Alonzo Lewis "Lon" Darling (June 25, 1902 – April 19, 1951) was an early influencer in American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, having created the

barnstorming Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in t ...

team the Oshkosh All-Stars, is credited with being the organizer of the National Basketball League (NBL), and was a two-time NBL Coach of the Year. The Oshkosh All-Stars saw great success over their twelve-year tenure in the NBL, winning the Western Division six times and the league championship twice, in 1941 and 1942. The All-Stars also won the

World Professional Basketball Tournament The World Professional Basketball Tournament was an annual invitational tournament held in Chicago from 1939 to 1948 and sponsored by the ''Chicago Herald American''. Many teams came from the National Basketball League (United States), National Bas ...

in 1942.

National Basketball League

;Formation At age 20, Darling began work as a seed distributor, first with the Oshkosh Seed Company, then as an Oshkosh-area distributor for the

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

-based firm Hunkel Seed Co. Since the seed work was seasonal, Darling sought work during its off-season. His solution to this was to create a new professional basketball team, the Oshkosh All-Stars, in 1929. According to the Oshkosh Public Museum, "Barring a down period during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, manager/coach Darling's All-Stars met great success and in 1937, he founded the National Basketball League, a precursor to the current-day NBA, in which the All-Stars were included alongside former members of a regional professional league, for formally-structured league play." ;Disbanding Despite the success that Darling established with the Oshkosh All-Stars and the NBL, he is also cited as a key figure in the NBL's disbanding after the 1948–49 season. Bitter that the All-Stars were not invited to join the rival league of the day—the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

, whose teams enjoyed bigger arenas and more funding—Darling accused the

Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, having played and won championships in both the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA) prior to ...

of being "trouble makers" by switching leagues and incited a feud. Darling had been coaching the All-Stars but resigned prior to the conclusion of the 1948–49 season, causing players Gene Englund and Eddie Riska to become interim head coaches. Due to insufficient funding, the team disbanded after 1948–49, which trickled to the remaining teams and thus caused the whole league to disband shortly thereafter. The Oshkosh All-Stars were one of few teams to not have been absorbed by the BAA upon the NBL's dissolution.

Personal

Darling was born on June 25, 1902, in

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the western shore of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 66,816 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List o ...

. He attended Ripon College. Lon's brother was Bernard "Boob" Darling, a professional football player for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

who spent his entire five-year career with the organization. Boob is a member of the

Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame The Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame is a team-specific hall of fame honoring players, coaches, executives and other contributors to the history and success of the Green Bay Packers, an American football team in the National Football League (NFL). ...

. On April 19, 1951, Darling died at age 48 in his lifelong hometown of Oshkosh. The cause of death was a

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

(heart attack).

Head coaching record

The below season records reflect Darling's tenure as head coach when the Oshkosh All-Stars were in the NBL. Their years spent barnstorming are not counted toward official coaching records. , - style="background:#FDE910;" , align="left" , Oshkosh , align="left" , 1941–42 , 24, , 20, , 4, , , , align="center" , 1st , , 5, , 4, , 1, , , , data-sort-value="1" align="center" , Won NBL Championship , - , align="left" , Oshkosh , align="left" , 1942–43 , 23, , 11, , 12, , , , align="center" , 3rd , , 2, , 0, , 2, , , , align="center" , Lost in Semifinals , - , align="left" , Oshkosh , align="left" , 1943–44 , 22, , 7, , 15, , , , align="center" , 3rd, , 3, , 1, , 2, , , , align="center" , Lost in Semifinals , - , align="left" , Oshkosh , align="left" , 1944–45 , 30, , 12, , 18, , , , align="center" , 3rd in Western , , —, , —, , —, , —, , align="center" , Missed playoffs , - , align="left" , Oshkosh , align="left" , 1945–46 , 34, , 19, , 15, , , , align="center" , 2nd in Western, , 5, , 2, , 3, , , , align="center" , Lost in Division Semifinals , - , align="left" , Oshkosh , align="left" , 1946–47 , 44, , 28, , 16, , , , align="center" , 1st in Western, , 7, , 3, , 4, , , , align="center" , Lost in Division Semifinals , - , align="left" , Oshkosh , align="left" , 1947–48 , 60, , 29, , 31, , , , align="center" , 3rd in Western, , 4, , 1, , 3, , , , align="center" , Lost in Division Semifinals , - , align="left" , Oshkosh , align="left" , 1948–49 , 60, , 34, , 26, , , , align="center" , 1st in Western , , ''N/A'', , ''N/A'', , ''N/A'', , ''N/A'', , align="center" , ''N/A'' , - , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2", Total , 297, , 160, , 137, , , , , , 26, , 11, , 15, , , ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darling, Lon 1902 births 1951 deaths American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Wisconsin Oshkosh All-Stars coaches Ripon College (Wisconsin) alumni Sportspeople from Oshkosh, Wisconsin