- 1970
- 1971
- 1976
-
Heading East to Utah
Despite a promising young roster, the Stars were more or less an afterthought in a market whose first choices were the Los Angeles Lakers and UCLA Bruins; they only averaged 2,500 fans per game. In June 1970, Kirst sold the team to Colorado cable TV pioneer Bill Daniels, who moved the team to Salt Lake City as the Utah Stars. ... -
ABA Championship 1971 – Utah Stars
The Stars defeated the Texas Chaparrals 4 games to none in the first round of the playoffs, beat the Indiana Pacers 4 games to 3 in a fiercely contested semifinal series, and edged out the Kentucky Colonels 4 games to 3 in another fiercely contested series, this time for the ABA championship. -
Stars Shut Down
Despite the Stars’ demise, Salt Lake City had proven it could support big-time professional basketball. With this in mind, in 1976 the owners of the Spirits of St. Louis announced that they were moving the team to Utah for the 1976 – 1977 ABA season, to play as the Utah Rockies. However, this was undone when the ABA–NBA merger closed ...
History of the Stars
The Utah Stars were a professional basketball team that played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1970 to 1975. Founded as an expansion team, the Stars quickly became one of the most successful teams in ABA history, winning their division title in their first three seasons and making it to two ABA Finals. The core of this success was built around stars such as Zelmo Beaty, Willie Wise, and Ron Boone, who all earned All-Star honors during their time with Utah.
Under head coach Bill Sharman’s guidance, the Stars won an impressive 65 games during its inaugural season - a record for any expansion franchise at that time - and went on to win two Western Division titles over its five years before folding due to financial problems caused by low attendance numbers throughout much of its existence. Despite these struggles off-the-court, however, they still managed some incredible success on it, including several memorable moments such as when they set four different records for points scored within one game against Indiana Pacers or when they defeated Kentucky Colonels 4–3 series victory despite being down 3–1 at one point!
Today, fans still fondly remember those glory days even though no Utah Stars franchise is playing professionally anymore. Still, many continue supporting them through memorabilia items like jerseys or posters, which have become collector’s items among diehard supporters looking back nostalgically on what could have been had things gone differently financially speaking for this once great organization!
Stars Products
Established
1967
City
Anaheim – Los Angeles – Salt Lake City
League History
1967 – 1976 / American Basketball Association
Team History
1970 – 1975 / Utah Stars
1968 – 1970 / Los Angeles Stars
1967 – 1968 / Anaheim Amigos
Nickname
Stars – The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah, from 1970-1976. The team was founded by local businessman Vince Boryla and originally named the Los Angeles Stars before relocating to Salt Lake City before the 1970-71 season. As one of the original ABA franchises, they made a lasting impression on basketball fans across America with their exciting style of play and colorful uniforms. But many may not know there’s more than meets the eye regarding how this beloved franchise got its name!
The story behind why they chose “Stars” as their nickname dates back to 1969 when Boryla first acquired ownership rights for an expanding professional basketball franchise in Los Angeles. At that time, he wanted something unique for his new club, so he decided on “Stars” because it represented excellence—a quality all teams strive for but few reach! He also liked how stars are visible no matter where you look up at night—an appropriate symbol considering his goal was bringing professional sports entertainment into people's lives regardless of location or circumstance.
Once relocated to Utah. However, some felt that a different nickname would be more fitting given its geographical context; there aren't any literal stars within state boundaries! Despite these concerns, everyone ultimately agreed to keep "stars" as part of their identity since it had already become established among fans locally and nationally by then anyway - plus, who could argue against such a powerful representation?
Today we still remember fondly those days spent cheering on our favorite players while proudly wearing our own "Utah Stars" apparel - proving just how much impact this legendary organization has left behind long after disbanding nearly four decades ago now...
Championship
ABA Championships 1
1971
Arena
*Utah*
1970 – 1975 / Salt Palace
*Los Angeles*
1968 – 1970 / Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
*Anaheim*
1967 – 1968 / Anaheim Convention Center
Owner
1975 / Snellen M. Johnson and Lyle E. Johnson
1974 – 1975 / James A. Collier
1970 – 1975 / Bill Daniels
1968 – 1970 / Jim Kirst
1967 – 1968 / Art Kim
To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.
Coaches
1975 / Tom Nissalke
1974 – 1975 / Bucky Buckwalter & Tom Nissalke
1973 – 1974 / Joe Mullaney
1971 – 1973 / LaDell Andersen
1969 – 1971 / Bill Sharman
1967 / Al Brightman/Harry Dinnel
*Blue is this team’s history
