1970–71 ABA season

1970–71 ABA season
1970–71 ABA season
League	American Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	October 14, 1970 – May 18, 1971
Number of games	84
Number of teams	11
Regular season
Top seed	Indiana Pacers
Season MVP	Mel Daniels (Indiana)
Top scorer	Dan Issel (Kentucky)
Finals
Champions	Utah Stars
Runners-up	Kentucky Colonels
ABA seasons
	← 1969–70 1971–72 →

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

Notable franchise moves from the previous season included:

The Washington Caps moved to Norfolk, Virginia, became the Virginia Squires 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.

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.

Teams

Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
1970-71 American Basketball Association
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	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	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

Awards and honors

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

References

External links

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

v t e American Basketball Association seasons
Seasons	1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76
Playoffs	1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976
All-Star Games	1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976
Champions Awards and honors Broadcasters ABA–NBA merger (1976 ABA dispersal draft)

v t e 1970–71 ABA season by team
All-Star Game Draft Playoffs
Eastern Division	Carolina Cougars Kentucky Colonels New York Nets Pittsburgh Condors The Floridians Virginia Squires
Western Division	Denver Rockets Indiana Pacers Memphis Pros Texas Chaparrals Utah Stars