Utah Stars

The Utah Stars were a professional basketball team playing with the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976.

The Utah Stars were originally found as the Anaheim Amigos in 1967 and were based in Anaheim, California. In 1968, the Amigos moved to Los Angeles and were christened as the Los Angeles Stars. In 1970, after playing two seasons as the Los Angeles Stars the team relocated to the Salt Lake City in Utah to become the Utah Stars. The team logo was the words Utah Stars shooting around an ABA white, red and blue stripped ball. The team colors were red, white and blue. The team played their home games at the Salt Lake Palace which served as their home arena.

In their first season the Stars played in Utah, they were allocated in the Western Division. The team was coached by Bill Sharman. The Stars finished second in the division behind the Indiana Pacers with 57 wins and 27 losses. They qualified to the playoffs where they defeated the Texas Chaparrals in the western division semifinals and the Indiana Pacers in the western division finals to reach the ABA finals against the Kentucky Colonels. The Utah Stars emerged as the 1971 ABA Champions by defeating the Colonels four games to three. In the 1971- 1972 season the Stars once again were topping the western division with 60 wins and 24 losses. They won the division semifinals against the Dallas Chaparrals, however lost the western division finals against the Indiana Pacers who advanced to the ABA finals against the New York Nets and won the 1972 ABA Championship. In 1973, the Utah Stars once again finished first in the division recording 55 wins and 29 losses. They were yet again defeated by the Indiana Pacers second year in a row after reaching the Western Division Finals by defeating the San Diego Conquistadors in the semifinals. In 1973, with a record of 51 wins and 33 losses the Utah Stars were topping the western division fourth time in a row. The Western Division finals once again saw the Indiana Pacers facing the Stars for the third consecutive time, this time however, the Stars would win and advance to the ABA finals only to be defeated by the New York Nets. In 1974, the Stars fell down to fourth place struggling to qualify to the playoffs with 38 wins and 46 losses. The Stars continued their poor performance in the playoffs and did not get past the semifinals. In 1975, in what would be the last season for the Stars, they fell to a all time low and finished with 4 wins and 12 losses, not qualifying to the playoffs. In 1976, the Utah Stars folded and were dysfunctional.