The New York Knickerbockers were formed in 1946, and the team was one of the original members of the Basketball Association of America, which was formed two years later in 1948. The Knicks were also one of the first teams in the nation to become racially integrated, in 1950, with the recruitment of Nat Clifton. Before the Knickerbockers, New York had already been the home of several great basketball teams, including the New York Celtics (formed in 1913) and the all–black New York Renaissance or “Rens” (formed in 1922).