1975–76 ABA season

9th edition of the ABA championship August 2023 1975–76 ABA season American Basketball Association Basketball October 24, 1975 – May 13, 1976 84 (83 for Virginia Squires) 9 (later 8 & 7) Regular season Denver Nuggets Julius Erving (New York) ABA MVP Julius Erving (New York) Playoffs 1976 ABA playoffs First semifinal Denver Nuggets Kentucky Colonels Second semifinal New York Nets San Antonio Spurs Finals 1976 ABA Playoffs New York Nets Denver Nuggets List of ABA seasons ABA 1974–75 ABA season 1974–75 The 1975–76 ABA season was the ninth and final season of the American Basketball Association. The shot clock was changed from 30 to 24 seconds in order to match the system that was utilized by the NBA. Former NBA player Dave DeBusschere was the league's newest commissioner after Tedd Munchak resigned, ultimately being its seventh and last one. This was also the only season that did not finish the season with the East-West division setup, as it was ultimately abandoned after the Utah Stars folded operations, being the third team to do so during the season. The NBA would later adopt the ABA's three-point shot, starting with the 1979–80 season, initially as a gimmick before making it a more permanent fixture to their league. Prior to the start of the season, the Memphis Sounds relocated to Baltimore, Maryland, and briefly became the Baltimore Hustlers,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0GEgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zmUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2742%2C3396397 Lewiston Evening Journal Maine Associated Press It's official - Baltimore gets Sounds of ABA August 29, 1975 15 then the Baltimore Claws. The Claws folded during the preseason in October after playing three exhibition games.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jnMsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-csEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7476%2C4060278 Spartanburg Herald South Carolina Associated Press ABA crops Claws; asks admission into NBA October 21, 1975 B3 The San Diego Conquistadors were replaced for the 1975–76 season by the San Diego Sails, but folded in November,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YqVOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4voDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5996%2C3375936 Lakeland Ledger Florida Associated Press Sails come down, ABA team folds November 12, 1975 1B followed by the Utah Stars in early December.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=P4AsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Dc0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2570%2C346140 Spartanburg Herald South Carolina Associated Press ABA folds Utah; Roche waived December 3, 1975 D1 The Virginia Squires folded in May following the end of the regular season, but before the conclusion of the 1976 ABA Playoffs,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LwMOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gW0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4593%2C987735 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Associated Press ABA Squires fold May 11, 1976 12 due to them being unable to make a $75,000 league assessment (and $125,000 in back pay for their players) one month before league merger talks with the NBA began. The 1976 ABA All-Star Game saw the first place Denver Nuggets come from behind to defeat the ABA All-Stars 144–138 in Denver. The game saw the first ever Slam Dunk Contest, won by Julius Erving. With the conclusion of the season, the June 1976 ABA-NBA merger saw the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets, and San Antonio Spurs join the NBA, while the Kentucky Colonels and Spirits of St. Louis accepted deals to fold. The deal accepted by the Spirits' owners, Ozzie and Daniel Silna, would turn out to be quite lucrative, as they agreed to receive a seventh of the television revenue generated by each of the four newly added franchises in perpetuity. +Coaching changesOffseason Team 1974–75 coach 1975–76 coach San Diego Sails Beryl Shipley Bill Musselman Spirits of St. Louis Bob MacKinnon Rod ThornIn-season Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach Spirits of St. Louis Rod Thorn Joe Mullaney Virginia Squires Al BianchiMack Calvin (interim)Bill MusselmanJack Ankerson (interim) Mack Calvin (interim)Bill MusselmanJack Ankerson (interim)Zelmo Beaty Teams 1975–76 American Basketball Association Team City Arena Capacity Baltimore Claws Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Civic Arena (Planned) 11,686 Denver Nuggets Denver, Colorado McNichols Sports Arena 16,700 Indiana Pacers Indianapolis, Indiana Market Square Arena 17,000 Kentucky Colonels Louisville, Kentucky Freedom Hall 16,664 New York Nets Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 14,865 San Antonio Spurs San Antonio, Texas Hemisfair Arena 10,146 San Diego Sails San Diego, California San Diego Sports Arena 14,500 Spirits of St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis Arena 18,006 Utah Stars Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Palace 12,166 Virginia Squires Norfolk, Virginia Hampton, Virginia Richmond, Virginia Old Dominion University Fieldhouse Hampton Coliseum Richmond Arena 5,200 9,777 6,000 Map of teams left 10px ABA Teams 850 650 425 0 450 North America 1100 North America 39.28 -76.62 Red pog.svg 80 right Baltimore #ffe North America 39.74 -105.02 Red pog.svg 80 right Denver #ffe North America 39.77 -86.15 Red pog.svg 80 left Indiana #ffe North America 38.20 -85.74 Red pog.svg 80 right Kentucky #ffe North America 40.72 -73.59 Red pog.svg 80 right New York #ffe North America 29.42 -98.48 Red pog.svg 80 left San Antonio #ffe North America 32.76 -117.21 Red pog.svg 80 left San Diego #ffe North America 38.63 -90.28 Red pog.svg 80 left St. Louis #ffe North America 40.77 -111.90 Red pog.svg 80 left Utah #ffe North America 36.88 -76.31 Red pog.svg 80 right Virginia #ffe Regular season On April 19, 1976, the final ABA MVP award was given to Julius Erving. Erving received 32-of-35 votes from the media voting, with Bobby Jones, David Thompson, and James Silas garnering the remaining votes. Erving had won the scoring title (averaging 29.3 points per game) while averaging 11 rebounds a game (5th), and field goal percentage (.517, 8th best). He was the third pro basketball player to win three straight league MVPs after Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.UPI https://newspaperarchive.com/kingston-daily-freeman-apr-19-1976-p-11/ Erving MVP Kingston Daily Freeman April 19, 1976 April 9, 2025 Final standings + Team W L PCT. GB Denver Nuggets * 60 24 .714 — New York Nets * 55 29 .655 5 San Antonio Spurs * 50 34 .595 10 Kentucky Colonels * 46 38 .548 14 Indiana Pacers * 39 45 .464 21 Spirits of St. Louis 35 49 .417 25 Virginia Squires † 15 68 .181 44 San Diego Sails † 3 8 .273 — Utah Stars † 4 12 .250 — Baltimore Claws † 0 0 .000 — Asterisk (*) denotes playoff team † did not survive the end of the season. Bold – ABA champions Playoffs The 1976 ABA Playoffs opened with the Kentucky Colonels defeating the Indiana Pacers 2 games to 1 in the quarterfinals. The Colonels then lost a seven-game semifinal series to the #1 seeded Denver Nuggets, 4 games to 3. The other semifinal saw the New York Nets outlast the San Antonio Spurs 4 games to 3. In the finals the Nets beat the Nuggets, 4 games to 2. Quarterfinals Semi-Finals Championship Series # 4 Kentucky Colonels 2 # 5 Indiana Pacers 1 # 1 Denver Nuggets 4 # 4 Kentucky Colonels 3 # 2 New York Nets 4 # 3 San Antonio Spurs 3 # 1 Denver Nuggets 2 # 2 New York Nets 4 Awards and honors thumb|David Thompson (Denver) and Julius Erving (New York) at the 1976 ABA All-Star Game ABA Most Valuable Player Award: Julius Erving, New York Nets (3rd selection) Rookie of the Year: David Thompson, Denver Nuggets Coach of the Year: Larry Brown, Denver Nuggets (3rd selection) Playoffs MVP: Julius Erving, New York Nets (2nd selection) All-Star Game MVP: David Thompson, Denver Nuggets Executive of the Year: Carl Scheer, Denver Nuggets (3rd selection) All-ABA First Team Julius Erving, New York Nets (4th First Team selection, 5th overall selection) Billy Knight, Indiana Pacers Artis Gilmore, Kentucky Colonels (5th selection) James Silas, San Antonio Spurs (1st First Team selection, 2nd overall selection) Ralph Simpson, Denver Nuggets (1st First Team selection, 3rd overall selection) All-ABA Second Team David Thompson, Denver Nuggets Bobby Jones, Denver Nuggets Dan Issel, Denver Nuggets (4th Second Team selection, 5th overall selection) Don Buse, Indiana Pacers George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs (2nd selection) All-Defensive Team Don Buse (2nd selection), Indiana Pacers Julius Erving, New York Nets Artis Gilmore (4th selection), Kentucky Colonels Bobby Jones (2nd selection), Denver Nuggets Brian Taylor (2nd selection), New York Nets All-Rookie Team Luther Burden, Virginia Squires M. L. Carr, Spirits of St. Louis Kim Hughes, New York Nets Mark Olberding, San Diego Sails & San Antonio Spurs David Thompson, Denver Nuggets References 2 Season summary on Basketball Reference ABA season