| Utah Stars | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conference | None |
| Division | Western |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Dissolved | 1975 |
| History | Anaheim Amigos 1967–1968 Los Angeles Stars 1968–1970 Utah Stars 1970–1975 |
| Arena | The Salt Palace |
| Location | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Team colors | Red, white & blue |
| Team manager | Vince Boryla 1970–1972 Arnie Ferrin 1972–1975 Bill Orwig 1975 |
| Head coach | Bill Sharman 1970–1971 LaDell Andersen 1971–1973 Joe Mullaney 1973–1974 Bucky Buckwalter &Tom Nissalke 1974–1975 Tom Nissalke 1975 |
| Ownership | Bill Daniels 1970–1974 James A. Collier 1974–1975 Snellen M. Johnson and Lyle E. Johnson 1975 |
| Championships | 1 (1971) |
| Division titles | 3 (1972,1973,1974) |
TheUtah Stars were anAmerican Basketball Association (ABA) team based inSalt Lake City, Utah. Under head coachBill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround.[1]
The team was founded as theAnaheim Amigos, a charter member of the ABA based inAnaheim, California. They played at theAnaheim Convention Center. The team's colors were orange and black. The Anaheim Amigos were founded by Art Kim, aHawaii native who had long been active in basketball as a player,Amateur Athletic Union administrator and owner. The Amigos lost the very first ABA game to Oakland, 132–129. They finished their first season with 25 wins and 53 losses, good for fifth place in the Western Division but not good enough to make the playoffs.
The Amigos lost $500,000 in their first season, largely due to poor attendance; they only averaged 1,500 fans per game in a 7,500-seat arena. Kim realized he did not have the resources to keep going and sold the team to construction company owner Jim Kirst, who moved the team as theLos Angeles Stars in 1968 and played at theLos Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles. The franchise made an attempt to sign legendary centerWilt Chamberlain, but in the end he did not sign with the Stars. With 33 wins and 45 losses, the Stars improved from their first season but again finished fifth in the Western Division and did not make the playoffs.
In October 1969 the Stars signedZelmo Beaty away from the NBA'sAtlanta Hawks, but Beaty had to sit out the season due to a one-year option held by the Hawks, which the Stars would not buy out for $75,000. First year playersMack Calvin andWillie Wise signed with the Stars. The Stars finished fourth in the Western Division with a record of 43–41, earning the first winning season in franchise history and a playoff berth. The Stars defeated theDallas Chaparrals 4 games to 2 in the Western Division semifinals and bested theDenver Rockets 4 games to 1 in the semifinals before losing the ABA championship series 4 games to 2 to theIndiana Pacers. Kirst had not anticipated the fast turnaround, and did not book the Sports Arena for several dates. They had to play several first and second-round games in their old home in Anaheim, as well as at theLong Beach Sports Arena inLong Beach. This turned out to be their final game as the Los Angeles Stars.
Despite a promising young roster, the Stars were more or less an afterthought in a market whose first choices were theLos Angeles Lakers andUCLA Bruins; they only averaged 2,500 fans per game. In March1970, Kirst sold the team to Colorado cable TV pioneerBill Daniels, who moved the team in June to Salt Lake City as the Utah Stars for the1970–71 season.[2] Zelmo Beaty suited up for the team and they finished second in the Western Division with their best record yet at 57–27 (.679), one game behind theIndiana Pacers.[3]
The Stars swept theTexas Chaparrals in four games in the first round of theplayoffs,[4] beat Indiana in seven games in a fiercely contested semifinal series,[5] and edged out theKentucky Colonels in seven games for the ABA championship.[6][7] To date, this is Utah's only pro basketball championship.
The Stars won their first division championship, winning the Western Division with a record of 60–24. The Stars defeated theDallas Chaparrals 4 games to none in the Western Division semifinals before falling to theIndiana Pacers in the Western Division finals, 4 games to 3.
The Stars hosted the ABA All Star Game and again won the Western Division with a record of 55–29. The Stars defeated theSan Diego Conquistadors 4 games to none in the Western Division semifinals but lost in the Western Division finals 4 games to 2 to theIndiana Pacers.
In 1973–74 the Stars finished with a record of 51-33 and won first place in the ABA's Western Division for the third straight year under new coachJoe Mullaney. It was the Stars' third straight Western Division title. In the playoffs the Stars again defeated theSan Diego Conquistadors in the Western Division semifinals, this time 4 games to 2, and went on to defeat theIndiana Pacers 4 games to 3 in the Western Division finals to reach the ABA Finals for the 2nd time in four seasons. The Stars then lost the championship to theNew York Nets 4 games to 1.
This was the Stars' final full ABA season. Daniels was almost broke due to a series of failed business ventures and an unsuccessful run forgovernor of Colorado. One of the casualties of the team's financial woes was Mullaney, who resigned after being told the team could not afford to meet his contract. Daniels sold the team to Salt Lake City businessman James A. Collier in August 1974, but Collier was forced to relinquish the team to Daniels two weeks later after missing a payment. The Stars made a high-profile personnel move that season by signing high school playerMoses Malone to play for them.[8][9][10] The Stars finished the season in fourth place in the Western Division and lost in the first round of the playoffs to theDenver Nuggets, 4 games to 1.
During the preseason, the Stars (and theVirginia Squires) failed to make payments required as a guarantee for hosting the NBA'sChicago Bulls in one of the common ABA vs. NBA preseason exhibition games. Daniels sold the team again to Snellen and Lyle Johnson in May, but they relinquished the team to Daniels just before the season after missing several payments.
However, Daniels was almost completely broke by this time. As a result, on December 2, 1975, the league canceled the Stars franchise for missing payroll. Four of their players (includingMoses Malone) were sold to theSpirits of St. Louis, with Daniels getting a 10% minority stake in the Spirits as well. A fifth player was sold to the Virginia Squires. Daniels ultimately paid back all of the season ticket holders at eight percent interest.
The Stars are widely considered one of the most successful teams in ABA history. They were also known for having some of the best fan support in the ABA, even up until the team folded in 1975. From 1970 to 1975, the Stars went 265-171 (.608), which was the best winning percentage of any team that played more than one season in the league.
Despite the Stars' demise, Salt Lake City had proven it could support big-time professional basketball. With this in mind, in 1976 the owners of theSpirits of St. Louis announced that they were moving the team to Utah for the 1976–1977 ABA season, to play as theUtah Rockies. However, this was undone when theABA–NBA merger closed in June 1976 and the Spirits and theKentucky Colonels were the only two teams left out of the merged league. (TheVirginia Squires were folded shortly after the end of the regular season due to their inability to make good on a required league assessment, though there was no chance of them being part of a merger deal in any event.)
Professional basketball finally returned to Salt Lake City when theNBA'sNew Orleans Jazz relocated there in 1979. The Jazz have played in Salt Lake City ever since. Of the three ABA teams that were left out of the ABA–NBA merger, the Stars are the only one to have eventually been replaced by an NBA team.
In their first season in Salt Lake City, the Stars dominated their way to a 57–27 record and a 2nd-place finish in the Western Division standings, a game behind theIndiana Pacers. In the Western Division Semifinals, the Stars would go on to sweep theTexas Chaparrals and then stunned the Pacers in game 7 of the Western Division Finals, earning a spot in the ABA Championship.
The Stars would face theKentucky Colonels in the ABA Championship. In game one a near-capacity crowd filed into the Salt Palace to watch the Stars defeat Kentucky 136–117. The Stars set an ABA Playoff record by scoring 50 points in the 2nd quarter. In game 2, the series continued its high scoring with the Stars beating Kentucky 138–125. The series shifted to Louisville and Kentucky took games 3 and 4, tying the series up at 2-2. The series then returned to Salt Lake City, where the Stars beat Kentucky 137–127, taking a 3–2 series lead. The Stars looked to wrap up the ABA Championship with a game 6 victory in Louisville. However Kentucky clawed their way to a 7th game, barely beating the Stars 105–102, sending the series to a decisive 7th game back in Salt Lake City.
With the ABA Championship on the line, an ABA record crowd of 13,260 packed into the Salt Palace[11] to watch game 7 of the 1971 ABA Championship. The game remained close throughout, however the Stars pulled away late, winning the 1971 ABA Championship 131–121.[12] As the game ended, hundreds of Stars fans rushed the court, lifting players onto their shoulders in a jubilant celebration. The actions were a total surprise to Stars officials, as they had not anticipated such a reaction from the fans.
The ABA teams frequently played exhibition games in the preseason vs.NBA teams. While the ABA overall had a winning record vs. the NBA in head to head competition, the Stars had an overall record of 7–9 against NBA teams.
The Stars' first game against the NBA was a 96–89 loss at home to theNew York Knicks on September 28, 1971. The Stars lost their first four games against NBA teams, earning their first win against that league with a win against theSeattle SuperSonics inHonolulu, Hawaii on September 24, 1972.
Other Stars wins against the NBA include defeating theBoston Celtics at home on October 4, 1973 (part of a double header in which 12,431 Utah fans also saw the ABA'sDenver Rockets defeat the NBA'sPhoenix Suns 113-111 prior to the Stars' win); a home win against the Kansas City-Omaha Kings on October 8, 1974; a home win against the SuperSonics on October 7, 1975; a win against the Kings on October 11, 1975, in Denver as part of a double header in which 17,018 fans saw theDenver Nuggets lose to the NBA'sGolden State Warriors 115–100); and a 118–108 road win against the SuperSonics in Seattle on October 15, 1975.
In the very last game ever played between ABA and NBA teams, the Stars defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 106–101 in Salt Lake City on October 21, 1975. (In the penultimate ABA vs. NBA matchup, the ABA's Kentucky Colonels defeated theWashington Bullets 121-111 two nights prior.)
| Utah Stars Hall of Famers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | ||||
| No. | Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted |
| 22 | Moses Malone | C | 1974–1975 | 2001 |
| 35 | Roger Brown | F/G | 1974–1975 | 2013 |
| 31 | Zelmo Beaty | F/C | 1970–1974 | 2016 |
| Coaches | ||||
| Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted | |
| Bill Sharman | Head coach | 1968–1971 | 2004 | |
| Del Harris | Assistant coach | 1975–1976 | 2022 | |
| ABA champions | ABA finalists | Division champions | Playoff berth |
| Season | League | Division | Finish | W | L | Win% | Playoffs | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anaheim Amigos | ||||||||
| 1967–68 | ABA | Western | 5th | 25 | 53 | .321 | — | — |
| Los Angeles Stars | ||||||||
| 1968–69 | ABA | Western | 5th | 33 | 45 | .423 | — | — |
| 1969–70 | ABA | Western | 4th | 43 | 41 | .512 | WonDivision Semifinals (Chaparrals) 4–2 WonDivision Finals (Rockets) 4–1 LostABA Finals (Pacers) 2–4 | Bill Sharman (ABA COY) |
| Utah Stars | ||||||||
| 1970–71 | ABA | Western | 2nd | 57 | 27 | .679 | WonDivision Semifinals (Chaparrals) 4–0 WonDivision Finals (Pacers) 4–3 WonABA Finals (Colonels) 4–3 | Zelmo Beaty (Playoffs MVP) |
| 1971–72 | ABA | Western | 1st | 60 | 24 | .714 | WonDivision Semifinals (Chaparrals) 4–0 LostDivision Finals (Pacers) 3–4 | — |
| 1972–73 | ABA | Western | 1st | 55 | 29 | .655 | WonDivision Semifinals (Conquistadors) 4–0 LostDivision Finals (Pacers) 3–4 | — |
| 1973–74 | ABA | Western | 1st | 51 | 33 | .607 | WonDivision Semifinals (Conquistadors) 4–2 WonDivision Finals (Pacers) 4–3 LostABA Finals (Nets) 1–4 | Joe Mullaney (ABA COY) |
| 1974–75 | ABA | Western | 4th | 38 | 46 | .452 | LostDivision Semifinals (Nuggets) 2–4 | — |
| 1975–76 | ABA | 4 | 12 | .250 | Did not qualify | (team folded) | ||
 | This article contains alist of miscellaneous information. Pleaserelocate any relevant information into other sections or articles.(May 2018) |