1974–75 Memphis Sounds season

August 2023 Memphis Sounds ABA 1975 Isaac HayesAvron FogelmanKemmons WilsonMike Storen 27 57 Eastern 4th Joe Mullaney Mid-South Coliseum WLOK Division Semifinals(lost to the Colonels 1–4) Memphis Tams Baltimore Claws The 1974–75 Memphis Sounds season was the fifth and final season of basketball in Memphis in the American Basketball Association (ABA), as well as their eighth and final official season of play when including the seasons they played in New Orleans under the New Orleans Buccaneers name. Charles O. Finley had failed in running the Tams, and he let the league take the team from his reigns after two years of ownership. In July 1974, a group led by Isaac Hayes, Avron Fogelman, Kemmons Wilson, and former ABA Commissioner Mike Storen (who resigned from his duties there on July 17, 1974) took the team over. The team was renamed to the Sounds, primarily to help the team sound more professional to locals over previous team names in the "Pros" and "Tams" (which worked since the new name was met with much greater fanfare by the locals by comparison to the other two team names), and players were soon dealt to and away from Memphis in an attempt to reverse the team's fortunes quickly. One of the most notable players the Sounds acquired was three-time ABA champion and seven-time ABA All-Star Mel Daniels from the Indiana Pacers, who Memphis had hoped to provide a stable, veteran presence for the younger team on display. Unfortunately for both the Sounds and Daniels alike, the formerly constant All-Star would deal with serious injury problems involving both his stomach and his back throughout the season, which not only caused him to miss out on his first All-Star Game throughout his entire ABA career up until that point in time, but would later signify the end of his ABA career the following season afterward, as well as his professional basketball career years later. The March 28, 1975 game saw 8,417 people see a victory over the New York Nets 111–106, which was the largest crowd to see the Memphis basketball team play for in years. The Sounds improved their record by six games from their last season under the Tams name, and due in part to a weak division, took the final playoff spot by 12 games over the Virginia Squires, the first time Memphis had made a playoff series since 1971 back when they were the Pros.https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MMS/1975.html 1974-75 Memphis Sounds Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com basketball-reference.com 2016-07-12 In the Eastern Division Semifinals, the Sounds lost to the eventual champion Kentucky Colonels in 5 games. Unfortunately for the Sounds, Wilson and Hayes had to share their shares after the season ended due to losing money on the team, thus continuing their rotten luck with ownership out in Memphis. Afterwards, the league gave the Sounds until June 1, 1975, to sell 4,000 season tickets, find new investors, and secure a more favorable lease at the Mid-South Coliseum, but the deadline passed by with failure. Despite that notion, the Sounds still participated in the 1975 ABA draft with the intention of finding new ownership elsewhere later on down the line. On August 27, 1975, a group headed by David Cohan purchased the team and the franchise moved to Baltimore to initially become the Baltimore Hustlers before later becoming the Baltimore Claws. However, the new Baltimore team never played a regular season game despite playing three preseason games, thus making this the official final season of play in franchise history. Memphis would eventually gain a second chance at professional basketball when the Canadian-based Vancouver Grizzlies NBA franchise moved to Memphis in 2001 to become the Memphis Grizzlies ever since then. ABA Draft 1974 ABA draft Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 1 2 Scott Wedman SF USA United States Colorado 2 11 Foots Walker PG USA United States West Georgia College 3 21 Bobby Wilson SG USA United States Wichita State 4 31 Glenn McDonald SG/SF USA United States Long Beach State 5 41 Tyrone Medley G USA United States Utah 6 51 Wolfgang Fengler PF/C USA United States Delaware 7 61 Lawrence Johnson F USA United States Prairie View A&M 8 71 Willie Biles F USA United States Tulsa 9 81 Ron Brown G USA United States Penn State 10 91 Candy LaPrince PG USA United States Iowa Memphis would make their selections while under their initial Memphis Tams name. Also does not include selections from the "ABA Draft of NBA Players" done immediately afterward. ABA Draft of NBA Players Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College NBA Team 1 2 Rick Roberson PF/C USA United States Cincinnati Portland Trail Blazers 2 11 Norm Van Lier PG USA United States Saint Francis College(Pennsylvania) Chicago Bulls 3 22 Lenny Wilkens PG USA United States Providence Cleveland Cavaliers 4 31 Paul Silas PF USA United States Creighton Boston Celtics 5 42 Dave DeBusschere SF/PF USA United States Detroit New York Knicks The "ABA Draft of NBA Players" that was done on April 17, 1974 (back when the Sounds were still the Tams at the time) happened immediately after the actual ABA Draft done for this season was concluded on that day. None of the five players drafted by Memphis would report to the soon-to-be-rebranded Sounds this season, with Dave DeBusschere notably retiring from the NBA this season to become the general manager of the New York Nets (now known as the Brooklyn Nets) for the season before later becoming the final commissioner of the ABA's entire history the season after that. DeBusschere would also join Lenny Wilkens as the only players drafted by Memphis to become future members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Roster Memphis Sounds 1974–75 #D50032 #FFFFFF #D50032 #FFFFFF 19 Roger Brown basketball, born 1942 SF 6 5 205 May 22, 1942 George W. Wingate High School 7 George Carter basketball SF 6 4 210 January 10, 1944 St. Bonaventure 9 Mel Daniels C 6 9 220 July 20, 1944 New Mexico 21 Larry Finch SG 6 2 185 February 16, 1951 Memphis 11 Stew Johnson PF 6 8 220 August 19, 1944 Murray State 13 Collis Jones PF 6 7 203 July 3, 1949 Notre Dame 11 Julius Keye C 6 10 200 September 5, 1946 Alcorn State University 6 Freddie Lewis PG 6 0 175 July 1, 1943 Arizona State 2 Rick Mount SG 6 3 175 January 5, 1947 Purdue University 15 Jim O'Brien basketball, born 1950 PG 6 1 170 April 9, 1950 Boston College 25 Tom Owens C 6 10 215 June 28, 1949 South Carolina 31 Ronnie Robinson basketball PF 6 8 200 March 9, 1951 Memphis 6 Billy Shepherd basketball PG 5 10 160 November 18, 1949 Butler 4 Chuck Williams basketball PG 6 2 175 June 6, 1946 Colorado Joe Mullaney https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MMS/1975.html Final standings Eastern Division + Team W L PCT. GB Kentucky Colonels* C 5826.690 - New York Nets* 5826.690 - Spirits of St. Louis* 3252.381 26 Memphis Sounds* 2757.321 31 Virginia Squires 1569.179 43 Asterisk denotes playoff berth ABA Playoffs Memphis Sounds 1975 yes #D50032 #FFFFFF Memphis Sounds ABA Eastern Division Semifinals yes no yes #D50032 #FFFFFF 1 1 0 3 yes |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 6 | @ Kentucky | L 91–98 | George Carter 22 | Tom Owens 14 | Chuck Williams 6 | Freedom Hall4,107 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | April 8 | @ Kentucky | L 105–119 | Carter, Williams 21 each |Tom Owens 9 | Chuck Williams 5 | Freedom Hall4,787 | 0–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | April 10 | Kentucky | L 80–101 | Tom Owens 33 | Tom Owens 12 | Chuck Williams 5 | Mid-South Coliseum5,415 | 0–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#cfc" | 4 | April 11 | Kentucky | W 107–93 | Stew Johnson 25 | Johnson, Carter 11 | Chuck Williams 14 | Mid-South Coliseum4,771 | 1–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | April 13 | @ Kentucky | L 99–111 | George Carter 26 | Tom Owens 17 | George Carter 6 | Freedom Hall3,543 | 1–4 MMS 1971 yes Sounds lose series, 4–1 This playoff series would be the last official games played by the Sounds franchise before later folding as the Baltimore Claws following three preseason games played against the Virginia Squires and the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA. References External links RememberTheABA.com 1974–75 regular season and playoff results Memphis Sounds page Category:Memphis Sounds Memphis Sounds Memphis Sounds, 1974-75 Memphis Sounds, 1974-75 Category:Basketball in Memphis, Tennessee