The 1971–72

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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

season was the fifth season of the franchise while out in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

. The Pacers would end their season with a worse record when compared to their previous season with an eleven game decrease in wins. However, Indiana still finished the season with a second place finish in the Western Division (behind only the defending 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 to ...

) before winning their second ABA title in three years. In the division semifinals, the Pacers required all seven games played in order to eliminate the

Denver Rockets Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of ...

. Then, in the division finals, the

were eliminated in seven games, getting revenge on the Stars for the division finals loss they had to them last season. Finally, the

New York Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

appeared in the ABA Finals championship series for the first time in franchise history, thought the Nets were defeated by the Pacers in six games in the only series the Pacers didn't take to seven games this season.

Offseason

ABA Draft

This draft was the first

ABA draft The American Basketball Association draft was held from 1967 to 1975. Generally speaking, the ABA's drafts were considered a lot looser in terms of structure for teams to make their player choices when compared to the rivaling NBA. So much so, in f ...

to have a properly recorded historical note of every round in their draft available. This draft was notable for Indiana due to the Pacers using the final selection that was done in this draft to select a

gag name A gag name is a pseudonym intended to be humorous through its similarity to both a real name and a term or phrase that is funny, strange, or vulgar. The source of humor stems from the double meaning behind the phrase, although use of the name wi ...

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

player named "Slick Pinkham", who was actually a made-up individual that was a combination of head coach Bobby "Slick" Leonard and Dick Tinkham to essentially prank the entire

for that specific draft. Their draft period was also notable for them acquiring power forward

George McGinnis George F. McGinnis (August 12, 1950 – December 14, 2023) was an American professional basketball player who played 11 seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball ...

, a junior from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

as an undrafted prospect; McGinnis would prove to be a key player for the Pacers during the early 1970s while in the ABA, to the point of being one of four Pacers players to have his number retired with the team as of 2025 (and one of three Pacers players to have their number retired while playing in the ABA alongside former Minnesota Muskies draft pick

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 Bas ...

and Roger Brown, who had previously been banned from the NBA due to perceived involvement in the

1961 NCAA University Division men's basketball gambling scandal During the 1960–61 NCAA University Division men's basketball season, a major gambling scandal involving a former NBA All-Star basketball player and many members of organized crime syndicates broke through which had ultimately been years in the ...

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Season standings

Player stats

Regular season

Transactions

Playoffs

Western Division Semifinals vs.

''Pacers won series, 4–3'' Western Division Finals vs.

''Pacers won series, 4–3'' ABA Finals vs.

''Pacers won series, 4–2''

Awards, records, and honors

* Roger Brown appeared in the

1972 ABA All-Star Game The 1972 American Basketball Association All-Star Game, the league's fifth, was played to a win by the East, 142–115, on January 29, 1972, at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky; it was played before a crowd of 15,738, with Joe Mullaney of th ...

* Mel Daniels appeared in the

* Freddie Lewis appeared in the

References

Pacers on Basketball Reference

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:1971-72 Indiana Pacers season

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

American Basketball Association championship seasons Indiana Pacers seasons