1972–73 Utah Stars season

The 1972–73 Utah Stars season was the third season of the Stars playing in the state of Utah and sixth overall season in the American Basketball Association when including their brief stints in nearby California as the Anaheim Amigos and Los Angeles Stars. They finished the season at first place in points scored at 115.6 per game, but third in points allowed at 110.0 per game. During the first half of the regular season, they were 26–16, with them getting both ten-game winning streak in that half and a five-game losing streak, both of which were team highs for that season. In the second half of the season, they went 29–13 with a much better balance in effort in mind by comparison to the first half of the season. This would lead to the Stars once again being the best team in the Western Division, though they would be two games behind the Carolina Cougars in terms of overall records in the ABA this season. In the 1973 ABA Playoffs, the Stars swept the newly created San Diego Conquistadors expansion team in the Western Division Semifinals, but they lost to the Indiana Pacers in their rematch of the previous two Western Division Finals matches (as well as the 1970 ABA Finals back when the Utah Stars were known as the Los Angeles Stars) in six games instead of in seven games like they had done last season.^[1] After the season ended, LaDell Andersen resigned from his duties as the team's head coach, being replaced by Joe Mullaney for the upcoming season.

Weirdly enough, as of 2025, there has been no official draft records for the first five rounds of the 1972 ABA draft specifically, while every other round after that point has been properly recorded by basketball historians otherwise. Because of the strange dispersity of draft picks not being properly recorded this year after previously being fully recorded in the previous year's draft and the number of rounds potentially being off for even the players being selected this year, the recorded players selected in this year's draft will be marked with a ? for the pick number in particular (as well as certain round numbers, if necessary) in order to showcase the awkward display currently going on with the 1972 ABA draft year in particular (though what is known is that the Stars were likely the last team to draft someone in this draft in the 20th round, as well as the fourth and final ABA team to forfeit their first round draft pick choice after the Memphis Pros, New York Nets, and Virginia Squires all forfeited what would have been their respective #2, #6, and #9 picks (with Utah forfeiting what would have been considered the #10 pick had none of the other teams forfeited their choices also) due to the Pros acquiring Larry Cannon from the Denver Rockets sometime after the 1971 ABA draft ended, the Nets acquiring Jim Chones (a junior college player previously drafted by the Squires in the 1971 ABA draft that got rescinded by the ABA not long afterward due to a perceived ABA-NBA merger occurring that year instead of by 1976) sometime after the 1971 ABA draft, the Squires acquiring superstar small forward Julius Erving sometime after the 1971 ABA draft, and the Stars acquiring star forward Jimmy Jones from the Pros sometime after the 1971 ABA draft ended). However, if any changes come up to where a proper, official recording of the 1972 ABA draft gets released displaying both pick numbers and round numbers for where certain players got selected, please provide the updated (potential) draft ordering with a source confirming the round and pick numbers included here.

Had the Utah Stars not forfeited their first round pick in this year's draft, they would have joined the Denver Rockets as the only other team to have used up all 20 rounds of their ABA draft picks this year, though they wouldn't still have had the most draft picks at hand this time around due to the Rockets previously trading with the Indiana Pacers some time before the 1972 ABA draft began.

Months after the original ABA draft for this year concluded, the ABA held their first ever dispersal draft on July 13, 1972 after it was found out by the ABA itself that neither "The Floridians" nor the Pittsburgh Condors would be able to continue operations either in their original locations or elsewhere in the U.S.A. (or even Canada in the case of "The Floridians"). Unlike the main draft they did during the months of March and April, this draft would last for only six rounds as a one day deal and would have the nine remaining inaugural ABA teams selecting players that were left over at the time from both "The Floridians" and Pittsburgh Condors franchises (including draft picks from both teams there) and obtain their player rights from there.^[2] Any players from either franchise that wouldn't be selected during this draft would be placed on waivers and enter free agency afterward.^[3] Interestingly, only 42 total players were selected by the nine remaining ABA teams at the time of the dispersal draft, meaning everyone else that was available from both teams was considered a free agent to the ABA not long afterward. The Stars would also be the only team to draft players in five out of six rounds instead of either all six rounds or in a lesser amount of rounds like most other ABA teams did. In any case, the following players were either Floridians or Condors players that the Stars acquired during this dispersal draft.

Interestingly, the Stars would join the Dallas Chaparrals as the only other team to have the majority of their selections in the dispersal draft come from the Pittsburgh Condors franchise instead of "The Floridians" franchise like most other ABA teams in this draft did. Despite that notion, Utah would still decide to use their first round pick of that draft on a player from "The Floridians" franchise with the selection of Larry Jones, who would briefly play for Utah before being traded to Dallas later in the season (albeit in 1972 still). As for the Condors players the Stars decided to select in this draft, all of these players would actually be recent draft picks that the Condors franchise made at the time before later folding operations entirely, including Wil Robinson, who would not play for the Stars this season, but later played in the ABA for the Memphis Tams the following season after this one instead.

Western Division Semifinals vs. San Diego Conquistadors^[4]

Stars win series, 4–0

Western Division Finals vs. Indiana Pacers

Stars lose series, 4–2

1973 ABA All-Star Game selections (game played on February 6, 1973)

• Willie Wise
• Zelmo Beaty
• Jimmy Jones
• All-ABA Second Team selection: Jimmy Jones

• RememberTheABA.com 1972–73 regular season and playoff results
• Utah Stars page