The Dallas Chaparrals were a charter member of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...

(ABA). The team moved to

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

for the 1973–74 season and were renamed the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

. The Spurs joined the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA) for the

1976–77 NBA season The 1976–77 NBA season was the 31st season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Portland Trail Blazers winning their first NBA Championship in franchise history, beating the Philadelphia 76ers in six games in the NBA ...

as a result of the ABA–NBA merger.

Origin

The team's founding owners, unable to agree on a name for the franchise during an early organizational meeting at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, named it for the Chaparral Club in which they were meeting. The team drew poor attendance and general disinterest in Dallas. They were lucky to attract crowds in the hundreds. During the 1970–71 season, the team became the Texas Chaparrals and an attempt was made to make the team a regional one, playing games in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

, at the Tarrant County Coliseum, as well as Lubbock, at the

Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock Municipal Coliseum (formerly City Bank Coliseum) was an 8,344-seat multi-purpose arena in Lubbock, Texas. Although the arena was located on the campus of Texas Tech University, it was owned and operated by the City of Lubbock until 2018. ...

, but this proved a failure and the team returned full-time to Dallas in time for the 1971–72 season, splitting their games at Moody Coliseum and

Dallas Convention Center Arena The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center (KBHCCD) (formerly Dallas Convention Center) is a convention center in the Convention Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas. The "Dallas Memorial Auditorium" was a standalone multipurpose arena, de ...

Decline and the move

After missing the playoffs for the first time in their existence in the 1972–73 season, the team was put up for sale. After no credible offers surfaced, the team's original owners leased it to a group of 35

businessmen, led by Angelo Drossos and

Red McCombs Billy Joe "Red" McCombs (born October 19, 1927) is an American businessman. He is the founder of the Red McCombs Automotive Group in San Antonio, Texas, a co-founder of Clear Channel Communications, former chairman of Constellis Group, a form ...

. The deal included a three-year option to buy the team outright, after which it would revert to the Dallas group. The Drossos-McCombs group moved the team to

for the 1973–74 season and renamed them the

. San Antonio embraced its new team with open arms; the Spurs surpassed the Chaparrals' entire 1972–73 attendance in only 16 games. Realizing they had a runaway hit on their hands, Drossos and McCombs tore up the lease and completed the purchase after only one year, and the franchise has stayed in San Antonio to this day. However, Dallas would get its own NBA franchise in the form of the expansion

Mavericks Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Burea ...

, who began play in the 1980-81 season.

Legacy

The Chaparrals' road uniform was featured in '' NBA Live 2004'' as a hidden jersey. The Spurs wore the Chaparrals uniform in selected games in the 2011–12 NBA season prior to the 45th Anniversary of the ABA.

Basketball Hall of Famers

Notes: * ¹ Also served as head coach (1967–1970).

Season-by-season

, - , colspan="6" align=center style="background:#006BB6; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #ED174C;", Dallas Chaparrals , - , 1967–68 , , 46 , , 32 , , .590 , , Won Division Semifinals
Lost Semifinals , , Dallas 3,

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

4, Dallas 1 , - , 1968–69 , , 41 , , 37 , , .526 , , Lost Division Semifinals , ,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

4, Dallas 3 , - , 1969–70 , , 45 , , 39 , , .512 , , Lost Division Semifinals , ,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

4, Dallas 2 , - , colspan="6" align=center style="background:#006BB6; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #ED174C;", Texas Chaparrals , - , 1970–71 , , 30 , , 54 , , .357 , , Lost Division Semifinals , ,

4, Texas 0 , - , colspan="6" align=center style="background:#006BB6; color:#FFFFFF; border:2px solid #ED174C;", Dallas Chaparrals , - , 1971–72 , , 42 , , 42 , , .500 , , Lost Division Semifinals , ,

4, Dallas 0 , - , 1972–73 , , 28 , , 56 , , .333 , , colspan=2, Did not qualify , -

References

External links

Dallas Chaparrals on RememberTheABA.com
{{San Antonio Spurs American Basketball Association teams Basketball teams established in 1967 Defunct basketball teams in Texas 1967 establishments in Texas 1973 disestablishments in Texas Sports teams in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Basketball in Dallas Sports clubs disestablished in 1973