The Tri- Cities Blackhawks were a professional basketball team playing in the Tri- City area with the National Basketball League from 1946 to 1948 and later with the National Basketball Association from 1949 to 1950.

The Tri- City area compromised of the cities Davenport, Iowa; Rock Island, Illinois and Moline, Illinois. The cities together formed the new franchise Tri- Cities Blackhawks. The name Blackhawks was coined after the Black Hawk War fought between the native Americans and the United States Army in the area earlier in 1832. The team logo was a Native American Chief wearing a traditional capped hat. The team colors were red, black and white. The team arena was the Wharton Fieldhouse in Moline, Illinois.

Country United States United States
City Tri- Cities area
Founded 1946

In 1946, in their first season of play the Blackhawks finished fifth with a 19 win 25 losses record. In 1947, the Blackhawks showed signs of improvements and finished in second place in the Western Division, however, they could not make it past the playoffs to make it to the finals. In 1948, the team once again finished in second place with 36 wins and 28 losses. They also made it to the playoffs, however this time were knocked out in the semifinals.In 1949, the Blackhawks were one of the 17 original teams that were a part of the National Basketball Association when the rival Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League merged to form the NBA. The same year coach Arnold Auerbach replaced former coach Roger Potter and the Blackhawks finished third with a score of 29 wins and 35 losses. In 1950, after finishing last with 25 wins and 43 losses the Blackhawks moved to Milwaukee adopting a shorter name, Milwaukee Hawks. The Milwaukee Hawks later moved to St. Louis and afterwards to Atlanta and became the Atlanta Hawks.

In a total of 132 games the Tri- Cities Blackhawks played in the NBA from 1949 to 1950, they won 54 games and lost 78 games.

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