1970–71 ABA season

The 1970–71 ABA season was the fourth season of the American Basketball Association.

1970–71 ABA season
League	American Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	October 14, 1970 – May 18, 1971
Games	84
Teams	11
Regular season
Top seed	Indiana Pacers
Season MVP	Mel Daniels (Indiana)
Top scorer	Dan Issel (Kentucky)
Playoffs
Eastern champions	Kentucky Colonels
Eastern runners-up	Virginia Squires
Western champions	Utah Stars
Western runners-up	Indiana Pacers
Finals
Champions	Utah Stars
Runners-up	Kentucky Colonels

Notable franchise moves from the previous season included:

• The Washington Caps moved to Norfolk, Virginia, became the Virginia Squires regional franchise, and switched divisions with the Indiana Pacers.
• The Miami Floridians became more of a regional franchise and were renamed simply The Floridians.
• The Los Angeles Stars moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, and became the Utah Stars.
• The Dallas Chaparrals became a regional franchise and were renamed the Texas Chaparrals.
• The New Orleans Buccaneers moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and became the Memphis Pros. (Originally, the Buccaneers planned to be a regional franchise called the Louisiana Buccaneers for this season.)

Other notable events included the jumping of last season's Most Valuable Player Spencer Haywood from the Denver Rockets to the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics after playing just one season with them, which inflamed ABA management amid rumblings of failed talks to merge with the NBA.

The Utah Stars, led by Zelmo Beaty and Willie Wise, won the ABA championship, defeating the Kentucky Colonels, 4 games to 3, in the ABA Finals.

Coaching changes

Offseason
Team	1969–70 coach	1970–71 coach
New York Nets	York Larese	Lou Carnesecca
Pittsburgh Condors	Buddy Jeannette	Jack McMahon
In-season
Team	Outgoing coach	Incoming coach
Carolina Cougars	Bones McKinney	Jerry Steele
Denver Rockets	Joe Belmont	Stan Albeck
The Floridians	Harold Blitman	Bob Bass
Kentucky Colonels	Gene Rhodes Alex Groza (interim)	Alex Groza (interim) Frank Ramsey
Texas Chaparrals	Max Williams	Bill Blakeley

Teams

1970–71 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
	New York Nets	West Hempstead, New York	Island Garden	5,200
	Pittsburgh Condors	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Civic Arena	12,580
	The Floridians	Miami Beach, Florida Tampa, Florida St. Petersburg, Florida Jacksonville, Florida West Palm Beach, Florida	Miami Beach Convention Center Curtis Hixon Hall Bayfront Arena Jacksonville Coliseum West Palm Beach Auditorium	15,000 7,000 7,500 11,000 5,000
	Virginia Squires	Norfolk, Virginia Hampton, Virginia Richmond, Virginia Salem, Virginia Roanoke, Virginia	Old Dominion University Fieldhouse Hampton Coliseum Richmond Arena Salem Civic Center Roanoke Civic Center	5,200 9,777 6,000 6,820 9,828
Western	Denver Rockets	Denver, Colorado	Denver Auditorium Arena	6,841
	Indiana Pacers	Indianapolis, Indiana	Indiana State Fair Coliseum	10,000
	Memphis Pros	Memphis, Tennessee	Mid-South Coliseum	10,085
	Texas Chaparrals	University Park, Texas Dallas, Texas Fort Worth, Texas Lubbock, Texas	Moody Coliseum Dallas Memorial Auditorium Tarrant County Coliseum Lubbock Municipal Coliseum	8,998 9,815 16,057 11,200
	Utah Stars	Salt Lake City, Utah	Salt Palace	12,166

Map of teams

Carolina

Kentucky

New York

Pittsburgh

Floridians

Virginia

Denver

Indiana

Memphis

Texas

Utah

Eastern Division Western Division

Final standings

Eastern Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Virginia Squires *	55	29	.655	—
Kentucky Colonels *	44	40	.524	11.0
New York Nets *	40	44	.476	15.0
The Floridians *	37	47	.440	18.0
Pittsburgh Condors	36	48	.429	19.0
Carolina Cougars	34	50	.405	21.0

Western Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Indiana Pacers *	58	26	.690	—
Utah Stars *	57	27	.679	1.0
Memphis Pros *	41	43	.488	17.0
Texas Chaparrals *	30	54	.357	28.0
Denver Rockets *	30	54	.357	28.0

Asterisk (*) denotes playoff team (the Rockets and the Chaparrals played a one-game playoff to settle the tie for the final playoff spot, which the Chaparrals won)

Bold – ABA champions

Playoffs

See also: 1971 ABA Playoffs

Awards and honors

Zelmo Beaty (Utah) was named Playoffs MVP

Dan Issel (Kentucky) won the 1970–71 scoring title

• ABA Most Valuable Player Award: Mel Daniels, Indiana Pacers (2nd time)
• Rookie of the Year: Charlie Scott, Virginia Squires & Dan Issel, Kentucky Colonels
• Coach of the Year: Al Bianchi, Virginia Squires
• Playoffs MVP: Zelmo Beaty, Utah Stars
• All-Star Game MVP: Mel Daniels, Indiana Pacers
• All-ABA First Team
  • Roger Brown, Indiana Pacers (1st First Team selection, 3rd overall selection)
  • Rick Barry, New York Nets (3rd selection)
  • Mel Daniels, Indiana Pacers (4th selection)
  • Mack Calvin, The Floridians
  • Charlie Scott, Virginia Squires
• All-ABA Second Team
  • John Brisker, Pittsburgh Condors
  • Joe Caldwell, Carolina Cougars
  • Zelmo Beaty, Utah Stars (tied with Issel)
  • Dan Issel, Kentucky Colonels (tied with Beaty)
  • Donnie Freeman, Texas Chaparrals (3rd selection)
  • Larry Cannon, Denver Rockets
• All-ABA Rookie Team
  • Joe Hamilton, Texas Chaparrals
  • Dan Issel, Kentucky Colonels
  • Wendell Ladner, Memphis Pros
  • Samuel Robinson, The Floridians
  • Charlie Scott, Virginia Squires

External links

• 1970-71 ABA Season Summary | Basketball-Reference.com