1974 in Basketball - 1973-74 San Diego Conquistadors Season (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 102. Not illustrated. Chapters: 1973 74 San Diego Conquistadors Season. Excerpt: The 1973-74 American Basketball Association season saw the San Diego Conquistadors acquire Wilt Chamberlain as a player and coach, finish tied for fourth place in the ABA's Western Division, defeat the Denver Rockets in a one-game playoff for that spot and then bow out to the Utah Stars 4 games to 2 in the Western Division Semifinals. On September 26, 1973 the Conquistadors signed Wilt Chamberlain to a three year, $1.8 million contract as the team's player-coach. The Los Angeles Lakers promptly went to court and won a ruling that Chamberlain could only play professional basketball for the Lakers, but the court did allow Chamberlain to coach the Conquistadors. Stan Albeck was hired as the Conquistadors' assistant coach and as the team's Director of Player Personnel. As events played out, Albeck often acted as the team's head coach during Chamberlain's erratic absences. Also during the preseason the Conquistadors signed Travis "Machine Gun" Grant to the roster. During the preseason the Conquistadors were an anomaly in that they, unlike other ABA teams, did not play any exhibition games against NBA teams. The Conquistadors opened the ABA season on October 10, 1973 with a road game against the San Antonio Spurs. 5,879 attended as the Conquistadors prevailed, 121-106, behind Stew Johnson's game-high 38 points. The following night 5,013 fans saw the Conquistadors lose on the road to the Denver Rockets, 135-111. The following night the Conquistadors played their home opener in front of 2,318 fans but lost to the Memphis Tams 118-113 in spite of Stew Johnson's 34 points. After a week off, the Conquistadors again faced the Rockets, this time on their home court in San Diego. The Conquistadors lost again to the Rockets, 113-100. Stew Johnson scored 23 points i...