Memphis Tams
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Memphis Tams were an American Basketball Association team during the 1972-1973 and 1973-1974 seasons. The team had previously been the New Orleans Buccaneers and the Louisiana Buccaneers for three seasons (1967-1970) before moving to Memphis, Tennessee where it became the Memphis Pros from 1970 through 1972. The team later became the Memphis Sounds in 1974-1975 and then the Baltimore Hustlers and finally the Baltimore Claws before folding in 1975.
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[edit] Origins
The New Orleans Buccaneers were a charter member of the ABA and played for three seasons, 1967-1970, winning the Western Division championship in 1969. After the 1969-1970 season the team was rechristened as the Louisiana Buccaneers, with home games scheduled in several cities in that state. However, the team was sold to a new owner in in August, 1970 and moved to Memphis, Tennessee to play as the Memphis Pros, reportedly because the already purchased 'Bucs' uniforms could easily be converted to 'Pros' uniforms at little expense.
The Memphis Pros played two seasons before financial problems forced the team to sell stock shared to its fans to stay afloat. The ABA took over management operations. The team was sold to Charles O. Finley, owner of the Oakland A's, on June 13, 1972. Finley hired legendary former University of Kentucky head coach Adolph Rupp as team president. Finley also took over the team's debts.
Prior to the 1972-1973 season Finley changed the team's name to the Memphis Tams.
[edit] 1972-1973 season
Former coach Babe McCarthy was succeeded by Bob Bass. The Tams landed George Thompson in a dispersal draft of Pittsburgh Condors players. Gerald Govan was traded to the Utah Stars for Merv Jackson. George Thompson played in the ABA All Star game but the Tams finished the season with only 20 wins compared to 64 losses. It was the worst record in the ABA and put them in fifth (last) place in the Eastern Division, 33 games behind the Carolina Cougars. The Tams did not make the playoffs. Despite their poor play they averaged 3,476 fans per home game.
[edit] 1973-1974 season
The Tams picked up draft picks Larry Kenon and Larry Finch. The Tams also used a draft pick to select underclassman David Thompson but Thompson stayed in college. Finley had asked the ABA to look into his claims that ABA president Bill Daniels had a conflict of interest due to asking Finley to pay him a finder's fee for helping Finley find potential buyers for his team. The ABA declined to investigate Finley's charges. Finley tried to sell the team to a group of investors from Providence, Rhode Island but no sale was forthcoming. In September, 1973 Bill van Breda Kolff became the team's general manager and head coach, replacing Bob Bass. The Tams signed Charlie Edge, traded Larry Kenon to the New York Nets for Jim Ard and John Baum and traded Johnny Neumann to the Utah Stars for Glen Combs, Ronnie Robinson, Mike Jackson and cash. George Thompson played in the ABA All Star game but the team had another poor season, finishing with 21 wins and 63 losses which put them in fifth place in the Eastern Division and kept the Tams out of the playoffs again.
With their poor play the team's home attendance dropped by about one third from the prior season as the Tams averaged 2,331 fans per home game. Finley resigned as the Tams' owner and the ABA once again took control of the franchise after a $1.1 million buyout to Finley.
[edit] Aftermath
Mike Storen resigned as ABA commissioner to run the struggling Memphis team. Storen had previously been a successful executive with the Indiana Pacers and the Kentucky Colonels. Bill Van Breda Kolff was dismissed as the Tams' head coach and general manager. Former head coach Bob Bass became the new general manager. Joe Mullaney became the team's head coach. The team signed free agent Wil Jones from the Kentucky Colonels. On July 17, 1974 Isaac Hayes, the owner of Stax Records, Avron Fogleman and Kemmonis Wilson took over the team and it was renamed the Memphis Sounds.
The Sounds continued in Memphis for one more year, finishing in fourth place in the Eastern Division but losing in the Eastern Division semifinals to the eventual ABA champion Kentucky Colonels 4 games to 1. The Sounds averaged 3,879 fans per home game, a two thirds increase on the prior season. Despite the substantial improvement in the team's fortunes it was sold on August 27, 1975 to a group who moved the team to Baltimore, Maryland where it became the Baltimore Hustlers and then the Baltimore Claws. The Claws briefly obtained superstar Dan Issel from the Kentucky Colonels and played three exhibition games but lost Issel, all three games and eventually the franchise itself due to financial problems. The team was folded on October 20, 1975 and its teams were put into a dispersal draft.
[edit] See also
- New Orleans Buccaneers
- Louisiana Buccaneers
- Memphis Pros
- Memphis Sounds
- Baltimore Hustlers
- Baltimore Claws
- Memphis Grizzlies
