1976–77 San Antonio Spurs season

March 2026 August 2023 San Antonio Spurs 1977 44 38 Central 3 5 Doug Moe John Begzos Angelo Drossos HemisFair Arena KMOL-TV WOAI First round(lost to Celtics 0–2) SAS The 1976–77 San Antonio Spurs season was the Spurs first season in the NBA. Months earlier, the Spurs were part of the American Basketball Association (Six in Dallas and three in San Antonio). The ABA had ended its ninth and last campaign. Of the seven remaining ABA teams, four joined the NBA: the Denver Nuggets, New York Nets, Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs.http://www.nba.com/history/finals/19761977.html NBA.com: Walton, Lucas Ignite 'Blazermania' 2008-04-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20120223215047/http://www.nba.com/history/finals/19761977.html 2012-02-23 dead The Kentucky Colonels and Spirits of St. Louis agreed to take a cash settlement and cease operations. Immediately, the ABA players were dispersed across the new 22-team league. The other ABA teams from the prior season were all folded prior to the ABA–NBA merger: the Baltimore Claws, Utah Stars, San Diego Sails and Virginia Squires. The Spurs made their debut on October 22 stunning the 76ers in Philadelphia by a score of 121–118.http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/sanantonio/spurs.html San Antonio Spurs (1973–Present) April 22, 2008 July 4, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140704042750/http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/sanantonio/spurs.html dead Afterwards, the Spurs would win just 1 of their next 7 games. In November, the Spurs would win 6 straight. By February the Spurs were 10 games over .500, and were the NBA's highest scoring team at 115 points per game. Despite the offensive flash, the Spurs also had the league's worst defense at 114 points per game as they struggled to finish in 3rd place in the Central Division with a record of 44–38. In the playoffs, the Spurs were swept in 2 straight by the defending world champion Boston Celtics. Offseason NBA draft Neither the Spurs, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets or Denver Nuggets were allowed to participate in the 1976 NBA draft. ABA Dispersal Draft The American Basketball Association merged with the NBA in 1976. Of the teams remaining in the ABA, four joined the NBA. The two teams, the Kentucky Colonels and Spirits of St. Louis, which folded had their players assigned to a dispersal draft for draft purposes. Pick Player Nationality NBA Team ABA Team Purchase Price 10 Louie Dampier (PG) United States San Antonio Spurs Kentucky Colonels $20,000 Roster San Antonio Spurs #000000 #FFFFFF silver #000000 30 Allan Bristow August 23, 1951 F 6 7 210 Virginia Tech 24 Mack Calvin PG 6 0 165 July 27, 1947 USC 14 Mike D'Antoni SG 6 3 185 May 8, 1951 Marshall 10 Louie Dampier G November 20, 1944 6 0 170 Kentucky 25 Coby Dietrick F/C July 23, 1948 6 10 220 San Jose State 12 Mike Gale July 18, 1950 G 6 4 185 Elizabeth City State 44 George Gervin April 27, 1952 G/F 6 7 180 Eastern Michigan 22 George Karl May 12, 1951 G 6 2 185 North Carolina 35 Larry Kenon December 13, 1952 F 6 9 205 Memphis 21 Louie Nelson SG 6 3 190 May 28, 1951 Washington 53 Mark Olberding April 21, 1956 F 6 8 225 Minnesota 5 Billy Paultz July 30, 1948 F/C 6 11 235 St. John's 13 James Silas February 11, 1949 G 6 1 180 Stephen F. Austin 15 Henry Ward basketball January 30, 1952 G 6 4 195 Jackson State Doug Moe (North Carolina) Bob Bass (Oklahoma Baptist) Regular season Season standings SAS SAS Game log October Record: 2–4; home: 1–1; road: 1–3 # Date Visitor Score Home Record 1 October 22, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 121–118 Philadelphia 76ers 1–0 2 October 23, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 98–117 New York Knicks 1–1 3 October 26, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 114–122 Atlanta Hawks 1–2 4 October 27, 1976 Phoenix Suns 106–115 San Antonio Spurs 2–2 5 October 29, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 102–130 Kansas City Kings 2–3 6 October 30, 1976 Boston Celtics 126–117 San Antonio Spurs 2–4 1976–77 San Antonio Spurs Games – Basketball-Reference.com November Record: 9–5; home: 8–0; road: 1–5 # Date Visitor Score Home Record 7 November 3, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 97–113 Indiana Pacers 2–5 8 November 5, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 119–127 New Orleans Jazz 2–6 9 November 6, 1976 Indiana Pacers 94–113 San Antonio Spurs 3–6 10 November 9, 1976 Seattle SuperSonics 114–138 San Antonio Spurs 4–6 11 November 11, 1976 New York Nets 104–108 San Antonio Spurs 5–6 12 November 13, 1976 Portland Trail Blazers 101–113 San Antonio Spurs 6–6 13 November 16, 1976 Buffalo Braves 112–114 San Antonio Spurs 7–6 14 November 18, 1976 Kansas City Kings 104–129 San Antonio Spurs 8–6 15 November 20, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 103–109 Washington Bullets 8–7 16 November 23, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 122–115 Buffalo Braves 9–7 17 November 24, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 91–99 New York Nets 9–8 18 November 26, 1976 Golden State Warriors 121–123 San Antonio Spurs 10–8 19 November 27, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 89–75 Houston Rockets 10–9 20 November 30, 1976 Detroit Pistons 129–130 San Antonio Spurs 11–9 December Record: 7–7; home: 4–1; road: 3–6 # Date Visitor Score Home Record 21 December 2, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 116–124 Golden State Warriors 11–10 22 December 3, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 105–114 Los Angeles Lakers 11–11 23 December 5, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 98–103 Phoenix Suns 11–12 24 December 8, 1976 Atlanta Hawks 117–106 San Antonio Spurs 11–13 25 December 10, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 136–120 Milwaukee Bucks 12–13 26 December 11, 1976 New Orleans Jazz 106–121 San Antonio Spurs 13–13 27 December 14, 1976 New York Knicks 98–111 San Antonio Spurs 14–13 28 December 15, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 102–116 Indiana Pacers 14–14 29 December 17, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 101–103 Chicago Bulls 14–15 30 December 19, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 105–106 Cleveland Cavaliers 14–16 31 December 21, 1976 Golden State Warriors 123–120 San Antonio Spurs 15–16 32 December 23, 1976 Washington Bullets 116–118 San Antonio Spurs 16–16 33 December 26, 1976 San Antonio Spurs 110–105 Kansas City Kings 17–16 34 December 28, 1976 Philadelphia 76ers 116–127 San Antonio Spurs 18–16 Playoffs San Antonio Spurs 1977 yes #000000 #C0C0C0 San Antonio Spurs First Round yes yes no #C0C0C0 #000000 0 1 0 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 12 | @ Boston | L 94–104 | Kenon, Gervin (20) | Billy Paultz (10) | Louie Dampier (5) | Boston Garden13,505 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | April 15 | Boston | L 109–113 | George Gervin (30) | three players tied (7) | Mike Gale (7) | HemisFair Arena12,067 | 0–2 |- SAS 1977 yes Player statistics Ragular season Player POS Position GP Games played GS Games starter MP Minutes played REB Rebounds AST Assists STL Steals BLK Blocks PTS Points MPG Minutes per game RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per gameGeorge GervinSF82 82 2,705 454 238 105 104 1,895 33.0 5.5 2.9 1.3 1.3 23.1Billy PaultzC82 82 2,694 687 223 55 173 1,280 32.9 8.4 2.7 .7 2.1 15.6Mike GaleSG82 2,598 273 473 191 50 843 31.7 3.3 5.8 2.3 .6 10.3Allan BristowSF82 2,017 348 240 89 2 936 24.6 4.2 2.9 1.1 .0 11.4Mark OlberdingPF82 1,949 449 119 59 29 853 23.8 5.5 1.5 .7 .4 10.4Coby DietrickC82 1,772 372 148 88 57 689 21.6 4.5 1.8 1.1 .7 8.4Louie DampierPG 80 1,634 76 234 49 15 530 20.4 1.0 2.9 .6 .2 6.6Larry KenonPF 78 2,936 879 229 167 60 1,705 37.6 11.3 2.9 2.1 .8 21.9Mack Calvin†PG 35 606 31 104 23 1 309 17.3 .9 3.0 .7 .0 8.8George KarlPG 29 251 17 46 10 0 79 8.7 .6 1.6 .3 .0 2.7Henry Ward basketballSG 27 171 33 6 6 5 83 6.3 1.2 .2 .2 .2 3.1James SilasPG 22 356 32 50 13 3 209 16.2 1.5 2.3 .6 .1 9.5Louie NelsonSG 4 57 7 3 2 0 18 14.3 1.8 .8 .5 .0 4.5Mike D'AntoniSG 2 9 2 2 0 0 3 4.5 1.0 1.0 .0 .0 1.5 † Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Spurs only. Playoffs Player POS Position GP Games played GS Games starter MP Minutes played REB Rebounds AST Assists STL Steals BLK Blocks PTS Points MPG Minutes per game RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per gameLarry KenonPF2 79 15 6 5 1 34 39.5 7.5 3.0 2.5 .5 17.0Billy PaultzC2 74 17 5 2 1 34 37.0 8.5 2.5 1.0 .5 17.0Mike GaleSG2 67 10 10 4 2 22 33.5 5.0 5.0 2.0 1.0 11.0Coby DietrickC2 64 9 5 1 0 26 32.0 4.5 2.5 .5 .0 13.0George GervinSF2 62 11 3 1 2 50 31.0 5.5 1.5 .5 1.0 25.0Louie DampierPG2 62 3 9 1 1 12 31.0 1.5 4.5 .5 .5 6.0Mark OlberdingPF2 42 7 2 0 1 13 21.0 3.5 1.0 .0 .5 6.5Allan BristowSF2 28 4 7 2 0 8 14.0 2.0 3.5 1.0 .0 4.0Henry Ward basketballSG 1 1 0 0 0 0 4 1.0 .0 .0 .0 .0 4.0George KarlPG 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 Awards and records George Gervin, All-NBA Second Team References Spurs on Basketball Reference Category:San Antonio Spurs seasons San Antonio San Antonio San Antonio