1972–73 New York Nets season

ABA basketball team season August 2023 March 2026 New York Nets ABA 1973 30 54 Eastern (ABA) 4 Lou Carnesecca Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Division semifinals(lost to Cougars 1–4) NYA WOR 9 WHN The 1972–73 New York Nets season was the sixth season of the franchise and their fifth season using the New York Nets name while out in Long Island after starting their tenure in the American Basketball Association as the New Jersey Americans due to various plans for team names falling out of favor and not working out for the team before their inaugural season began. After previously making it to the 1972 ABA Finals despite having a 44–40 record that season, the Nets would see a 14-game setback in terms of their overall production from the prior season to this season due to Rick Barry's sudden departure from the team and the ABA. Despite the negative production for this season when compared to the previous season they had, the Nets would be the final team in the Eastern Division to make it to the 1973 ABA Playoffs, making it over the struggling Memphis Tams by six games this season. Once there, the Nets would lose in the first round to the Carolina Cougars, who had the best overall record in the ABA this season, 4–1. Following this season's end, the Nets would obtain a major star player to help reverse their fortunes for the rest of their time in the ABA, as they would finally acquire Julius Erving after previously coveting him back in 1971 in a trade that included George Carter from the Virginia Squires for Willie Sojourner for the apparent purpose of short-term financial gains to help the Squires survive as a franchise. ABA Draft 1972 ABA draft Weirdly enough, as of 2025, there has been no official draft records for the first five rounds of the 1972 ABA draft specifically, while every other round after that point has been properly recorded by basketball historians otherwise. Because of the strange dispersity of draft picks not being properly recorded this year after previously being fully recorded in the previous year's draft and the number of rounds potentially being off for even the players being selected this year, the recorded players selected in this year's draft will be marked with a ? for the pick number in particular (as well as certain round numbers, if necessary) in order to showcase the awkward display currently going on with the 1972 ABA draft year in particular (though what is known is that the New York Nets would forfeit what would have been the official #5 pick of the ABA draft this year (or the official #6 pick had the Memphis Pros not lost their own first round pick at #2 due to them signing Larry Cannon from the Denver Rockets sometime after the 1971 ABA draft) due to Nets acquiring Jim Chones, a junior college basketball player that was originally selected by the Virginia Squires before later being considered a rescinded draft pick by the ABA that year due to the ABA preparing for the ABA-NBA merger that was supposed to be done in 1971 before being delayed by 1976, sometime after the 1971 ABA draft ended, as well as utilized a 17th round pick after not using their 15th and 16th round draft picks). However, if any changes come up to where a proper, official recording of the 1972 ABA draft gets released displaying both pick numbers and round numbers for where certain players got selected, please provide the updated (potential) draft ordering with a source confirming the round and pick numbers included here. Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 2(?) 13(?) Bill Chamberlain SF USA United States North Carolina 3(?) 19(?) Brian Taylor PG USA United States Princeton 3(?) 22(?) Joby Wright PF/C USA United States Indiana 4(?) 32(?) Dwaine Dillard SF USA United States Eastern Michigan 4(?) 34(?) Art White F USA United States Georgetown University 5(?) 38(?) Bob Lackey SG USA United States Marquette 6 48(?) Ron Harris F USA United States Wichita State 7 59(?) Hank Siemiontkowski SF/PF USA United States Villanova 8 70(?) Walter Jones F USA United States LIU Brooklyn 9 81(?) Ed Czernota F USA United States Sacred Heart 10 92(?) Randy Noll F USA United States Marshall 11 103(?) Quinas Brower F USA United States Hofstra 12 114(?) Bill Phillips C USA United States St. John's 13 125(?) Kelly Utley G USA United States Shaw University 14 136(?) Paul Hoffman G USA United States St. Bonaventure 17 165(?) Ron Bradley G USA United States Eastern Nazarene College ABA Dispersal Draft Months after the original ABA draft for this year concluded, the ABA held their first ever dispersal draft on July 13, 1972 after it was found out by the ABA itself that neither "The Floridians" nor the Pittsburgh Condors would be able to continue operations either in their original locations or elsewhere in the U.S.A. (or even Canada in the case of "The Floridians"). Unlike the main draft they did during the months of March and April, this draft would last for only six rounds as a one day deal and would have the nine remaining inaugural ABA teams selecting players that were left over at the time from both "The Floridians" and Pittsburgh Condors franchises (including draft picks from both teams there) and obtain their player rights from there.https://www.thedraftreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2607:1972-aba-draft 1972 ABA Draft June 6, 2007 The Draft Review Dec 23, 2024 Any players from either franchise that wouldn't be selected during this draft would be placed on waivers and enter free agency afterward.Bradley Robert D. The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts 2013 Scarecrow Press 9780810890695, pg. 426 Interestingly, only 42 total players were selected by the nine remaining ABA teams at the time of the dispersal draft, meaning everyone else that was available from both teams was considered a free agent to the ABA not long afterward. Not only that, but the Nets would only use two rounds of the dispersal draft on their end, though they would select one player from each team while doing so. With that said, the following players were either Floridians or Condors players that the Nets acquired during this dispersal draft. Round Pick Player Position Nationality College ABA Team 1 12 Chuck Terry SF USA United States Long Beach State Pittsburgh Condors 3 29 George Tinsley SF USA United States Kentucky Wesleyan The Floridians The first selection the Nets made in this draft, Chuck Terry, was not only a draft pick that the Pittsburgh Condors had during the third round of the 1972 ABA draft, but he would also end up joining the Nets years later in both their final season in the ABA and their first season in the NBA after deciding to start his career with the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA instead, later winning the final ABA championship ever held during his time with the Nets. As for their second and final selection that they made during the third round instead of the second round, George Tinsley would end up retiring from play altogether instead of joining up with the New York Nets after being selected by them after previously playing for "The Floridians" in their final season of play. Roster New York Nets 1972–73 11 Jim Ard C 6 8 215 1948-09-19 Cincinnati 20 Johnny Baum SF 6 5 200 1946-06-17 Temple 43 Art Becker PF 6 7 205 1942-01-12 Arizona State 3 George Bruns basketball PG 6 0 160 1946-08-30 Manhattan 40 George Carter basketball SF 6 4 210 1944-01-10 St. Bonaventure 22 Jim Chones PF 6 11 220 1949-11-30 Marquette 21 Joe DePre SG 6 3 185 1947-12-19 St. John's 44 Gary Gregor SF 6 7 225 1945-08-13 South Carolina 30 Bob Lackey SG 6 5 200 1949-04-04 Marquette 21 Brian Mahoney basketball SG 6 3 175 1948-12-17 Manhattan 25 Bill Melchionni PG 6 1 165 1944-10-19 Villanova 5 Billy Paultz C 6 11 235 1948-07-30 St. John's 13 John Roche basketball SG 6 3 170 1949-09-26 South Carolina 14 Brian Taylor basketball PG 6 2 185 1951-06-09 Princeton 32 Trooper Washington PF 6 7 215 1944-04-21 Cheyney Lou Carnesecca https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYA/1973.html Final standings + 1972–73 ABA Eastern Standings Eastern Division W L PCT. GB Carolina Cougars 57 27 .679 — Kentucky Colonels 56 28 .667 1 Virginia Squires 42 42 .500 15 New York Nets 30 54 .357 27 Memphis Tams 24 60 .286 33 ABA Playoffs ABA Eastern Division Semifinals vs. Carolina Cougarshttp://www.remembertheaba.com/PlayoffPages/1974Playoffs.html 1973-74 ABA Regular Season Standings Remembertheaba.com 2016-07-22 Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 March 30 Greensboro (Carolina) 96–104 0–1 4,725 2 March 31 Raleigh (Carolina) 114–111 1–1 6,343 3 April 3 New York 91–101 1–2 8,418 4 April 5 New York 108–112 1–3 7,867 5 April 6 Greensboro (Carolina) 113–136 1–4 6,388 Nets lose series, 4–1 References External links 1972 draft picks New York Nets season Category:Brooklyn Nets seasons New York Nets New York Nets Category:Sports in Hempstead, New York