1973–74 San Diego Conquistadors season
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The 1973–74 American Basketball Association season saw the
San Diego Conquistadors The San Diego Conquistadors (known as the San Diego Sails in their final, partial season), were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in San Diego. The "Q's", as they were popularly known, played from 1972 to 1975. As the Sails, the ...
acquire
Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely reg ...
as a player and coach, finish tied for fourth place in the ABA's Western Division, defeat the
Denver Rockets Denver () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States#State capital, capital, and List of municipalities in Colorado#, most populous city of th ...
in a one-game playoff for that spot and then bow out to the
Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving t ...
4 games to 2 in the Western Division Semifinals.


Offseason


Draft picks


Undergraduate draft

On September 26, 1973, the Conquistadors signed Wilt Chamberlain to a three-year, $1.8 million contract as the team's player-coach. The Los Angeles Lakers promptly went to court and won a ruling that Chamberlain could only play professional basketball for the Lakers, but the court did allow Chamberlain to coach the Conquistadors.
Stan Albeck Charles Stanley Albeck (May 17, 1931 – March 25, 2021) was an American professional basketball coach. Albeck coached for several teams in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA), including the Denver ...
was hired as the Conquistadors' assistant coach and as the team's Director of Player Personnel. As events played out, Albeck often acted as the team's head coach during Chamberlain's erratic absences. Also during the preseason the Conquistadors signed Travis "Machine Gun" Grant to the roster. During the preseason the Conquistadors were an anomaly in that they, unlike other ABA teams, did not play any exhibition games against NBA teams.


Regular season


Roster


Season standings

1973–74 ABA Season Summary - Basketball-Reference.com
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Game log

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Month by Month


October 1973

The Conquistadors opened the ABA season on October 10, 1973, with a road game against the
San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...
. 5,879 attended as the Conquistadors prevailed, 121–106, behind
Stew Johnson Stewart "Stew" Johnson (born August 19, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'8" (2.03 m) tall forward/center from Murray State University, that was born in New York City, Johnson was selected by the New York Knicks in th ...
's game-high 38 points. The following night 5,013 fans saw the Conquistadors lose on the road to the
Denver Rockets Denver () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States#State capital, capital, and List of municipalities in Colorado#, most populous city of th ...
, 135–111. The following night the Conquistadors played their home opener in front of 2,318 fans but lost to the
Memphis Tams Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...
118–113 in spite of Stew Johnson's 34 points. After a week off, the Conquistadors again faced the Rockets, this time on their home court in San Diego. The Conquistadors lost again to the Rockets, 113–100. Stew Johnson scored 23 points in front of 2,468 fans. Two nights later, on October 21, the Conquistadors took to their home court in front of 2,261 fans and lost a double-overtime game to the Indiana Pacers, 112–105. After another day off the Conquistadors hosted the Spurs and lost 112–110 in front of 2,468 fans. On October 26 the Conquistadors, now 1–5, took the court in San Diego against the
Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving t ...
and their 4–5 record. With a crowd of 2,358 watching,
Bo Lamar Dwight "Bo" Lamar (born April 7, 1951) is a former professional American basketball player. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, he graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Lamar was a l ...
scored 36 points to lead the Conquistadors to a 122–102 victory. On October 28 the Conquistadors took their home floor against Memphis and the teams set an ABA record for the most 2 point field goals in a single game by two teams (117). The Conquistadors won, 146–133, in front of 1,906 fans. On October 29 the Conquistadors signed
Caldwell Jones Caldwell "Pops" Jones (August 4, 1950 – September 21, 2014) was an American professional basketball player. Jones was drafted out of Albany State College by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 14th pick in the 1973 NBA draft. He played three seaso ...
as they traded Larry Miller to the
Virginia Squires The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976. The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, ...
for Jones.


November 1973

The Conquistadors took a 3–5 record into November. On November 1 the Q's and Tams met again, this time in Memphis, and the Conquistadors repeated as victors, 103–100, in front of 6,273 fans. The following night in Salt Lake City the Conquistadors took their improved 4–5 record into the Salt Palace in front of 7,168 fans but lost to the Stars 126–110. November 6 saw the Q's on the road at Denver, losing 110–104 to the Rockets before a crowd of 2,058. The following night in San Antonio the Conquistadors managed only 9 points in the entire first quarter against the Spurs. A furious comeback led by Bo Lamar's 34 points made for a tight game but the Q's could not overcome their terrible first quarter and lost 105–104 in front of 7,101 fans. That same day, November 7, brought bad news for the franchise: a ballot initiative to fund team owner Leonard Bloom's proposed 20,000 seat arena was defeated by the electorate. 19,000 ballots were cast in the referendum and the proposal lost by only 294 votes. As a result, attendance problems, which already were bad because the Q's were forced to play in tiny Golden Hall (3,200 seats) instead of in the San Diego Sports Arena, became worse as rumors swirled that the Conquistadors would move to
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
at the end of the season. The league did, in fact, on November 10 order Bloom to begin investigating such a move. The Q's next took the court on November 10, facing the New York Nets in San Diego.
Julius Erving Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American former professional basketball player. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and he was the best-known player ...
scored 35 points for the Nets but the Q's prevailed 107–105 in front of 2,369 fans. The following night the Q's took their home court again, with only 1,422 in attendance, and eked out a narrow 102–101 victory against the Indiana Pacers to bring their season record to 6–8. November 14 brought the Q's to Salt Lake City once again, where the Stars prevailed 129–119 in front of 6,354 fans despite Stew Johnson's game-high 23 points. On November 16 the Conquistadors lost in overtime at home against the Denver Rockets, 130–126; only 1,666 fans were reported for the game. The following night the Q's lost to the Spurs in San Antonio, 118–96; Stew Johnson scored 32 in front of 4,046 fans. On November 21 the Q's took their home floor in front of 1,685 fans and defeated the Carolina Cougars 139–125 behind Bo Lamar's game-high 36 points. A brief winning streak commenced for the Q's as they met the Cougars again on November 23 in
Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...
and came away with a 111–107 overtime victory behind Stew Johnson's 30 points. The following night saw a close game in front of 3,421 fans in
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...
as the Conquistadors played a tough game but lost 124–121 to the Kentucky Colonels and that team's fearsome front line as
Dan Issel Daniel Paul Issel (born October 25, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, Issel was twice named an All-American en route to a school-record 25.7 points per ...
and
Artis Gilmore Artis Gilmore (born September 21, 1949) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). Gilmore was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basket ...
scored 30 points each for Kentucky. November 27 saw another Q's loss, this time in Indianapolis to the Pacers, 129–117, before 8,018 fans. The Q's next game came on November 28 as they lost 134–108 to the Nets in front of 6,884 fans in
Uniondale, New York Uniondale is a census-designated place (CDP), as well as a suburb in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead. The population was 32,473 at the 2020 United States Census. Uniondale is home to Hofstra University's nort ...
. On the 30th the Conquistadors took an 8–14 record into their final game of November, a home matchup against the
Virginia Squires The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976. The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, ...
. The Conquistadors scored 86 points in the first half. Virginia's George Gervin put in 37 points but the Q's held on for a 145–139 victory to close out the month at 9–14.


December 1973

On the 2nd they opened the month at home against the Utah Stars and won 105–100 before 1,230 fans. Another win came two nights later in Memphis as the Q's bested the Tams 112–101 before 2,285 fans. The following night the Conquistadors took their improved 11–14 record to Denver but lost a lopsided game to the Rockets, 138–108, in front of 3,773 fans. On the 7th came another loss, 121–113, in front of 7,158 fans on the Utah Stars' homecourt. The following night saw a home loss to the Spurs, 95–85, with attendance at 1,624. On December 11 Wilt Chamberlain's bench role became final as an arbitrator ruled that, due to the option year on his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers (later thrown out in the Oscar Robertson suit), Chamberlain was bound to the Lakers for the season and could not play for San Diego. December 12 saw the Q's prevail 119–113 on the Indiana Pacers' home court; Bo Lamar had 30 points, as did Indiana's
George McGinnis George F. McGinnis (born August 10, 1950) is an American former professional basketball player who played 11 seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted into the ABA from Indiana ...
. 6,831 turned up for the Pacers game; only 1,200 were announced the following night in Memphis as the Q's defeated the Tams 107–104. One night later a 112–104 road victory over the Nets followed, this time in front of 8,223 fans. The Conquistadors' three-game winning streak came to an end on their home court the following night in front of 1,764 fans as the Kentucky Colonels came away with a 106–101 win despite Stew Johnson's 40 points. On December 19 the Conquistadors took their 14–18 record to Denver and defeated the Rockets 118–113 before 3,031 fans. December 21 saw the Conquistadors pull out a 140–130 win against the Carolina Cougars in front of 1,368 home fans. The following night in San Antonio the Q's earned an overtime victory in front of 8,769 Spurs fans; the final score was 129–123 and the Conquistadors were now one game away from .500 with 17 wins and 18 losses. Once again, however, the Conquistadors had a three-game winning streak ended by the Kentucky Colonels, 123–120 in San Diego. 2,368 fans were announced as Dan Issel led all scorers with 31 points. A 102–98 road loss to the Utah Stars followed, as 6,157 fans watched. One night later the Q's lost at home 104–76 to the San Antonio Spurs. December 29 saw the Conquistadors rebound with a 124–119 home victory against the New York Nets. The Nets had a 22-point lead at halftime but the Conquistadors mounted a furious comeback to down that season's eventual ABA champions. Attendance improved to 2,511 for that game but dipped to 1,816 the following night as the Indiana Pacers managed a one-point win against the Q's, 109–108. San Diego ended December and 1973 with an 18–22 record.


January 1974

January 1974 saw the Conquistadors trade
Red Robbins Austin "Red" Robbins (September 30, 1944 – November 18, 2009Jimmy Smith NOLA.com. November 18, 2009. Retrieved on November 18, 2009.) was an American basketball player. Robbins, a 6'8" forward/center from Leesburg, Florida, starred at the ...
and Chuck Williams to the Kentucky Colonels for Jimmy O'Brien and a future draft choice. On January 4 the Q's opened the new year in front of 2,101 fans but lost to the San Antonio Spurs 112–105. The next evening saw a loss on the road at Denver; the Rockets prevailed 146–122 as
Warren Jabali Warren Jabali (August 29, 1946 – July 13, 2012) was an American basketball player. He played professionally in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1968 to 1975. Early career Born Warren Edward Armstrong, Jabali changed his name wh ...
dished 19 assists in front of 6,183 spectators. The next evening saw the Conquistadors lose a home game in front of 1,329 fans to the Carolina Cougars, 120–109;
Mack Calvin Mack Calvin (born July 27, 1947) is an American former basketball player. A five-time ABA All-Star, Calvin recorded the second most assists in ABA history, and was later named to the ABA All-Time Team. High school career Calvin was born in Fort W ...
scored 29 points and
Caldwell Jones Caldwell "Pops" Jones (August 4, 1950 – September 21, 2014) was an American professional basketball player. Jones was drafted out of Albany State College by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 14th pick in the 1973 NBA draft. He played three seaso ...
tied an ABA record with 12 blocked shots. On January 9 the Q's dropped a 115–112 contest on the Utah Stars' home court; 5,784 were in attendance and
Willie Wise Willie M. Wise (born March 3, 1947) is an American former professional basketball player. After a successful ABA tenure, which eventually resulted in him making the ABA All-Time Team, Wise’s NBA career was ended prematurely by a knee injury. ...
scored 35 points. The next evening saw the Conquistadors notch their first win of 1974, prevailing 109–107 against the Indiana Pacers in front of 5,016 fans in Indianapolis. Next was a home loss on January 12 to the Stars; 1,851 watched Utah prevail as Willie Wise put in 29 points. On January 13 Bo Lamar scored a game-high 50 points as San Diego won on its home court 141–130 against the Indiana Pacers; attendance was 1,386 for the game. January 16 saw a road loss to the Virginia Squires despite Bo Lamar's 28 points. On January 17 the Q's dropped a matchup against the Spurs in San Antonio 101–97; 4,138 attended and Bird Averitt scored 35. The following evening 1,683 saw San Diego lose a home game to Denver, 120–113. January 20 brought the Q's to Indianapolis for a one-point loss to the Pacers, 123–122, as Bo Lamar and George McGinnis each scored 40 points in front of 9,164 fans. January 23 saw the Conquistadors, 2–9 in January so far, pull off an upset, defeating the Kentucky Colonels 106–99 in
Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...
in front of 9,307 as Bo Lamar led all scorers with 25 points. The next evening San Diego won its second road game in a row 125–108 against the Virginia Squires despite
George Gervin George Gervin ( ; born April 27, 1952), nicknamed "the Iceman", is an American former professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Virginia Squires, ...
's 27 points. The Q's brief winning streak came to an end on January 25 with a 116–104 road loss to the Carolina Cougars as Travis Grant scored 23. January 27 saw the Conquistadors lose a close one on their home court to the Kentucky Colonels 105–103; attendance had improved to 3,011 but
Dan Issel Daniel Paul Issel (born October 25, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, Issel was twice named an All-American en route to a school-record 25.7 points per ...
's 34 points were too much to overcome. The next evening the Q's lost in Salt Lake City 120–109 to the Utah Stars; 9,464 watched as Travis Grant scored 28 points. The Conquistadors ended January with a 4–12 record for the month; their overall record stood at 22 wins and 34 losses (.393). A high point came on January 30 as Stew Johnson represented the Conquistadors while playing in the ABA All-Star Game.


February 1974

The Conquistadors opened the new month with a home win on its first day, defeating the Indiana Pacers 124–119 despite George McGinnis' 38 points; San Diego's attendance problems continued as only 1,237 fans came to the game. February 3 brought another home victory for the Q's as they defeated the Virginia Squires 107–104, with 1,058 in attendance. On February 6 the Conquistadors, in front of 1,236 fans, took their home win streak to three games by defeating the Memphis Tams 136–120. The streak went to four on February 8 as the traveling San Antonio Spurs lost 120–105 as Bo Lamar put in 48 points in front of a crowd of 1,326. On February 10 the Q's, now 25–34, had their home win streak come to an end as the Utah Stars prevailed 120–107 despite Bo Lamar's 30 points. On February 13 the Conquistadors lost at home to the Indiana Pacers, 128–119; 1,066 attended. February 17 saw another San Diego home win and improved attendance as the Conquistadors took down the Carolina Cougars 129–123 in front of 1,866 as Travis Grant put in 41 points. Another home win came on February 20 as the Q's defeated the Utah Stars 109–97 in front of 1,184 fans. February 22 brought a road loss to the New York Nets, 121–113; the Conquistadors' next game, on February 26, was a 126–119 win on the Virginia Squires' home court as Travis Grant led all scorers with 32. The next evening brought another road win, 119–117 against the Carolina Cougars. February was San Diego's best of the season with an 8–3 record, bringing the team to an overall record of 30–37.


March 1974

San Diego's solid February gave way to a bad stretch to start March. The Conquistadors faced the New York Nets on the road on the first day of the month and lost 138–119 despite Stew Johnson's 35 points. March 3 saw the Conquistadors routed at Denver, 139–112; five Rockets scored 20 or more points. Next on March 6 came a 123–97 road loss to the New York Nets, and March 8 saw the Q's lose on the San Antonio Spurs' court 115–113 despite Bo Lamar's 39 points. The next evening saw the Conquistadors' first victory of the month, a 100–96 home win against Denver as Stew Johnson scored 29 in front of 1,020 fans. San Diego repeated that feat the following night in Denver, winning 114–99 behind Bo Lamar's 33. March 13 brought a home victory against the Virginia Squires, 119–103; Caldwell Jones scored 34 in front of 1,319. The Q's three game win streak ended on the road on March 15 as the Indiana Pacers won 145–129, with Tim Bassett setting a record with 18 offensive rebounds. The next evening brought a road win against the Carolina Cougars, 101–90; Bo Lamar had 26 points. The next night saw San Diego lose a close game at home to the Memphis Tams, 118–115; 1,583 attended as Bo Lamar scored 34. March 20 brought a win for the Q's, 125–122 at home against the Virginia Squires, as 2,598 – a great crowd for San Diego though not for the league – saw Stew Johnson pour in 45 points. March 22 saw a 111–106 road loss to the New York Nets despite Caldwell Jones' 27; a 109–101 road loss to the Virginia Squires came on the next night. On March 24 Caldwell Jones led all scorers with 30 points on the Kentucky Colonels' home court but Kentucky won 122–111 in front of 9,115 fans. March 26 brought a 110–105 road win against the Memphis Tams behind Bo Lamar's 33 points; the following night the Conquistadors defeated the Kentucky Colonels in San Diego 121–108 as 3,006 fans saw Stew Johnson score 40 points. With that upset and the two-game win streak the Conquistadors edged themselves into a tie with the Denver Rockets for fourth place in the Western Division as they finished the regular season with a record of 37–47 after going 7–9 in March. San Diego's average home attendance for the season stood at 1,843, a drop off of 404 from their average of 2,247 during the prior season, their first. Bo Lamar was named to the ABA All-Rookie Team as the Conquistadors headed for a one-game playoff with Denver for the right to enter the
1974 ABA Playoffs The 1974 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association's 1973-1974 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion New York Nets defeating the Western Division champion Utah Stars, four gam ...
at fourth place in the Western Division.


Playoffs

The Conquistadors and the
Denver Rockets Denver () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States#State capital, capital, and List of municipalities in Colorado#, most populous city of th ...
both finished the regular season with 37 wins and 47 losses and thus tied for fourth place in the Western Division. As a result, the two met for a one-game playoff to determine which of the two teams would claim the fourth and final playoff spot in the Western Division. The Rockets had won 8 of their 11 regular season games against San Diego. The two teams met in
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
on March 29, 1974, and the Conquistadors won, 131–111, thus laying sole claim to the Western Division fourth place spot and a berth in the
1974 ABA Playoffs The 1974 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association's 1973-1974 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion New York Nets defeating the Western Division champion Utah Stars, four gam ...
against the Western Division champion
Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving t ...
. The Stars had finished the regular season with a 51–33 record, 14 games ahead of the Conquistadors. The Western Division Semifinals began the very next day, on March 30, at the
Salt Palace The Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center, more commonly known as the Salt Palace, is a convention center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Named after Utah's 11th governor, Calvin L. Rampton, the name "Salt Palace" was previously used by two ...
in
Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
. The
Stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...
won 114–99, and again on April 1, 119–105. On April 3 the teams met in San Diego and the Conquistadors won a close game 97–96 to cut the Stars' series lead to 2–1. The following night, April 4, the Conquistadors evened up the series at 2–2 with a 100–98 victory on their home court. The teams then returned to Salt Lake City where, on April 6, the Stars won 100–93 to take a 3–2 series lead. On April 8 the Stars and Conquistadors met in San Diego for Game 6 in the series. The Stars prevailed 110–99 to eliminate the Conquistadors and advance to the Western Division Finals against the Indiana Pacers. The Stars went on to defeat the Pacers 4 games to 3 before losing the ABA Championship to the Eastern Division champion
New York Nets 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, ...
, 4 games to 1. Western Division Semifinals ''Conquistadors lose series, 4–2''


Awards and records


Awards

*Stew Johnson: ABA All-Star *Bo Lamar: ABA All-Rookie Team


Records

*October 28, 1973: combined with Memphis Tams for ABA record most 2 point field goals for two teams combined (117) *November 7, 1973: fewest points (9) in a first quarter, season (vs. San Antonio Spurs) *November 30, 1973: most points (86) in the first half, season (vs. Virginia Squires) *January 5, 1974: Warren Jabali, 19 assists (vs. Denver Rockets) *January 6, 1974: Caldwell Jones, most blocked shots in one game (tied record with 12), vs. Carolina Cougars *March 15, 1974: Tim Bassett, ABA record 18 offensive rebounds (vs. Indiana Pacers)


Transactions


Draft and preseason signings

The Conquistadors drafted Bird Averitt, who signed with the San Antonio Spurs, and Bo Lamar and Tim Bassett, both of whom signed with and played for the Conquistadors. In the undergraduate draft the Conquistadors drafted UCLA's star center Bill Walton, who opted to stay in school. On September 26, 1973 Wilt Chamberlain was signed to a 3-year, $1.8 million contract as the team's player-coach, but litigation with the Los Angeles Lakers kept Chamberlain off the court. Travis "Machine Gun" Grant was signed in the pre-season.


Trades

*October 29, 1973: Larry Miller traded to the Virginia Squires for Caldwell Jones *January 1974: Red Robbins and Chuck Williams traded to the Kentucky Colonels for Jimmy O'Brien and a future draft pick


Notes


References


Conquistadors on Basketball Reference


External links



* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080509193901/http://www.remembertheaba.com/San-Diego-Conquistadors.html RememberTheABA.com San Diego Conquistadors pagebr>RememberTheABA.com 1973–74 game by game results
{{DEFAULTSORT:1973-74 San Diego Conquistadors season
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
San Diego Conquistadors San Diego Conquistadors, 1973-74 San Diego Conquistadors, 1973-74