The 1971–72 Utah Stars season was the second season of the Stars out in the state of Utah and fifth overall in the American Basketball Association when including their previous seasons they played in the nearby state of California when including their time spent as the Anaheim Amigos and Los Angeles Stars. Entering this season, the Stars were the defending champions of the entire ABA after making a successful move from the city of Los Angeles to the state of Utah out in Salt Lake City. The Stars would go 31–11 during the first half of the season, while finishing the second half of the season with a 29–13 record, which included a ten-game winning streak near the end of the season. Their biggest losing streak would be three games long, which happened four different times during the season. They finished third in points scored at 117.8 per game and fourth in points allowed at 112.0 per game. While Utah didn't finish with the best overall record this season (the Kentucky Colonels would actually obtain the best record in ABA history during this same season), they would still easily win the Western Division by over ten games this season. The Stars then swept the Dallas Chaparrals in the Western Division Semifinals, but lost to the Indiana Pacers in seven games in what became their second straight rematch in a row after the Stars lost the 1969 ABA Finals while playing in Los Angeles as the #4 seed there and then beat the Pacers during their first season in Utah, denying them a repeat ABA Finals appearance and a shot at another championship afterward.

ABA Draft

This draft was the first ABA draft to have a properly recorded historical note of every round in their draft available. Round Pick Player Position(s) Nationality College 1 1 Jim McDaniels PF/C United States Western Kentucky 2 21 Garry Nelson C United States Duquesne 3 31 Rick Fisher PF United States Colorado State 4 43 Mo Layton PG United States USC 5 54 Lee Dedmon PF United States North Carolina 6 65 Bobby Fields G United States La Salle College 7 76 Erwin Johnson F United States Augusta College 8 87 Jim Day F United States Morehead State 9 98 Willie Humes G United States Idaho State 10 109 Jake Jones SG United States Assumption College The Utah Stars would surprisingly obtain the #1 pick of the 1971 ABA draft by swapping first round picks alongside multiple players around with the Texas Chaparrals (as they were known at the time) before the draft began, with Texas just so happening to have the worst record of the ABA by January 22, 1971 (the start of this specific ABA draft) to have the Stars acquiring Jim McDaniels from Western Kentucky University, though McDaniels would never play for Utah despite them being defending ABA champions this season. This draft is also interesting for them being the only team to not use any more of their draft picks after the tenth round came and went, especially since they decided not to bother using the second half of the draft from the eleventh round onward.

Roster

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Final standings Western Division + Team W L % GB Utah Stars 60 24 .714 - Indiana Pacers 47 37 .560 13 Dallas Chaparrals 42 42 .500 18 Denver Rockets 34 50 .405 26 Memphis Pros 26 58 .310 34

ABA Playoffs ABA Western Division Semifinals vs. Dallas Chaparrals Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 April 1 Utah 106–96 1–0 8,783 2 April 3 Utah 113–107 2–0 9,121 3 April 5 Dallas 96–89 3–0 4,076 4 April 7 Dallas 103–99 4–0 3,918 Stars win series 4–0

ABA Western Division Finals vs. Indiana Pacers Game Date Location Result Record Attendance 1 April 15 Utah 108–100 1–0 9,854 2 April 17 Utah 117–109 2–0 11,780 3 April 19 Indiana 111–116 2–1 7,489 4 April 22 Indiana 108–118 2–2 13,007 5 April 24 Utah 139–130 3–2 12,526 6 April 26 Indiana 99–105 3–3 8,103 7 May 1 Utah 113–117 3–4 12,724 Stars lose series, 4–3

Awards and honors 1972 ABA All-Star Game selections (game played on January 29, 1972) Willie Wise Zelmo Beaty Glen Combs All-ABA Second Team selections: Willie Wise and Zelmo Beaty.

References

External links RememberTheABA.com 1971–72 regular season and playoff results Utah Stars page