1970–71 Utah Stars season

NBA professional basketball team season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1970–71 Utah Stars season was the first season for the Stars in the state of Utah. After their inaugural season played in the city of Anaheim as the Amigos and two seasons in Los Angeles (both cities being in the large state of California), the Stars moved to the nearby state of Utah in June 1970 following a near-upset run in the 1970 ABA Finals against the Indiana Pacers and reneging on an initial plan on moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico to go to Utah over an alternative idea of returning to Anaheim (potentially with the Amigos name returning there). The Stars finished second in the Western Division behind only the defending champion Indiana Pacers by one game, but won their first and only ABA title during this season. In the Western Division Semifinals, the Stars swept the Texas Chaparrals (who would only be named the Texas Chaparrals for this season before aborting the idea of playing as a regional franchise within the state of Texas to become the Dallas Chaparrals within the city of Dallas like they were before this season and would stay that way for the next two seasons of theirs before later becoming the San Antonio Spurs going forward) in four games. In the Western Division Finals, they beat the Indiana Pacers in seven games (including Game 7 that was played in the state of Indiana) to advance to the ABA Finals. Then in seven games, they beat the Kentucky Colonels in the 1971 ABA Finals, in order to give the state of Utah its first professional championship (and as of 2025, their only professional championship in the sport of basketball).

Record5727 (.679)
PlaceDivision: 2nd
Quick facts Utah Stars season, Head coach ...
1970–71 Utah Stars season
ABA champions
Head coachBill Sharman
ArenaSalt Palace
Results
Record5727 (.679)
PlaceDivision: 2nd
Playoff finishWon ABA Championship
Local media
TelevisionKUTV 2
RadioKALL
< 1969–70 1971–72 >
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Roster

More information Players, Coaches ...
1970–71 Utah Stars roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From
C 31 Zelmo Beaty 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) October 25, 1939 Prairie View A&M
SG 24 Ron Boone 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) September 6, 1946 Idaho State
SG 12 Mike Butler 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) October 22, 1946 Memphis
SG 40 Glen Combs 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) October 30, 1946 Virginia Tech
PG 23 Jeff Congdon 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) October 17, 1943 BYU
SG 20 Donnie Freeman 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) July 18, 1944 Illinois
PF 35 Wayne Hightower 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 192 lb (87 kg) January 14, 1940 Kansas
PG 10 Mervin Jackson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) August 15, 1946 Utah
PF 14 Roderick McDonald 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) April 9, 1945 Whitworth
SG 11 Dick Nemelka 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) October 1, 1943 BYU
PF 21 Red Robbins 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 190 lb (86 kg) September 30, 1944 Tennessee
SF 54 Sam Smith 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) January 27, 1944 Louisville
SF 33 George Stone 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) February 9, 1946 Marshall
SF 42 Willie Wise 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) March 3, 1947 Drake
F/C 22 Tom Workman 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 218 lb (99 kg) November 14, 1944 Seattle
Head coach

Legend
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster

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Season standings

More information Team, W ...
TeamWLPCT.GB
Indiana Pacers5826.690
Utah Stars5727.6791
Memphis Pros4143.48817
Texas Chaparrals3054.35728
Denver Rockets3054.35728
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ABA Playoffs

ABA Western Division Semifinals[1]

GameDateLocationScoreRecordAttendance
1April 2Utah125–1151–04,375
2April 3Utah137–1072–06,061
3April 4Texas113–1013–04,674
4April 6Texas128–1074–03,666

Stars win series, 4–0

ABA Division Finals[1]

GameDateLocationScoreRecordAttendance
1April 12Indiana120–1181–07,734
2April 14Indiana107–1201–19,458
3April 17Utah121–1072–112,711
4April 20Utah126–993–112,761
5April 22Indiana109–1273–28,279
6April 24Utah102–1053–313,208
7April 28Indiana108–1014–311,202

Stars win series, 4–3

ABA Finals[1]

GameDateLocationScoreRecordAttendance
1May 3Utah136–1171–012,051
2May 5Utah138–1252–013,208
3May 7Kentucky110–1162–112,337
4April 8Kentucky125–129 (OT)2–29,863
5May 12Utah137–1273–213,260
6May 15Kentucky102–1053–311,793
7May 18Utah131–1214–313,260

Stars win championship series, 4–3

Zelmo Beaty scored 23.2 points per game and rebounded 14.6 rebounds per game, which earned him the Playoffs MVP.

Awards, records, and honors

References

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