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He hired the first general manager and was instrumental in choosing the team’s new name and in signing Gervin. Drossos (a “brilliant negotiator”) with McCombs brokered the deal to buy the team and set out to find additional investors. The importance of Angelo Drossos both to the Spurs organization and the NBA in general cannot be overstated.
The ABA officially folded in June 1976, and four of its surviving teams-the Spurs, the Indiana Pacers, the New York Nets, and the Denver Nuggets-joined the NBA for the 1976–77 season. In the ABA's last three seasons the Spurs finished third, second, and third, but again lost in the first round of the playoffs each time. The high-scoring Gervin, nicknamed "Iceman" for his unflappable demeanor, almost immediately established himself as one of the most popular players in the team's history. But during the season the Spurs made what later proved to be the most significant trade in team history, acquiring the virtually unknown George Gervin from the struggling Virginia Squires. The Spurs got off to a 1–6 start, and only 1,799 people showed up for the Spurs' first win at the HemisFair Arena. Initially, at least, the changes did not seem to help much. "Red" McCombs, bought the team and moved it to San Antonio, renaming it the Spurs. In the team's final game at the Dallas Convention Center, the paid attendance was reported to be only 134.Īt this low point in franchise history, a group of San Antonio businessmen, including Angelo Drossos, John Schaefer, Art Burdick, and B. Lack of fan support remained an insurmountable problem. For the 1970–71 season the team changed its name to Texas Chaparrals in an attempt to gain a wider regional following, but abandoned the experiment after one season. In five tries, the Chaps made it past the first round of the playoffs only once, in their first season, but lost in the second round. During their six seasons in Dallas, the Chaparrals enjoyed moderate success on the court, twice finishing second in the ABA Western Division, but repeatedly stumbled in the postseason playoffs.
The franchise played in Dallas for six seasons, moved to San Antonio before the 1973–74 season, then joined the NBA after the ABA folded in 1976.
#SAN ANTONIO SPURS RUDY GAY JERSEY PROFESSIONAL#
The San Antonio Spurs, a professional basketball team in the Southwest Division of the National Basketball Association's Western Conference, began play as the Dallas Chaparrals, a charter team of the American Basketball Association, in 1967.