Akron Goodyear Wingfoots

The Akron Goodyear Wingfoots was a professional basketball team in Akron, Ohio. It was one of the founding teams of the National Basketball League, which formed in 1937. In 1949, this league joined with the Basketball Association of America to form the National Basketball Association.

The Akron Goodyear Wingfoots was named for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, which was headquartered in Akron. The team played for almost five seasons (1937-1942). During the 1937-1938 and the 1938-1939 seasons, the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots finished second in the National Basketball League’s Eastern Division. The team finished behind the Akron Firestone Non-Skids, another team from Akron, each season. During the 1939-1940 season, the Wingfoots finished third in the Eastern Division, winning exactly fifty percent of the team’s games. During the next season, the squad finished next to last in the National Basketball League.

During the 1941-1942 season, the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots experienced a turnaround, finishing third in the National Basketball League. The team, however, lost in the first round of the playoffs. The team began the 1942-1943 season, but poor performance on the court and a declining number of men available to play due to World War II caused the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots to cease operation before the season’s end.