The Minnesota Muskies were a member of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

, born with the league's creation on February 2, 1967. L.P. Shields and Fred Jefferson were the owners after paying a franchise fee of $30,000. The team then played one season in Minnesota before moving to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

to become

The Floridians ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

. The team colors were blue and gold and games were played in the Metropolitan Sports Center in

Bloomington, Minnesota Bloomington is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It is located on the north bank of the Minnesota River above its confluence with the Mississippi River, south of downtown Minneapolis and just south of the Interstate 494/Inter ...

, which they shared with the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

History

The ABA first located its league office in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

and the future looked bright for the Muskies (named after the

Muskellunge The muskellunge (''Esox masquinongy''), often shortened to muskie, musky, ski, or lunge, is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. Origin of name The name ...

; also known as the muskie, one of the regions the fish is found in Minnesota), who shared the same offices as the league itself. Their first draft pick was talented center

Mel Daniels Melvin Joe Daniels (July 20, 1944 – October 30, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for the Minnesota Muskies, Indiana Pacers, and Memphis Sounds, and in the National Bas ...

, who would go on to become one of the ABA's most celebrated players. Daniels was also a first round draft pick of the

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

's Cincinnati Royals, but he decided to cast his lot with the upstart league. The selection of Daniels paid off for the team as he led the league in field goal attempts, field goals made, offensive and defensive rebounds and was named the league's Rookie of the Year. Daniels, Donnie Freeman and Les Hunter all represented the Muskies in the first ABA All Star Game and shooting guard Ron Perry finished fifth in the league in three-point field goals made and attempted and fourth in three-point field goal percentage. The head coach was Jim Pollard, a former teammate of ABA Commissioner

George Mikan George Lawrence Mikan Jr. (; June 18, 1924 – June 1, 2005), nicknamed "Mr. Basketball", was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Minneapolis Lakers of ...

from their days with the NBA's

Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, having played and won championships in both the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA) prior to ...

. The Muskies would win 50 games in their lone season under that franchise name. Early in the league's first season, the Muskies and the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

dueled for first place in the Eastern Division. Although the Muskies pulled away from the Pacers, the

Pittsburgh Pipers Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the 67th-most populous city in the U.S., with a population of 302,9 ...

rallied to eventually win the Eastern Division title by four games instead. The Muskies would finish the season with a record of 50 wins and 28 losses. In the Eastern Division playoff semifinals, the Muskies split the first four of five games with the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were an American professional basketball team based in Louisville, Kentucky. They competed in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1967 to 1976. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky Colonels. The Colo ...

and then won the decisive Game Five, 114–108, at home. The Muskies then met the Pipers for the Eastern Division Championship and lost 4 games to 1 to the eventual champion.

1967–68 ABA season

For their success on the court, the Muskies were a complete bust off the court. They lost an estimated $400,000 in their first and only season. They only averaged 2,800 people per game, but it might have been far less, given that they only sold 100 season tickets at the time. The Muskies' management sought to make changes for the upcoming 1968–69 season with the team planning to play nine of their home games at other locations in Minnesota and signed a favorable television contract. In spite of this, the owners decided to relocate the franchise to

on May 24, 1968, for the 1968–69 ABA season. Prior to the start of that season, the team was forced to sell off Daniels to the Indiana Pacers in a trade for cash in order to pay off accumulated debts from the previous season. However, Minnesota was not left without an ABA team for long, as the league champion Pipers ironically relocated to Minneapolis to play as the Minnesota Pipers for the 1968–69 ABA season. The franchise would move back to Pittsburgh after their own sole season in Minnesota, with the ABA not bothering to return to Minnesota again following

's resignation as commissioner of the ABA and subsequently moving the ABA's headquarters to New York (who would also be home to the

New York Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

for the rest of the ABA's tenure) instead. The

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

wore Muskies uniforms for six games during the

2011–12 NBA season The 2011–12 NBA season was the 66th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Due to the 2011 NBA lockout, lockout, the regular season was reduced to 66 games for each team, and began on December 25, 2011, coinciding with NBA Christm ...

as part of the NBA's "Hardwood Classics".

Basketball Hall of Famers

Notes: * ¹ Inducted as a player.

References

External links

Remember The ABA
{{ABAteams American Basketball Association teams Defunct basketball teams in the United States Sports in Minneapolis–Saint Paul Basketball teams in Minnesota Basketball teams established in 1967 Basketball teams disestablished in 1968 1967 establishments in Minnesota 1968 disestablishments in Minnesota