Dallas Chaparrals

Dallas Chaparrals
Texas Chaparrals
Division Western Division
Founded 1967
History Dallas Chaparrals (ABA)
1967–1970, 1971–1973
Texas Chaparrals (ABA)
1970–1971
San Antonio Spurs
1973–present
Arena Moody Coliseum
Dallas Memorial Auditorium
Tarrant County Coliseum
Lubbock Municipal Coliseum
Location Dallas
Fort Worth
Lubbock
Team colors Red, white, blue
              

The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA).[1] The team moved to San Antonio, Texas for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the 1976–77 NBA season as a result of the ABA–NBA merger.

The team's original owners, unable to agree on a name for the franchise during an early organizational meeting at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, named it for the Chaparral Club in which they were meeting.[2] The team drew poor attendance and general disinterest in Dallas.[3] They were lucky to attract crowds in the hundreds. 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.

After missing the playoffs for the first time in their existence in the 1972–73 season, the team was put up for sale. After no credible offers surfaced, the team's original owners leased it to a group of 36 San Antonio businessmen, led by Angelo Drossos and Red McCombs. The deal included a three-year option to buy the team outright, after which it would revert to the Dallas group.[4] The Drossos-McCombs group moved the team to San Antonio for the 1973–74 season and renamed them the San Antonio Gunslingers[5] before renaming them the San Antonio Spurs. San Antonio embraced its new team with open arms; the Spurs surpassed the Chaparrals' entire 1972–73 attendance in only 16 games. Realizing they had a runaway hit on their hands, Drossos and McCombs tore up the lease and completed the purchase after only one year, and the franchise has stayed in San Antonio to this day.

Notes

The Chaparrals' road uniform was featured in NBA Live 2004 as a hidden jersey. The Spurs wore the Chaparrals uniform in selected games in the 2011–12 NBA season prior to the 45th Anniversary of the ABA.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Brody, Tom (October 23, 1967). "The ABA: Playing The Game Called Survival". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  2. ↑ Cazeneuve, Brian (June 29, 2005). "A League Of Their Own". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  3. ↑ Cowlishaw, Tim (May 28, 2013). "No disrespect to the Mavericks, but Dallas blew it when city let Chaparrals (now Spurs) bolt for San Antonio". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  4. ↑ Putnam, Pat (February 10, 1975). "Cagey Loan To San Antone; All the moribund Dallas Chaparrals needed was a lend-lease move down to San Antonio, a new name, smart deals and live fans". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  5. ↑ "San Antonio Spurs". RememberTheABA.com.

External links

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