1971–72 Utah Stars season

ABA professional basketball team season August 2023 Utah Stars ABA 1972 yes 60 24 ABA 1st LaDell Andersen Salt Palace Lost in Division Finals The 1971–72 Utah Stars season was the second season of the Stars out in the state of Utah and fifth overall in the American Basketball Association when including their previous seasons they played in the nearby state of California when including their time spent as the Anaheim Amigos and Los Angeles Stars. Entering this season, the Stars were the defending champions of the entire ABA after making a successful move from the city of Los Angeles to the state of Utah out in Salt Lake City. The Stars would go 31–11 during the first half of the season, while finishing the second half of the season with a 29–13 record, which included a ten-game winning streak near the end of the season. Their biggest losing streak would be three games long, which happened four different times during the season. They finished third in points scored at 117.8 per game and fourth in points allowed at 112.0 per game. While Utah didn't finish with the best overall record this season (the Kentucky Colonels would actually obtain the best record in ABA history during this same season), they would still easily win the Western Division by over ten games this season. The Stars then swept the Dallas Chaparrals in the Western Division Semifinals, but lost to the Indiana Pacers in seven games in what became their second straight rematch in a row after the Stars lost the 1969 ABA Finals while playing in Los Angeles as the #4 seed there and then beat the Pacers during their first season in Utah, denying them a repeat ABA Finals appearance and a shot at another championship afterward.https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/UTS/1972.html 1971-72 Utah Stars Roster and Stats ABA Draft 1971 ABA draft This draft was the first ABA draft to have a properly recorded historical note of every round in their draft available. Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 1 1 Jim McDaniels PF/C USA United States Western Kentucky 2 21 Garry Nelson C USA United States Duquesne 3 31 Rick Fisher PF USA United States Colorado State 4 43 Mo Layton PG USA United States USC 5 54 Lee Dedmon PF USA United States North Carolina 6 65 Bobby Fields G USA United States La Salle College 7 76 Erwin Johnson F USA United States Augusta College 8 87 Jim Day F USA United States Morehead State 9 98 Willie Humes G USA United States Idaho State 10 109 Jake Jones SG USA United States Assumption College The Utah Stars would surprisingly obtain the #1 pick of the 1971 ABA draft by swapping first round picks alongside multiple players around with the Texas Chaparrals (as they were known at the time) before the draft began, with Texas just so happening to have the worst record of the ABA by January 22, 1971 (the start of this specific ABA draft) to have the Stars acquiring Jim McDaniels from Western Kentucky University, though McDaniels would never play for Utah despite them being defending ABA champions this season. Jet [Sports] Staff February 1971 College Star Denies He Signed $350,000 Pro Pact Jet 39 21 50 https://books.google.com/books?id=ujcDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA50 13 June 2025 7 March 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20240307201644/https://books.google.com/books?id=ujcDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA50 live https://prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Years/1971-aba.htm 1971 ABA Draft Pick Transactions Pro Sports Transactions June 13, 2025 This draft is also interesting for them being the only team to not use any more of their draft picks after the tenth round came and went, especially since they decided not to bother using the second half of the draft from the eleventh round onward. Roster Utah Stars 1971–72 #003EA4 #FFFFFF #D50134 #FFFFFF 44 John Beasley basketball PF 6 9 225 February 5, 1944 Texas A&M 31 Zelmo Beaty C 6 9 225 October 25, 1939 Prairie View A&M University 24 Ron Boone SG 6 2 200 September 6, 1946 Idaho State University 12 Mike Butler basketball SG 6 2 170 October 22, 1946 Memphis 40 Glen Combs SG 6 2 185 October 30, 1946 Virginia Tech 23 Bobby Fields October 20, 1949 6 3 175 G La Salle 22 Rick Fisher basketball F 6 5 215 October 27, 1948 Colorado State 33 Ira Harge C 6 9 225 March 14, 1941 New Mexico 10 Mervin Jackson PG 6 3 175 August 15, 1946 Utah 15 Jimmy Jones basketball PG 6 4 188 January 1, 1945 Grambling State University 35 Manny Leaks C 6 8 225 1945-11-27 Niagara 14 Roderick McDonald basketball SF 6 6 205 April 9, 1945 Whitworth 21 Red Robbins PF 6 8 190 September 30, 1944 Tennessee 33 George Stone basketball SF 6 7 195 February 9, 1946 Marshall 42 Willie Wise SF 6 5 210 March 3, 1947 Drake University LaDell Andersen Larry Creger https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/UTS/1972.html <noinclude> Final standings Western Division + Team W L % GB Utah Stars 60 24 .714 - Indiana Pacers 47 37 .560 13 Dallas Chaparrals 42 42 .500 18 Denver Rockets 34 50 .405 26 Memphis Pros 26 58 .310 34 ABA Playoffs ABA Western Division Semifinals vs. Dallas Chaparralshttp://www.remembertheaba.com/PlayoffPages/1972Playoffs.html Remember the ABA: 1971-72 Regular Season Standings and Playoff Results 2016-07-25 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20141028055342/http://www.remembertheaba.com/PlayoffPages/1972Playoffs.html 2014-10-28 Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 April 1 Utah 106–96 1–0 8,783 2 April 3 Utah 113–107 2–0 9,121 3 April 5 Dallas 96–89 3–0 4,076 4 April 7 Dallas 103–99 4–0 3,918 Stars win series 4–0 ABA Western Division Finals vs. Indiana Pacers Game Date Location Result Record Attendance 1 April 15 Utah 108–100 1–0 9,854 2 April 17 Utah 117–109 2–0 11,780 3 April 19 Indiana 111–116 2–1 7,489 4 April 22 Indiana 108–118 2–2 13,007 5 April 24 Utah 139–130 3–2 12,526 6 April 26 Indiana 99–105 3–3 8,103 7 May 1 Utah 113–117 3–4 12,724 Stars lose series, 4–3 Awards and honors 1972 ABA All-Star Game selections (game played on January 29, 1972) Willie Wise Zelmo Beaty Glen Combs All-ABA Second Team selections: Willie Wise and Zelmo Beaty. References External links RememberTheABA.com 1971–72 regular season and playoff results Utah Stars page Category:Utah Stars seasons Utah Stars Utah Stars, 1971-72 Utah Stars, 1971-72