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1972–73 ABA season

Field	Value
title	1972–73 ABA season
league	American Basketball Association
sport	Basketball
duration	October 12, 1972 – May 12, 1973
no_of_games	84
no_of_teams	10
season	Regular season
top_seed	Carolina Cougars
MVP	Billy Cunningham (Carolina)
MVP_link	ABA MVP
top_scorer	Dan Issel (Kentucky)
finals	Finals
finals_link	1973 ABA Playoffs
finals_champ	Indiana Pacers
finals_runner-up	Kentucky Colonels
seasonslist	List of ABA seasons
seasonslistnames	ABA
prevseason_link	1971–72 ABA season
prevseason_year	1971–72
nextseason_link	1973–74 ABA season
nextseason_year	1973–74

| conf1_runner-up = | conf2_runner-up = | finals_runner-up = Kentucky Colonels 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). 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.

Teams

Division		Team
Carolina Cougars	Greensboro, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina	Greensboro Coliseum
Charlotte Coliseum
Dorton Arena
Kentucky Colonels	Louisville, Kentucky	Freedom Hall
Memphis Tams	Memphis, Tennessee	Mid-South Coliseum
New York Nets	Uniondale, New York	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
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
Dallas Chaparrals	University Park, Texas
Dallas, Texas	Moody Coliseum
Dallas Memorial Auditorium
Denver Rockets	Denver, Colorado	Denver Auditorium Arena
Indiana Pacers	Indianapolis, Indiana	Indiana State Fair Coliseum
San Diego Conquistadors	San Diego, California	Peterson Gym
Utah Stars	Salt Lake City, Utah	Salt Palace

Map of teams

Final standings

Eastern Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
[Carolina Cougars](1972-73-carolina-cougars-season) *	57	27	.679	—
[Kentucky Colonels](1972-73-kentucky-colonels-season) *	56	28	.667	1
[Virginia Squires](1972-73-virginia-squires-season) *	42	42	.500	15
[New York Nets](1972-73-new-york-nets-season) *	30	54	.357	27
[Memphis Tams](1972-73-memphis-tams-season)	24	60	.286	33

Western Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
[Utah Stars](1972-73-utah-stars-season) *	55	29	.655	—
[Indiana Pacers](1972-73-indiana-pacers-season) *	51	33	.607	4
[Denver Rockets](1972-73-denver-rockets-season) *	47	37	.560	8
[San Diego Conquistadors](1972-73-san-diego-conquistadors-season) *	30	54	.357	25
[Dallas Chaparrals](1972-73-dallas-chaparrals-season)	28	56	.333	27

Asterisk (*) denotes playoff team

Bold – ABA champions

Playoffs

Awards and honors

ABA Most Valuable Player Award: Billy Cunningham, Carolina Cougars
Rookie of the Year: Brian Taylor, New York Nets
Coach of the Year: Larry Brown, Carolina Cougars
Playoffs MVP: George McGinnis, Indiana Pacers
All-Star Game MVP: Warren Jabali, Denver Rockets
Executive of the Year: Carl Scheer, Carolina Cougars
All-ABA First Team
- Billy Cunningham, Carolina Cougars
- Julius Erving, Virginia Squires (1st First Team selection, 2nd overall selection)
- Artis Gilmore, Kentucky Colonels (2nd selection)
- Jimmy Jones, Utah Stars
- Warren Jabali, Denver Rockets
All-ABA Second Team
- George McGinnis, Indiana Pacers
- Dan Issel, Kentucky Colonels (2nd Second Team selection, 3rd overall selection)
- Mel Daniels, Indiana Pacers (1st Second Team selection, 5th overall selection)
- Ralph Simpson, Denver Rockets (2nd selection)
- Mack Calvin, Carolina Cougars (1st Second Team selection, 2nd overall selection)
All-Defensive Team (beginning with this season)
- Joe Caldwell, Carolina Cougars
- Mike Gale, Kentucky Colonels
- Julius Keye, Denver Rockets
- Roland Taylor, Virginia Squires
- Willie Wise, Utah Stars
All-Rookie Team
- Jim Chones, New York Nets
- George Gervin, Virginia Squires
- James Silas, Dallas Chaparrals
- Brian Taylor, New York Nets
- Dennis Wuycik, Carolina Cougars

References

Season summary on Basketball Reference

References

(19 June 2015). "The History of Professional Basketball in San Diego 1972-1984".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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