The NWBA started around 1946, in the Veteran’s Administration Hospital. After that, it spread to other Veterans' hospitals in New York, Boston, Memphis, Richmond, and all the way out to California. Before long, it even crossed the ocean to England!

By 1948 we had six teams in the United States, all from VA hospitals.

In April of 1949, the first national Wheelchair Basketball Tournament was formed thanks to a group of University of Illinois students , who were working with Tim Nugent, the Director of Rehabilitation. That was the beginning of the sport, as we know it today.