| Utah Stars history
Quick facts:
Founded: 1967 as Anaheim Amigos
Arena: Salt Palace
Division Championships: 2
ABA Titles: 1 (1971)
Playoffs: 6
Cost: $30,000
Fun Facts:
The Stars set the ABA single game attendence record when they hosted the Kentucky Colones in game 7 of the 1971 ABA championship. 13,260 were on hand to see the Stars win their only ABA title and Utah's first professional sports title. Another Utah professional team would not win a title until 2009 when Real Salt Lake won the MLS cup.
Not so fun fact:
Because the Amigos where so cash strapped and injury prone, on two occassions the team had dress public relations director Dick Lee.
Lee played in two games for the Amigos, never scoring a point and dishing out 1 assists and grabbing one board.
Lee had played basketball at the University of Washington from 1962-65, appearing in 47 games over three seasons in mostly mop up duty.
Lost Logo:
In one of the stranger stories in sports, the Anaheim Amigos lost their original logo concept. The image you see above was going to originally be their primary logo but it got lost in the paper. The Amigos quickly replaced it with what is now their main logo.The original logo was found or recreated and used with promotional items for the team.
The Name the lives on:
The Utah Stars name is one that keeps living on in sports. Usually when a team dies the name dies with it never to be used again, but not with the Stars. The first time the name got mentioned to be brought back was in 1979 when the New Orleans Jazz relocated to Salt Lake City. Ultimately, because the bad blood between the NBA and the ABA that name was not chosen. Next was the WNBA's Utah Starzz. The Starzz took the double Z name to fit with the rest of Salt Lake teams (Jazz, and Buzz). They were one of the original WNBA teams but only lasted a few season before moving to San Antonio and eventually Las Vegas to become the Aces. In 2009 the WPSL team in Utah called the Utah Spiders changed their name to the Utah Starzz.
Currently the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G-league has the name. Formerly the Idaho Stampede the team relocated to Utah in 2016 and have kept the name to honor the ABA champions. The Stars also wear throwback Utah Stars gear and have become the spiritual successors to the team.
Fan rush the court after the Stars won the championship
Zelmo Beaty with a jumpshot vs Memphis.
Two identical photos of a very young Moses Malone, one restored one not.
The Collapse of the Baltimore Claws and the Final Days of the ABA
The Baltimore Claws were one of the shortest-lived franchises in professional basketball history. The team existed during the turbulent final months of the American Basketball Association and played only three preseason exhibition games before being expelled from the league in October 1975.
The collapse of the Claws was not an isolated event. It was an early warning of the financial disaster that overwhelmed the ABA during its final season. Within weeks, the San Diego Sails and Utah Stars also ceased operations. The Virginia Squires barely completed the regular season before folding, leaving only six teams to finish the ABA's final campaign.
By the summer of 1976, the struggling league could no longer survive independently. Four ABA franchises joined the NBA, two others folded during the merger negotiations, and the original ABA disappeared after nine seasons
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