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Utah Stars Team History

Utah Stars
Stars Primary Logo

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

  • 1970
  • 1971
  • 1976
  • Utah Stars Team 1970

    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. ...
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  • Utah Stars Celebration

    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.
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  • Wise Pause Close Profile

    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 ...
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Who is the greatest Utah Stars?
  • Add your greatest player

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.

History of the Stars

The Utah Stars, formerly the Anaheim Amigos, 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 the Los Angeles Stars.

Under head coach Bill Sharman’s guidance, the Stars won an impressive 65 games during their inaugural season - a record for any expansion franchise then - and won two Western Division titles over their five years before relocating to Utah. Unfortunately, financial problems due to low attendance led to their eventual folding. 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 the Indiana Pacers or when they achieved a 4–3 series victory against the Kentucky Colonels 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. Nevertheless, many continue to support them through memorabilia items like jerseys or posters, which have become collector’s items among diehard supporters who look back nostalgically on what could have been had things gone differently financially for this once great organization!

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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

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