The New Orleans Buccaneers 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, ...
. After three seasons in
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
the franchise moved to
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, where it became the
Pros,
Tams and
Sounds
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
for four years before
an abortive move to
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
in 1975.
Origins
With the founding of the ABA on February 2, 1967 a charter franchise was awarded to a group of seven investors, including
Morton Downey, Jr.
Sean Morton Downey Jr. (December 9, 1932 – March 12, 2001) was an American television talk show host and actor who pioneered the "Tabloid talk show, trash TV" format in the late-1980s on his program ''The Morton Downey Jr. Show''.
Early life
...
The group obtained their franchise for $1,000 as opposed to the $30,000 fronted by most other original teams.
Charles G. Smither, one of the seven owners, served as team president; another of the investors,
Maurice M. Stern, was operations manager. The team was named the New Orleans Buccaneers and former
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...
head coach
Babe McCarthy
James Harrison "Babe" McCarthy (October 1, 1923 – March 17, 1975), was an American professional and collegiate basketball coach. McCarthy was originally from Baldwyn, Mississippi. McCarthy may best be remembered for Mississippi State's appearan ...
was signed as its first coach. Among the team's first players were
Doug Moe
Douglas Edwin Moe (born September 21, 1938) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. As a head coach with the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 1988.
Ea ...
,
Larry Brown,
Gerald Govan
Gerald Govan (born January 2, 1942) is a retired American professional basketball player. He played nine seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA), from 1967 to 1976.
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Govan played high school basketball ...
,
Jimmy Jones and
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 ...
.
1967–1968 season
The Buccaneers played their home games at the
Loyola University Fieldhouse
Field house or fieldhouse is an American English term for an indoor sports arena or stadium, mostly used for college basketball, volleyball, or ice hockey, or a support building for various adjacent sports fields, e.g. locker room, team room, coac ...
during their first season and averaged 2,337 fans per game there. Doug Moe, Red Robbins, Larry Brown and Jimmy Jones played in the ABA All Star game and Babe McCarthy coaches the West team in the game. Larry Brown was the Most Valuable Player of the inaugural ABA All Star game and led the ABA in assists that season en route to being named Second Team All ABA. Doug Moe was named First Team All ABA and Jimmy Jones made the ABA All Rookie Team. The Buccaneers recruited
Jackie Moreland
Jack Wade Moreland, known as Jackie Moreland (March 11, 1938 – December 19, 1971), was an American basketball player for the Detroit Pistons and the former New Orleans Buccaneers. He played college basketball for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.
...
, originally from
Minden
Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...
, who had played for the
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...
from 1960–1965.
The Buccaneers finished the season in first place in the Western Division with 48 wins and 30 losses, putting them two games ahead of the
Dallas Chaparrals
The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team moved to San Antonio, Texas for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association ...
and three games ahead of the
Denver Rockets
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 United ...
. The Buccaneers then defeated the Denver Rockets 3 games to 2 in the
Western Division semifinals and then defeated the Dallas Chaparrals 4 games to 1 to win the
Western Division championship. The Buccaneers then advanced to the first ever ABA Championship series, facing the
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 Pennsylva ...
. The Buccaneers and Pipers split the first six games but the Pipers won the decisive seventh game 122-113 to win the
1968 ABA championship.
1968–1969 season
Prior to the season the Buccaneers traded away Larry Brown and Doug Moe to the
Oakland Oaks in exchange for
Steve Jones and
Ron Franz Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald.
Ron or RON may also refer to:
Arts and media
* Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character
* Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character
*Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...
. New Orleans'
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 Steve Jones played in the ABA All Star Game. The Buccaneers finished the season with a record of 46 wins and 32 losses which put them in second place in the Western Division, 14 games behind the Oakland Oaks who had posted a remarkable 60-18 (.769) record. The Buccaneers drew an average of 2,834 fans per home game.
The Buccaneers met the
Dallas Chaparrals
The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The team moved to San Antonio, Texas for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs joined the National Basketball Association ...
in the Western Division semifinals and prevailed in a close series, 4 games to 3. Advancing to the Western Division finals, the Buccaneers fell to the Oakland Oaks 4 games to none.
1969–1970 season
The Buccaneers moved their home games to Tulane Gym (now known as
Devlin Fieldhouse
Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse is a 4,100-seat, multi-purpose arena built in 1933 on Tulane University's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Since its opening, it has been home to the Tulane Green Wave men's and women's bask ...
) and the
Municipal Auditorium for the season. Jimmy Jones suffered a knee injury in December that limited his action for the season; he was still selected to play in the ABA All Star game along with teammates Steve Jones and Gerald Govan. Babe McCarthy again coached the West team.
The Bucs finished at .500 with 42 wins and 42 losses. This placed the team in fifth (last) place in that season's highly competitive Western Division, keeping the Buccaneers out of the playoffs. (In the Eastern Division that season that record would have tied them for third place and put them in the playoffs.) For the season, New Orleans averaged 2,599 fans per home game.
End of tenure in New Orleans
The team picked up
Wendell Ladner
Wendell Ladner (October 6, 1948 – June 24, 1975) was an American professional basketball player most notable for his playing time in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1970 to 1975.
Ladner was born in Necaise Crossing, Hancock Co ...
in the draft and rechristened itself the Louisiana Buccaneers, planning to play its home games throughout the state during the 1970–1971 season including in New Orleans,
Shreveport,
Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757â ...
,
Monroe and
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...
. Like most ABA teams, the Bucs were never on strong financial ground, and the move to the smaller Tulane Gym combined with the marked dropoff in their play caused revenue to dry up. It was hoped that becoming a "regional" franchise would provide more capital.
However, on August 21, 1970 the franchise was purchased by a new owner and ten days later it was moved to
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
and renamed the
Memphis Pros
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
* Memph ...
.
The Buccaneers nickname was picked up by a new
NFL expansion team in 1976. Since 2002, the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
and
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
have competed against each other in the
NFC South
The National Football Conference – Southern Division or NFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created prior to the 2002 NFL season, when ...
division.
On December 10, 2008, in a game against the now
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...
, the Buccaneers were for the first time "revived" by the
New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...
, the city's current
NBA
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 St ...
franchise, who played the game in 1967–68 styled Bucs throwback jerseys. The team's cheerleading squad was also dressed in Bucs throwback outfits, Bucs video highlights were played throughout the game, and many of the team's past players and coaches were honored at halftime. The Pelicans would win the game 105-89.
ESPN - Charlotte vs. New Orleans - Recap - December 10, 2008
/ref> The Pelicans wore their Buccaneers throwback jerseys once again in a road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
on January 16, 2009, with Cleveland coming out on top 92-78.
Basketball Hall of Famers
Notes:
* 1 Inducted as a coach.
Season-by-season
, -
, colspan="6" align=center style="background:#ED1C24; color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center; border:2px solid #000080;", New Orleans Buccaneers
, -
, 1967–68 , , 48 , , 30 , , .615 , , Won Division Semifinals
Won Division Finals
Lost ABA Finals, , New Orleans 3, Denver 2
New Orleans 4, Dallas 1
Pittsburgh 4, New Orleans 3
, -
, 1968–69 , , 46 , , 32 , , .590 , , Won Division Semifinals
Lost Division Finals , , New Orleans 4, Dallas 3
Oakland 4, New Orleans 0
, -
, 1969–70 , , 42 , , 42 , , .500 , , colspan=2, Did not qualify
, -
Notes
The Buccaneers' road uniform was featured in ''NBA Live 07
''NBA Live 07'' is the 2006 installment of the ''NBA Live'' series by EA Sports. It was released on Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Windows.
Cover
''NBA Live 07'' features Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets as the ...
'' as a hidden jersey.
Notes and references
External links
Remember the ABA New Orleans Buccaneers page
{{ABAteams
American Basketball Association teams
Defunct basketball teams in the United States
Basketball teams established in 1967
1967 establishments in Louisiana
1970 disestablishments in Louisiana
Basketball teams disestablished in 1970
Basketball teams in New Orleans