1972–73 ABA season

August 2023 1972–73 ABA season American Basketball Association Basketball October 12, 1972 – May 12, 1973 84 10 Regular season Carolina Cougars Billy Cunningham (Carolina) ABA MVP Dan Issel (Kentucky) Playoffs 1973 ABA playoffs Eastern Kentucky Colonels Carolina Cougars Western Indiana Pacers Utah Stars Finals 1973 ABA Playoffs Indiana Pacers Kentucky Colonels List of ABA seasons ABA 1971–72 ABA season 1971–72 1973–74 ABA season 1973–74 The 1972–73 ABA season was the sixth season of the American Basketball Association. Following the conclusion of the 1972 ABA draft (which weirdly has the first five rounds not properly recorded when the rest of the draft rounds have been properly recorded as of 2026), both The Floridians and the Pittsburgh Condors franchises had folded operations after failing to find viable places to relocate their operations going forward, which briefly left the ABA with only nine competing teams in the offseason. However, the ABA decided to (for the first and only time in league history) award an expansion franchise to Dr. Leonard Bloom (President and CEO of the United States Capital Corporation) for $1 million to play in San Diego, California, with him naming the team the San Diego Conquistadors (though due to a feud with the original tenants of the San Diego Sports Arena (who wanted to own their own professional basketball team in the ABA themselves), they did not play in San Diego Sports Arena, but instead played their games at the Peterson Gymnasium this season).http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cyrus-saatsaz/the-history-of-profession_3_b_7614692.html The History of Professional Basketball in San Diego 1972-1984 HuffPost 19 June 2015 Subsequently, this meant that the Memphis Tams (formerly the Memphis Pros) would move to the Eastern Division. Once again, the best regular season team did not win the ABA Finals, with the Indiana Pacers (who had the 4th best record), led by playoff MVP George McGinnis, winning the ABA championship, 4 games to 3 over the Kentucky Colonels. +Coaching changesOffseason Team 1971–72 coach 1972–73 coach Carolina Cougars Tom Meschery Larry Brown Dallas Chaparrals Tom Nissalke Babe McCarthy Memphis Tams Babe McCarthy Bob BassIn-season Team Outgoing coach Incoming coach Dallas Chaparrals Babe McCarthy Dave Brown Teams 1972–73 American Basketball Association Division Team City Arena Capacity Eastern Carolina Cougars Greensboro, North Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina Raleigh, North Carolina Greensboro Coliseum Charlotte Coliseum Dorton Arena 15,000 9,605 7,610 Kentucky Colonels Louisville, Kentucky Freedom Hall 16,664 Memphis Tams Memphis, Tennessee Mid-South Coliseum 10,085 New York Nets Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 13,571 Virginia Squires Old Dominion University Fieldhouse Hampton Coliseum Richmond Arena Salem Civic Center Roanoke Civic Center Norfolk, Virginia Hampton, Virginia Richmond, Virginia Salem, Virginia Roanoke, Virginia 5,200 9,777 6,000 6,820 9,828 Western Dallas Chaparrals University Park, Texas Dallas, Texas Moody Coliseum Dallas Memorial Auditorium 8,998 9,815 Denver Rockets Denver, Colorado Denver Auditorium Arena 6,841 Indiana Pacers Indianapolis, Indiana Indiana State Fair Coliseum 10,000 San Diego Conquistadors San Diego, California Peterson Gym 3,668 Utah Stars Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Palace 12,166 Map of teams left 10px Eastern Division 10px Western Division 850 650 425 0 450 North America 1100 North America 36.06 -79.83 Red pog.svg 80 right Carolina #ffe North America 38.20 -85.74 Red pog.svg 80 left Kentucky #ffe North America 35.12 -89.98 Red pog.svg 80 left Memphis #ffe North America 40.72 -73.59 Red pog.svg 80 right New York #ffe North America 36.88 -76.31 Red pog.svg 80 right Virginia #ffe North America 32.77 -96.80 Blue pog.svg 80 left Dallas #ffe North America 39.74 -105.00 Blue pog.svg 80 right Denver #ffe North America 39.83 -86.14 Blue pog.svg 80 left Indiana #ffe North America 32.77 -117.08 Blue pog.svg 80 left San Diego #ffe North America 40.77 -111.90 Blue pog.svg 80 left Utah #ffe Final standings Eastern Division + Team 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 Western Division + Team W L PCT. GB Utah Stars * 55 29 .655 — Indiana Pacers * 51 33 .607 4 Denver Rockets * 47 37 .560 8 San Diego Conquistadors * 30 54 .357 25 Dallas Chaparrals 28 56 .333 27 Asterisk (*) denotes playoff team Bold – ABA champions Playoffs 1973 ABA playoffs Awards and honors thumb|upright|Billy Cunningham (Carolina) was named ABA MVP thumb|upright|George McGinnis (Indiana) was named Playoffs MVP ABA Most Valuable Player Award: Billy Cunningham, Carolina Cougars Rookie of the Year: Brian Taylor, New York Nets Coach of the Year: Larry Brown, Carolina Cougars Playoffs MVP: George McGinnis, Indiana Pacers All-Star Game MVP: Warren Jabali, Denver Rockets Executive of the Year: Carl Scheer, Carolina Cougars All-ABA First Team Billy Cunningham, Carolina Cougars Julius Erving, Virginia Squires (1st First Team selection, 2nd overall selection) Artis Gilmore, Kentucky Colonels (2nd selection) Jimmy Jones, Utah Stars Warren Jabali, Denver Rockets All-ABA Second Team George McGinnis, Indiana Pacers Dan Issel, Kentucky Colonels (2nd Second Team selection, 3rd overall selection) Mel Daniels, Indiana Pacers (1st Second Team selection, 5th overall selection) Ralph Simpson, Denver Rockets (2nd selection) Mack Calvin, Carolina Cougars (1st Second Team selection, 2nd overall selection) All-Defensive Team (beginning with this season) Joe Caldwell, Carolina Cougars Mike Gale, Kentucky Colonels Julius Keye, Denver Rockets Roland Taylor, Virginia Squires Willie Wise, Utah Stars All-Rookie Team Jim Chones, New York Nets George Gervin, Virginia Squires James Silas, Dallas Chaparrals Brian Taylor, New York Nets Dennis Wuycik, Carolina Cougars References Sports Season summary on Basketball Reference ABA