Published November 29, 2022
The NBA Time Machine:
1958

Things Come and Go
Location Shift
Two teams made significant changes to their home city in this season – the Fort Wayne Pistons relocated to Detroit, and the Rochester Royals moved to Cincinnati.
The Pistons primarily did so because of Fort Wayne’s lack of sustainability for an NBA franchise – Detroit was not a particularly big basketball city either, missing a professional team for about a decade at that point. Regardless, the move was still profitable.
The decision to move to Cincinnati was a more rational one for the Royals – the college basketball fanbase there was enormous, and there was no football team for them to compete with. As a result, a strong focus could be placed on getting the city to identify with their new basketball team.
Lakers Retooling
After two consecutive seasons of a losing record and relatively forgettable playoff efforts, the Minneapolis Lakers focused on changing their roster. They traded star Clyde Lovellette away to Cincinnati in the off-season alongside young forward Jim Paxson, and received a plethora of players in return.
They also made moves to acquire six-time All-Star Larry Foust from the Detroit Pistons, who had led that team to back-to-back Finals appearances. The move seemed like a steal, but Foust could not anchor a team without an identity – his numbers jumped in the new role, but the winning impact was nonexistent.
Minneapolis also hired franchise great George Mikan as head coach to immediate disaster. He could not get the largely young core to commit to playing well on either end of the floor, and was fired mid-season after accumulating a 9-30 record. Long-term coach John Kundla returned to the position afterwards to similarly low levels of success.
Loss of a Star
On the final game of the regular season, Royals franchise player Maurice Stokes was knocked unconscious following a drive to the basket. He injured his head after rough contact with the floor, but continued the game after revival via smelling salts.
Following the first-round playoff opener against Detroit, Stokes began to feel sick and eventually had a seizure. This paralyzed him for life, rendering him unable to play and stripping the league of a future all-time talent.
In light of the unfortunate circumstances, teammate Jack Twyman regularly visited Stokes to support him and keep his spirits up. Twyman eventually became his legal guardian, and continued to take care of his friend until Stokes passed away in the early-70s.
Standout Players
Around the League
Team Standings
Notes
An asterisk (*) indicates that the team qualified for the playoffs.