1972–73 ABA season

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The 1972–73 ABA season was the sixth season of the American Basketball Association. The Pittsburgh Condors and Miami Floridians had folded, leaving the league with nine teams. However, the ABA decided to (for the first and only time) award an expansion franchise to Dr. Leonard Bloom (President and CEO of the United States Capital Corporation) for $1 million to play in San Diego, California, named the San Diego Conquistadors (however due to a feud they did not play in San Diego Sports Arena, instead playing at Peterson Gym).[1] Subsequently, this meant that the Memphis Tams (formerly the Memphis Pros) would move to the Eastern Division. Once again, the best regular season team did not win the ABA Finals, with the Indiana Pacers (who had the 4th best record), led by playoff MVP George McGinnis, winning the ABA championship, 4 games to 3 over the Kentucky Colonels.

1972–73 ABA season
LeagueAmerican Basketball Association
SportBasketball
DurationOctober 12, 1972 – May 12, 1973
Number of games84
Number of teams10
Regular season
Top seedCarolina Cougars
Season MVPBilly Cunningham (Carolina)
Top scorerDan Issel (Kentucky)
Finals
ChampionsIndiana Pacers
  Runners-upKentucky Colonels
ABA seasons

Teams

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1972-73 American Basketball Association
Division Team City Arena Capacity
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 Dallas Chaparrals University Park, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Moody Coliseum
Dallas Memorial Auditorium
8,998
9,815
Denver Rockets Denver, Colorado Denver Auditorium Arena 6,841
Indiana Pacers Indianapolis, Indiana Indiana State Fair Coliseum 10,000
San Diego Conquistadors San Diego, California Peterson Gym 3,668
Utah Stars Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Palace 12,166

Map of teams

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  Eastern Division   Western Division

Final standings

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Eastern Division

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Team W L PCT. GB
Carolina Cougars * 57 27 .679
Kentucky Colonels * 56 28 .667 1
Virginia Squires * 42 42 .500 15
New York Nets * 30 54 .357 27
Memphis Tams 24 60 .286 33

Western Division

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Team W L PCT. GB
Utah Stars * 55 29 .655
Indiana Pacers * 51 33 .607 4
Denver Rockets * 47 37 .560 8
San Diego Conquistadors * 30 54 .357 25
Dallas Chaparrals 28 56 .333 27

Asterisk (*) denotes playoff team

Bold – ABA champions

Playoffs

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Awards and honors

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Billy Cunningham (Carolina) was named ABA MVP
 
George McGinnis (Indiana) was named Playoffs MVP

References

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  1. ^ "The History of Professional Basketball in San Diego 1972-1984". HuffPost. June 19, 2015.