The NBA and ABA were near the peak of their rivalry. Dribble onward and take in this funky time.
In a seven-game NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics
defeat the Milwaukee Bucks in all the odd-numbered games to win their
first title since 1969. John Havlicek, now a member of the Celtics for
seven of their championship seasons, is the MVP of the playoffs.
The New York Nets, a young team with the
inexperienced Kevin Loughery as head coach, are ABA champions after a
five-game final against the Utah Stars.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of
the Bucks is the NBA's MVP for the third time. He averages 30.0 points per game
and 14.5 rebounds per game.
Julius Erving, brought to the Nets
from the Virginia Squires before the season, wins his first ABA MVP
award and his second scoring title for the league (with 27.4 PPG).
The former Baltimore Bullets play their first season at the
new Capital Centre in Prince George's County, Md. They are called the Capital
Bullets for one season, and they win their division.
The 1973-74 season is the first in which the NBA keeps track of blocks and steals. The inaugural official NBA
leaders in those stats are Elmore Smith of the Los Angeles Lakers,
who blocks 393 shots (4.85 blocks per game), and Larry Steele of the Portland
Trail Blazers, who lives up to his name 217 times (2.68 steals per game).
Smith's 17 blocks in a game Oct. 28 will still be a record 50
years later. His performance is the second of six times in the season and in
his career that he makes a triple-double with points, rebounds, and blocks.
Bob McAdoo of the Buffalo
Braves wins his first of three consecutive NBA scoring titles. The
sophomore has 30.6 points per game in '73-74.
The Braves' Ernie DiGregorio, NBA Rookie of the
Year, leads the league in assists with 663, or 8.2 per game. He also has a
league-best .902 free-throw percentage.
The Bullets' Elvin Hayes leads the league in
rebounding with 1,463 boards, or 18.1 per game.
More ABA stats leaders: Al Smith of the Denver
Rockets with 619 assists (8.1 per game), Ted McClain of the Carolina
Cougars with 250 steals (2.98 per game), and Caldwell Jones of the San
Diego Conquistadors with 316 blocks (4.00 per game).
The West wins 134-123 at the NBA All-Star Game in Seattle. Bob
Lanier of the Detroit Pistons is the MVP with 24 points and 10
rebounds. Lanier's scoring average for the regular season is 22.5, and his
average next season will be 24.0. Also doing well for the West is Spencer
Haywood of the Seattle SuperSonics, with 23 points and 11 boards in
the exhibition.
The East wins 128-112 at the ABA All-Star Game in Norfolk,
Va. Artis Gilmore of the Kentucky Colonels is the MVP with 18
points and 13 rebounds. Swen Nater of the San Antonio Spurs
scores 29 points and gets 22 boards. Nater is named Rookie of the Year at the
end of the season, and Gilmore leads the ABA in rebounds with 1,538 (18.3 per
game).
The NBA's Coach of the Year is the Pistons' Ray Scott,
while the Executive of the Year is the Braves' Eddie Donovan.
Sharing the award for ABA Coach of the Year are the
Colonels' Babe McCarthy and the Stars' Joe Mullaney.
The All-NBA First Team: Abdul-Jabbar, the Golden State
Warriors' Rick Barry, the New York Knickerbockers' Walt
Frazier, the Lakers' Gail Goodrich, and Havlicek.
The All-ABA First Team: the Cougars' Mack Calvin,
Erving, Gilmore, the Stars' Jimmy Jones, and the Indiana Pacers' George
McGinnis.
In a game against the Portland Trail Blazers March
26, Barry scores 64 points on 30 field goals, both marks of which the NBA
hasn't seen the likes since Wilt Chamberlain's best years.
Counting NBA and ABA games, the Cougars' Billy
Cunningham reaches 15,000 points sometime this season.
Oscar Robertson of
the Bucks retires after the season with 26,710 points and 9,887 assists.
Also among the players retiring after '73-74 is Jerry
West of the Lakers, who has 25,192 points, including 1,213 free throws.
The Hall of Fame welcomes Bill Russell in the '74
offseason.
In addition to having traded Erving before the season and
Nater early in it, the Squires sell George Gervin to the Spurs Jan. 31.
They go from 42-42 to 28-56, and the team will have a league-worst record of
15-69 next season.
This is the struggling Memphis Tams' last year in
green and gold and their last under Charlie Finley's ownership, as is
the California Golden Seals' case in the WHA. They finish with the worst
record in the league. The Tams will be known as the Sounds next year.
After retiring from the NBA, Chamberlain tries his hand at
coaching with the Conquistadors. He originally intends to be a player as well,
but the Lakers sue to keep him on the bench. Despite Wilt not being on the
court and sometimes not even on the sidelines, the Q's go 37-47 -- a seven-game
improvement over '72-73 -- and defeat Denver in a tiebreaker for a higher
playoff seed. Just like the year before, though, Utah sweeps San Diego in the
first round.
The Braves play nine regular season games and one
exhibition in Toronto, where the players complain of not enough plastic foam
separating the court from the rink.
Warriors guard Jim Barnett takes the ball from the
referee Dec. 18 and drop kicks it "into the cheap seats on the third
level" (according to his account). The resulting technical foul, in
addition to a "T" called on him before, means he is out of this game
against the Braves, but the Oakland fans cheer as he goes away.
Braves guard and captain Bob Kauffman argues with
referee Lee Jones until second official Richie Powers tells him
to return to the bench. At this March 9 game, Kauffman imitates the ref's way
of walking. Powers gives him a talking-to, but Kauffman switches to impersonating
Powers. The Buffalo fans love it, but Powers certainly doesn't. One technical
foul is called, then another. Without even playing, Kauffman costs his team the
game against the SuperSonics.
That's how the pros did. What about the college kids? It's the season of a school in red that won the big one and a rival in blue that lost big time. Plus, there's the most lopsided game ever. More roundball Feb. 9.
