1973–74 ABA season

1973–74 ABA season
LeagueAmerican Basketball Association
SportBasketball
DurationOctober 10, 1973 – May 10, 1974
Games84
Teams10
Regular season
Top seedNew York Nets
Season MVPJulius Erving (New York)
Top scorerJulius Erving (New York)
Playoffs
Eastern championsNew York Nets
  Eastern runners-upKentucky Colonels
Western championsUtah Stars
  Western runners-upIndiana Pacers
Finals
ChampionsNew York Nets
  Runners-upUtah Stars

The 1973–74 ABA season was the seventh season of the American Basketball Association. The 1973 ABA draft would utilize four different draft formats throughout multiple months that the nine ABA teams went through during the offseason period before officially starting this season. The New York Nets won the ABA championship, 4 games to 1, over the Utah Stars.

Only one franchise move occurred from the previous season, and it stayed in its original state. The Dallas Chaparrals were purchased by a group called "Professional Sports, Inc." led by Angelo Drossos, John Schaefer, and Red McCombs and were moved to San Antonio and renamed to become the San Antonio Spurs after originally being planned to be the San Antonio Gunslingers, with them still being the Spurs in the present day after initially having it be a unique deal where the team could return to Dallas (likely to become the Chaparrals once again) by 1975 if they weren't bought outright by then. One thing that helped their standing with the locals early on was having their venue offering both Coca-Cola and Pepsi products when most other teams had to offer one or the other due to licensing issues. However, what helped get the Spurs see long-term success (to the point of getting Drossos, Schaefer, and McCombs to officially buy out the original Chaparrals owners and own the Spurs as a long-term franchise properly this season) was having them acquire key players from the Virginia Squires in rookie Swen Nater and George Gervin through trades in order to help the latter team out with their own financial struggles (though those same financial struggles that Virginia tried to get out of by trading key players would later do them in for their chances of survival in the next few seasons afterward).

Coaching changes
Offseason
Team 1972–73 coach 1973–74 coach
Kentucky Colonels Joe Mullaney Babe McCarthy
Memphis Tams Bob Bass Butch van Breda Kolff
New York Nets Lou Carnesecca Kevin Loughery
San Antonio Spurs Dave Brown Tom Nissalke
San Diego Conquistadors K. C. Jones Wilt Chamberlain
Utah Stars LaDell Anderson Joe Mullaney

Teams

1973–74 American Basketball Association
DivisionTeamCityArenaCapacity
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 Denver Rockets Denver, Colorado Denver Auditorium Arena 6,841
Indiana Pacers Indianapolis, Indiana Indiana State Fair Coliseum 10,000
San Antonio Spurs San Antonio, Texas Hemisfair Arena 10,146
San Diego Conquistadors San Diego, California Golden Hall 3,200
Utah Stars Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Palace 12,166

Map of teams

Eastern Division Western Division

Final standings

Eastern Division

TeamWLPCT.GB
New York Nets *5529.655—
Kentucky Colonels *5331.6312
Carolina Cougars *4737.5608
Virginia Squires *2856.33327
Memphis Tams2163.25034

Western Division

TeamWLPCT.GB
Utah Stars *5133.607—
Indiana Pacers *4638.5485
San Antonio Spurs *4539.5366
San Diego Conquistadors *3747.44014
Denver Rockets *3747.44014

Asterisk (*) denotes playoff team (the Conquistadors and the Rockets played a one-game playoff to settle the tie for the final playoff spot, which the Conquistadors won)

Bold – ABA champions

Regular season

Julius Erving was named league MVP with 49 votes to Artis Gilmore's nine votes.[1]

Playoffs

Awards and honors

Julius "Dr. J" Erving (New York) won the ABA MVP

References

  1. ↑ "Red Bank Register Newspaper Archives, Apr 9, 1974, p. 14". April 9, 1974.
  2. ↑ "Swen Nater is ABA Rookie of Year". Longview Morning Journal. United Press International. April 2, 1974. p. 13. Retrieved December 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Rosenthal, Bert (January 31, 1974). "Artis Gilmore leads East over West in ABA All-Star game". Greeley Tribune. Associated Press. p. 28. Retrieved December 1, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

Season summary on Basketball Reference

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