Kansas City, Missouri was granted a charter franchise in the American Basketball Association in February 1967.

History

Kansas City's first pro basketball team was the Kansas City Blues of the ill-fated

Professional Basketball League of America The Professional Basketball League of America (1947–1948) was a basketball league in the United States that was started in 1947 in response to the tremendous upsurge in interest in basketball in the era immediately following World War II. T ...

in 1947; the league folded within a month, and the Blues played only six games. In 1961, the American Basketball League was formed; one of its teams were the Kansas City Steers, who qualified for the ABL's first (and only) championship series in 1962, which they lost to the

Cleveland Pipers The Cleveland Pipers were an American industrial basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Pipers are mostly known for having played in the short-lived American Basketball League from 1961–62. They were also a p ...

. The Steers and the ABL returned for the 1962-63 season, but the league folded on the last day of 1962; the Steers, with a 22-9 record, were considered unofficial champions of the truncated season. On February 2, 1967, the ABA was created with eleven charter teams, including an unnamed Kansas City franchise. The Kansas City team was awarded for $35,000 to James B. Trindle; on March 27, 1967,

Vince Boryla Vincent Joseph Boryla (March 11, 1927 – March 27, 2016) was an American basketball player, coach and executive. His nickname was "Moose". He graduated from East Chicago Washington High School in 1944. He played basketball at the University of N ...

was named general manager. But the club had problems finding an arena to host their games in Kansas City. Municipal Auditorium, which had hosted Blues and Steers games, had just been awarded a

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

franchise, which was to be the top farm club of the NHL's expansion

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

,https://www.newspapers.com/image/675030966/ ''Kansas City Star'', April 2, 1967, p.1-S thus limiting its available home dates. So, on April 1, 1967, the team was relocated to Denver and named the

Denver Larks 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 ...

. Meanwhile, Trindle's financial problems lead Boryla to resign; ultimately, the team was sold to J. William Ringsby, who soon renamed the team 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 homage to his trucking business, Rocket Truck Lines. The Denver Rockets played in the ABA from 1967 through 1974, when they became the Denver Nuggets and played as such through the ABA's final two seasons. With the ABA-NBA merger in 1976, the Nuggets joined the NBA and continue to play in that league to the present day.

Subsequent events

Professional basketball returned to Kansas City in 1972 when the

Cincinnati Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

relocated there and became the

Kansas City Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Pacific Division ( ...

. The Kings left for

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

in 1985 and Kansas City has been without an NBA franchise since then. The city has had several teams in the semi-pro, 21st-century version of the American Basketball Association, including the

Kansas City Knights The Kansas City Knights was the name of an American Basketball Association minor league basketball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They have not played since the 2004–05 season. Franchise history The Knights were one of the ABA's chart ...

, who won the ABA crown in 2002.

References

External links

RememberTheABA.com page on the team
{{Denver Nuggets American Basketball Association teams Denver Nuggets Basketball teams in Missouri Sports in the Kansas City metropolitan area Basketball teams established in 1967 Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1967 1967 establishments in Missouri 1967 disestablishments in Missouri Basketball teams disestablished in 1967