Texas Chaparrals
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Texas Chaparrals were member of the American Basketball Association during the 1970-71 season. The team had earlier played as the Dallas Chaparrals and after their one season as the Texas Chaparrals they became the Dallas Chaparrals again, later becoming the San Antonio Spurs of the ABA and NBA.
[edit] Background
The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the ABA in 1967. The team suffered from poor attendance and general disinterest in Dallas. During the 1970-71 season, the team became the Texas Chaparrals and an attempt was made to make the team a regional one, playing games in Fort Worth, Texas, at the Tarrant County Coliseum, as well as Lubbock, Texas, at the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum, but this proved a failure and the team returned full-time to Dallas in time for the 1971-72 season, splitting their games at Moody Coliseum and Dallas Convention Center Arena.
[edit] 1970-1971 season as the Texas Chaparrals
For the 1970-1971 season the Chaparrals named and marketed themselves as a statewide team. They played home games in at Lubbock Memorial Coliseum and the Tarrant County Convention Center.
Draft picks Nate Archibald and John Johnson went to the NBA while Joe Hamilton landed with the team.
Max Williams began the season as head coach but resigned in November and was replaced by Bill Blakeley. That same month the Chaparrals traded star player Cincy Powell to the Kentucky Colonels for Gene Moore. In January 1971 the Chaparrals traded Manny Leaks to the New York Nets for Levern Tart and Ed Johnson, and Ron Boone and Glen Combs to the Utah Stars for Donnie Freeman and Wayne Hightower. Freeman played in the ABA All Star game. The Chaparrals averaged 3,426 fans per home game en route to a 30-54 record which put them in fourth place in the Western Division. The Chaparrals lost the Western Division semifinals to the Utah Stars 4 games to none.
[edit] Aftermath
After their single season as the Texas Chaparrals the team resumed its previous existence as the Dallas Chaparrals.
After missing the playoffs for the first time in their existence in the 1972-73 season, the team was put up for sale. The team was acquired by a group of 36 San Antonio businessmen, led by Angelo Drossos and Red McCombs who actually leased the team from the original Dallas ownership group, relocated the team to San Antonio, Texas and renamed them the Spurs. The team's primary colors were changed from the red, white, and blue of the Chaparrals to the now familiar silver and black motif of the Spurs.
The team quickly made themselves at home at San Antonio's HemisFair Arena playing to increasingly large and raucous crowds. The early Spurs were led by ABA veteran James Silas and bolstered by the acquisition in early-1974 of future NBA Hall-of-Famer George Gervin from the Virginia Squires. Even though playoff success would elude the team in the ABA, the Spurs had suddenly found themselves among the top teams in the ABA. In 1976, the ABA folded, threatening the future of San Antonio's sole professional sports franchise. The NBA however decided to admit four ABA teams into the league, with the Spurs being one of them along with the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and the New York Nets.
