall of Fame: “A dominant offensive force, Mikan led three different leagues in scoring and set the standard for all future centers. Mikan was one of the first big men to run the floor and finish with force. He was voted the greatest player in the first half century by the Associated Press.”
Mid-grade copies of George Mikan #69 sell for well into five figures; the average PSA 5 sells for around $10,442. The all-time sales record for Mikan in any grade was set in July 2021 when a PSA 9 sold for $426,000 at Memory Lane Auctions.
Carl Braun (#72) is the final card in the 1948 Bowman set. Braun was a five time All-Star and NBA champion for the New York Knicks between 1947 and 1961. Braun had a longer career than most players in the 1948 set, eventually finishing his career with the Boston Celtics in 1962. Over that time, he collected over 10,000 points and 2,800 assists. Braun was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
Mid-grade copies of Braun’s #72 sell for around $600. The all-time record for Braun in any grade is $2,425 in a PSA 8, which sold on eBay in July 2019.
1948 Bowman Design & Overall Value
The 1948 Bowman design was as simple as it was revolutionary. The cards featured no player or team name on the front of the card, only a static image of the player upon a blue or red background. The back of the cards, however, featured a plethora of information about the player, including age, size, hometown, and a full paragraph about the player’s statistics.
The back also featured a wrapper redemption where customers could send a 1948 Bowman wrapper for various prizes.
As mentioned earlier, the 1948 Bowman set also featured 10 basketball play diagrams. Play cards featured a diagram of the play on the front and an explanation of the play on the back:
Card #59 “Out of Bounds Play” above was recently sold by Greg Morris Cards for $200.99 in EX-EXMINT condition.
Although the 1948 Bowman set was the first of its kind, it was unfortunately also the last of its kind. Bowman did not produce another basketball set, eventually selling their basketball license (along with their other sports licenses) to Topps in 1956. The next major basketball card set release was Topps in 1957. Interestingly, Carl Braun is one of three players in both the 1948 Bowman set and the 1957 Topps set, along with Andy Phillip and Arnie Risen.
The overall set value of 1948 Bowman basketball is hard to quantify, mostly because of how difficult it is to put together. As with any other card set in the mid 20th Century, the high series cards can be very difficult to find. Using the set value tool at Vintage Card Prices, it’s safe to say a mid-grade condition set would sell for around $18-20,000, though half of that cost is wrapped up in the value of a PSA 5 George Mikan.
Sources: www.vintagecardprices.com; www.cardboardconnection.com; www.ebay.com; www.basketball-reference.com