The St. Louis Bombers were originally part of the
Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946.
Ken Loeffler, head coach at the
University of Denver, was the team's first head coach. He left the team in 1948 due to a disagreement with team president C. D. Hamilton Jr. over a bonus. On May 7, 1949, the Bombers signed
Saint Louis University star
Ed Macauley to one of the highest contracts in professional basketball. Later that year, the BAA merged with the
National Basketball League (NBL) to form the
National Basketball Association (NBA). On January 27, 1950, general manager
Emory D. Jones announced that the ownership was looking to sell the team due to poor on-court performance and low attendance (3,550 per game). On April 22, 1950, the Bombers announced that they were dropping their franchise. The Bombers were one of six teams that either folded or departed the NBA after the
1949–50 season. The NBA would return to St. Louis in 1955 when the
Milwaukee Hawks relocated and became the
St. Louis Hawks. Ed Macauley would end up back in St. Louis in a deal that sent
Bill Russell to the
Boston Celtics, and played a key role in the Hawks 1958 NBA championship. The Hawks have played in their current home of Atlanta since 1968. ==Arena==