The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

(ABA). The team moved to

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

for the 1973–74 season and were renamed 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 ...

. The Spurs joined the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) for the 1976–77 NBA season as a result of the

ABA–NBA merger The ABA-NBA merger was a major pro sports business maneuver in 1976 when the American Basketball Association (ABA) combined with the National Basketball Association (NBA), after multiple attempts over several years. The NBA and ABA had entered ...

Origin

The team's founding owners, unable to agree on a name for the franchise during an early organizational meeting at the

Sheraton Dallas Hotel The Sheraton Dallas Hotel, formerly the Adam's Mark Hotel and originally the Southland Center, is a complex of International Style skyscrapers located in the City Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas. The hotel is the largest and second ta ...

, named it for the Chaparral Club in which they were meeting. The team drew poor attendance and general disinterest in Dallas. They were lucky to attract crowds in the hundreds. During the 1970–71 season, the team became the Texas Chaparrals and an attempt was made to make the team a regional one, playing games in Fort Worth, at the

Tarrant County Coliseum Tarrant may refer to: Places United Kingdom *River Tarrant, a river in Dorset, after which several villages are named: ** Tarrant Crawford, Dorset ** Tarrant Gunville, Dorset **Tarrant Hinton, Dorset ** Tarrant Keyneston, Dorset **Tarrant Launcesto ...

, as well as

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...

, at the

Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock Municipal Coliseum (formerly City Bank Coliseum) was an 8,344-seat multi-purpose arena in Lubbock, Texas. Although the arena was located on the campus of Texas Tech University, it was owned and operated by the City of Lubbock until 2018. ...

, but this proved a failure and the team returned full-time to Dallas in time for the 1971–72 season, splitting their games at

Moody Coliseum Moody Coliseum is a 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena in University Park, Texas (an inner suburb of Dallas). The arena opened in 1956. It is home to the Southern Methodist University Mustangs basketball teams and volleyball team. It was also home ...

and Dallas Convention Center Arena.

Decline and the move

After missing the playoffs for the first time in their existence in the 1972–73 season, the team was put up for sale. After no credible offers surfaced, the team's original owners leased it to a group of 35

businessmen, led by

Angelo Drossos Angelo Drossos (October 31, 1928 – January 9, 1997) was the owner of the San Antonio Spurs basketball team from 1973 to 1988, from its time in the American Basketball Association through the ABA-NBA merger and into its years in the National Bas ...

and

Red McCombs Billy Joe "Red" McCombs (born October 19, 1927) is an American businessman. He is the founder of the Red McCombs Automotive Group in San Antonio, Texas, a co-founder of Clear Channel Communications, former chairman of Constellis Group, a form ...

. The deal included a three-year option to buy the team outright, after which it would revert to the Dallas group. The Drossos-McCombs group moved the team to

for the 1973–74 season and renamed them the

. San Antonio embraced its new team with open arms; the Spurs surpassed the Chaparrals' entire 1972–73 attendance in only 16 games. Realizing they had a runaway hit on their hands, Drossos and McCombs tore up the lease and completed the purchase after only one year, and the franchise has stayed in San Antonio to this day. However, Dallas would get its own NBA franchise in the form of the expansion

Mavericks Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Bureau ...

, who began play in the 1980-81 season.

Legacy

The Chaparrals' road uniform was featured in ''

NBA Live 2004 ''NBA Live 2004'' is the 2004 installment of the '' NBA Live'' video games series. The cover features Vince Carter as a member of the Toronto Raptors and in Spain copies of ''NBA Live 2004'' feature Raul Lopez. The game was developed by EA Spor ...

'' as a hidden jersey. The Spurs wore the Chaparrals uniform in selected games in the 2011–12 NBA season prior to the 45th Anniversary of the ABA.

Basketball Hall of Famers

Notes: * ¹ Also served as head coach (1967–1970).

Season-by-season

, - , colspan="6" align=center style="background:#006BB6; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #ED174C;", Dallas Chaparrals , - , 1967–68 , , 46 , , 32 , , .590 , , Won Division Semifinals
Lost Semifinals , , Dallas 3,

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

4, Dallas 1 , - , 1968–69 , , 41 , , 37 , , .526 , , Lost Division Semifinals , ,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

4, Dallas 3 , - , 1969–70 , , 45 , , 39 , , .512 , , Lost Division Semifinals , ,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

4, Dallas 2 , - , colspan="6" align=center style="background:#006BB6; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #ED174C;", Texas Chaparrals , - , 1970–71 , , 30 , , 54 , , .357 , , Lost Division Semifinals , ,

4, Texas 0 , - , colspan="6" align=center style="background:#006BB6; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #ED174C;", Dallas Chaparrals , - , 1971–72 , , 42 , , 42 , , .500 , , Lost Division Semifinals , ,

4, Dallas 0 , - , 1972–73 , , 28 , , 56 , , .333 , , colspan=2, Did not qualify , -

References

External links

Dallas Chaparrals on RememberTheABA.com
{{San Antonio Spurs American Basketball Association teams Basketball teams established in 1967 Defunct basketball teams in Texas 1967 establishments in Texas 1973 disestablishments in Texas Sports teams in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Basketball in Dallas Sports clubs disestablished in 1973