The "death knell" was sounded for Syracuse's NBA franchise, the Nationals, in the May 16, 1963 edition of the Post-Standard.

The night before, the team's stockholders voted to sell the team to an interested party from Philadelphia for $500,000.

Club president Dan Biasone solemnly said, "I feel very badly that this had to come about, that the club is being lost to our loyal fans and everybody who supported us for 17 years."

In the end, "the increase in costs of operation it simply got to be impossible to operate," he said.

Biasone figured the team's expenses would grow to over $490,000 next season, and the team faced a rent increase for use of the War Memorial from the county.

Reaction to the news brought shock from all concerned.

Nats' great Dolph Schayes said he "fell off a stool" when he heard the news. He said, "The Nats to me were more than a team - they were a way of life."

Johnny Kerr, who ranked behind Schayes in Nats seniority, fought back tears when he joined Biasone and other team directors at the Eastwood Sports Center right after the decision to sell the club.

He joked, though, "Man, your taxes just went up!" referring to Onondaga County's loss in revenue and concession contract at the War Memorial.

County Executive John Mulroy expressed his "great disappointment" at the loss of the team, "It means the loss of a great prestige symbol for city and county. With the Nats, Syracuse was a major league city, now it isn't."

He minimized, though, the financial loss to the county. He believed that two four-day trade shows at the War Memorial during the winter would offset any loss of revenue.

Syracuse mayor William Walsh said, "None will miss the team more than I."

Post-Standard reporter Eleanor Billmyer believed that the loss of the team brought more than sadness and a loss of prestige to the city. She wrote that the team's departure brought a "fear that this is a sign of something bigger, ominous."

The loss of the basketball followed a succession of industrial loses to the area, including news that General Electric would be moving hundreds of jobs out of the area.

One fan said, "Losing the Nats after 17 years, makes you feel the city's going backwards. It makes us look like a hick town again."

Another fan, who went to all 28 home games, wondered, "How many corporate executives will question moving here, or staying here just because of this."

Letter-writers blamed the county for raising the rent at the War Memorial, the newspaper for "lousy coverage" of the team, and the fans themselves for not supporting the club enough.

The Post-Standard's editorial page remained the most optimistic: "Let's let them depart without hard feelings. We have a hunch they'll be back in the not too distant future. Syracuse is a great town to appreciate a fine asset, after it has lost it!"

Sports writer Jack Andrews wrote people would always remember the "board-scorching, hell-for-leather, defiant battlers who forced the wiseacres in big towns like Boston and New York to recognize Syracuse as a mighty basketball power."

This feature is a part of CNY Nostalgia, a section on syracuse.com. Send your ideas and curiosities to Johnathan Croyle: Email | 315-427-3958.