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Minnesota Muskies
The Minnesota Muskies were a member of the American Basketball Association, born with the league's creation on February 2, 1967. L.P. Shields and Fred Jefferson were the owners after paying a franchise fee of $30,000. The team then played one season in Minnesota before moving to Miami, Florida to become The Floridians. The team colors were blue and gold and games were played in the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, which they shared with the Minnesota North Stars. History The ABA first located its league office in Minneapolis and the future looked bright for the Muskies (named after the Muskellunge; also known as the muskie, one of the regions the fish is found in Minnesota), who shared the same offices as the league. Their first draft pick was talented center Mel Daniels, who would go on to become one of the ABA's most celebrated players. Daniels was also a first round draft pick of the NBA's Cincinnati Royals, but he decided to cast his lot with the upstart league. The se ...
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Miami Floridians
The Miami Floridians, later in their history known simply as The Floridians, were a professional basketball franchise in the original, now-defunct American Basketball Association. The Miami Floridians played in the ABA from 1968 through 1970 when they became simply The Floridians. The team had two color schemes: their original red, blue, and white, and their later black, magenta, and orange. The Miami Floridians began as the Minnesota Muskies, a charter ABA franchise who played in Bloomington, Minnesota at the Met Center and wore blue and gold. The Muskies finished with the league's second-best record, but wretched attendance figures (officially 2,800 per game, a figure that was likely padded) led owner Larry Shields to conclude that the team could not be viable in the Twin Cities. He sold minority shares to a group of Florida businessmen and moved the team to Miami. However, in order to pay leftover debts in Minnesota, Shields sold Rookie of the Year Mel Daniels to the Indi ...
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Mel Daniels
Melvin Joe Daniels (July 20, 1944 – October 30, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for the Minnesota Muskies, Indiana Pacers, and Memphis Sounds, and in the National Basketball Association for the New York Nets. Daniels was a two-time ABA Most Valuable Player, three-time ABA Champion and a seven-time ABA All-Star. Daniels was the All-time ABA rebounding leader, and in 1997 was named a unanimous selection to the ABA All-Time Team. Daniels was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012. Early life The son of Maceo and Bernice Daniels, Mel Daniels moved with his family back to his birthplace of Detroit, Michigan from Lincoln, North Carolina when Mel was a toddler. Mel had two sisters. Back in Detroit, the family first lived with Mel's grandfather, then in a tenement on 8 Mile Road and finally in a house on McDougall Street. Maceo Daniels worked in an automobile parts factory. Bern ...
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New Jersey Americans
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 Songs * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1999 *"new", by Loona from '' Yves'', 2017 *"The New", by Interpol from ''Turn On the Bright Lights'', 2002 Acronyms * Net economic welfare, a proposed macroeconomic indicator * Net explosive weight, also known as net explosive quantity * Network of enlightened Women, a conservative university women's organization * Next Entertainment World, a South Korean film distribution company Identification codes * Nepal Bhasa language ISO 639 language code * New Century Financial Corporation (NYSE stock abbreviation) * Northeast Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion in the northeastern United States Transport * New Orleans Lakefront A ...
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1967–68 ABA Season
The 1967–68 ABA season was the first season for the American Basketball Association. The ABA was challenging the National Basketball Association. The ABA introduced a red, white and blue basketball. They used a 30-second shot clock as opposed to the NBA's 24 second shot clock, and also used the three-point shot. There were 11 teams playing in the first season of the league, with each team playing a 78-game schedule. History The American Basketball Association (ABA) was founded in 1967 by Dennis Murphy, former mayor of Buena Park, California, and Gary Davidson, an attorney from Orange County, California. George Mikan, a former National Basketball Association star best known for his career with the Minneapolis Lakers, was named as the league's first commissioner, saying that the ABA would avoid raiding the players from the NBA as the upstart league as it wanted to avoid legal issues relating to the reserve clause and hoped to avoid creating a bidding war for talent that would make ...
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Kentucky Colonels
The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of any franchise in the league's history, but the team did not join the NBA in the 1976 ABA–NBA merger. The downtown Louisville Convention Center (now known as The Gardens) was the Colonels' original venue for the first three seasons before moving to Freedom Hall for the remaining seasons, beginning with the 1970–71 schedule. The Kentucky Colonels were only one of two ABA teams, along with the Indiana Pacers, to play for the entire duration of the league without relocating, changing its team name, or folding. The Colonels were also the only major league franchise in Kentucky since the Louisville Breckenridges left the National Football League in 1923. Overview and background The Louisville-based Colonels started their time in the ABA ...
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1968 ABA Playoffs
The 1968 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament following the American Basketball Association's inaugural 1967-1968 season, starting on March 23 and ending on May 4. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion Pittsburgh Pipers defeating the Western Division champion New Orleans Buccaneers, four games to three in the ABA Finals. * Division winner Bold Series winner ''Italic'' Team with home-court advantage Notable events This was the first ABA championship. The Pittsburgh Pipers won the ABA championship in the playoffs after posting the league's best record during the regular season (54-24, .692). The Minnesota Muskies had the league's second best record, but they played in the Eastern Division with the Pipers. None of the four teams that made it to the Division finals (and ABA finals) remained as they were during this season throughout the league's entire existence. The Pittsburgh Pipers spent the following season as the Minnesota Pipers, returned to ...
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Pittsburgh Pipers
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylvania behind Philadelphia, and the 68th-largest city in the U.S. with a population of 302,971 as of the 2020 census. The city anchors the Pittsburgh metropolitan area of Western Pennsylvania; its population of 2.37 million is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 27th-largest in the U.S. It is the principal city of the greater Pittsburgh–New Castle–Weirton combined statistical area that extends into Ohio and West Virginia. Pittsburgh is located in southwest Pennsylvania at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River, which combine to form the Ohio River. Pittsburgh is known both as "the Steel City" for its more than 300 steel-related businesses and as the ...
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Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first established in 1967 as a member of the American Basketball Association (ABA) and became a member of the NBA in 1976 as a result of the ABA–NBA merger. They play their home games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The team is named after the state of Indiana's history with the Indianapolis 500's pace cars and with the harness racing industry. The Pacers have won three championships, all in the ABA. The Pacers were NBA Eastern Conference champions in 2000. The team has won nine division titles. Six Hall of Fame players – Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, Alex English, Mel Daniels, Roger Brown, and George McGinnis – played with the Pacers for multiple seasons. Franchise history 1967–1976: ABA dynasty In early 1967, a group of six investors (a ...
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1967–68 Minnesota Muskies Season
The 1967–68 Minnesota Muskies season was the first and only season of the Muskies in the newly created American Basketball Association. The team was created on February 2, 1967 for the price of $30,000 to L.P. Shields and Fred Jefferson. The team was named after a nickname for the Muskellunge, which is a fish found in Minnesota. The team did well on the court, finishing 2nd to the Pipers in the Eastern Division. In the playoffs, they made it to the Division Finals, but the Muskies lost in 5 games to the Pipers. However, this proved to be the only season for the Muskies due to losing money (reportedly $400,000) with middling attendance with minimal season tickets purchased (In the five playoff games played in Minnesota, they averaged 3,511 in attendance, with the highest being 8,357 for Game 3 of the Division Finals and the lowest being 661 for Game 1 of the Semifinals). A plan to play 9 games of next season in places around Minnesota and a television contract were curtailed, and ...
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Minneapolis Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, predating the formation of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Founded in 1947, the Lakers are one of the NBA's most famous and successful franchises. As of summer 2012, the Lakers hold the all-time records for wins (3,125), winning percentage (.620), and NBA Finals appearances (32). They are tied in NBA championships with the Boston Celtics, winning 17 NBA titles, and with ten more Finals appearances than the Celtics, their biggest rival. The Lakers are the most successful franchise in NBA history. Their team has had many NBA legends, including George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Clyde Lovellette, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Gail Goodrich, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jamaal Wilkes, James Worthy, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and LeBron James. 1947–1958: Beginnings and Minneapolis dynasty The Lakers franchise began in 1947 when Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen of Minnesota p ...
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George Mikan
George Lawrence Mikan Jr. (; June 18, 1924 – June 1, 2005), nicknamed "Mr. Basketball", was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Minneapolis Lakers of the NBL, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Invariably playing with thick, round spectacles, the , Mikan was one of the pioneers of professional basketball. Through his size and play he redefined it as a game dominated in his day by " big men". His prolific rebounding, shot blocking, and talent to shoot over smaller defenders with his ambidextrous hook shot — the result of the Mikan Drill — created with Ray Meyer, his coach at DePaul University (where Mikan was a three-time All-American), all helped change the game. He also utilized the underhanded free-throw shooting technique long before Rick Barry made it his signature shot. Mikan had an extremely successful playing career, ...
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Les Hunter (basketball)
Leslie Henry Hunter (August 16, 1942 – March 27, 2020) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the American Basketball Association (ABA). Hunter played college basketball for the Loyola Ramblers and was the starting center on their NCAA championship team in 1963. He was a two-time ABA All-Star. Early life Hunter was born in Nashville, Tennessee. A forward/center, Hunter attended Pearl High School and Loyola University Chicago. He played alongside Vic Rouse at Pearl High School and the two would later attend Loyola University together. Hunter and Rouse led Pearl to 54 consecutive victories and black national high school championships in 1958, 1959 and 1960. College career At Loyola, Hunter was the starting center, of the team that upset the University of Cincinnati in overtime to win the 1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Hunter and the other four Loyola starters played the entire game, without substitu ...
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