Formative Period
2Feb67 A Dallas ABA franchise is awarded for $30,000 to August Speth, Gary Davidson, John Klug, James Peters .... Team is sold prior to the league's first season to a group including Robert S. Folsom, J. Lindsay Embrey, Richard Bruton, Joseph W. Geary, Graham R. E. Koch and Lawrence S. Pollock .... Folsom named President .... Max Williams named General Manager .... Play in Memorial Auditorium and Moody Coliseum .... Cliff Hagan ends his one-year retirement to become the team's player-coach .... Draft Pat Riley (who signs with San Diego of the NBA) .... Sign John Beasley, Charlie Beasley, Cincy Powell, Maurice McHartley, and Bob Verga

1967-68 (46-32) Second Place in Western Division
Avg. Regular Season Attendance: 3,265
Verga plays in only 31 games due to military service .... 9Jan68 Hagan and Beasley play in the All-Star Game, Verga named to the game but misses it due to military service .... Powell and Beasley Second Team All-ABA .... Defeat Houston 3 games to 0 in playoffs before losing to New Orleans 4 games to 1

1968-69 (41-37) Fourth Place in Western Division
Avg. Regular Season Attendance: 2,861
Draft Rich Jones, JoJo White (who signs with Boston of the NBA), John Smith, Ron Boone, Glen Combs and Gene Littles .... Williams is named Vice President and General Manager .... Jun68 Trade Maurice McHartley to New York for a draft choice .... 28Jan69 Beasley plays in the All-Star Game and is named MVP .... 12Feb69 Trade a draft choice to New York for Manny Leaks .... Beasley Second Team All-ABA .... Boone named to ABA All-Rookie Team .... Lose to New Orleans 4 games to 3 in the playoffs

1969-70 (45-39) Second Place in Western Division
Avg. Regular Season Attendance: 3,687
Draft Butch Beard (who signs with Atlanta of the NBA) .... Hagan retires as a player .... Hagan replaced as coach by Williams after a 22-21 start .... 24Jan70 Beasley, Powell and Combs play in the All-Star Game .... 7Mar71 Louie Dampier of Kentucky scores 55 points against the Chaps .... Lose in the first round of the playoffs to Los Angeles 4 games to 2

1970-71 (30-54) Fourth Place in Western Division
Avg. Regular Season Attendance: 3,426
The Chaps become a regional franchise, renaming themselves the "Texas" Chaparrals and adding home games in Lubbock (Lubbock Memorial Coliseum) and Fort Worth (Tarrant County Convention Center) .... Draft Nate Archibald (who signs with Cincinnati of the NBA), Joe Hamilton, John Johnson (who signs with Cleveland of the NBA) .... Nov70 Williams resigns as coach and Bill Blakeley is hired as his replacement .... Trade Powell to Kentucky for Gene Moore .... 27Nov70 Leaks grabs 35 rebounds against Kentucky .... 6Jan71 Trade Leaks to New York for Levern Tart and Ed Johnson .... 8Jan71 Trade Boone and Combs to Utah for Donnie Freeman and Wayne Hightower .... 23Jan71 Freeman plays in the All-Star Game .... 5Mar71 Julius Keye of Denver collects 30 rebounds against the Chaps .... Freeman Second Team All-ABA .... Hamilton named to ABA All-Rookie Team .... Lose in first round of the playoffs to Utah 4 games to 0

1971-72 (42-42) Third Place in Western Division
Avg. Regular Season Attendance: 3,108
Draft Sidney Wicks (who signs with Portland of the NBA), Curtis Rowe (who signs with Detroit of the NBA), Collis Jones and Goo Kennedy .... Franchise changes its name back to the "Dallas" Chaparrals, abandoning the attempt to become a "regional franchise" .... Robert A. Briner is named Executive Vice President .... Tom Nissalke named coach .... Jun71 Sign Steve Jones as a free agent .... Nov71 Trade Moore to New York for a draft choice .... 29Jan72 Freeman and Steve Jones play in the All-Star Game .... Freeman First Team All-ABA .... Nissalke named ABA Coach of the Year.... Lose in first round of the playoffs to Utah 4 games to 0

1972-73 (28-56) Fifth Place in Western Division
Avg. Regular Season Attendance: 2,395
Nissalke leaves to coach Seattle of the NBA .... Draft LaRue Martin (who signs with Portland of the NBA), Bill Walton (who stays in college), and Steve Hawes (who stays in college) .... Babe McCarthy named coach .... Briner assumes duties of General Manager .... Sign Coby Dietrick and James Silas .... 12Aug72 Purchase Bob Netolicky from Indiana for $250,000 .... Nov72 Trade Steve Jones to Carolina for Bobby Warren .... 28Nov72 Indiana's George McGinnis scores 58 points against Dallas .... After league approval, a deal to sell the Chaps to a New Jersey group (who would have moved the franchise to New Jersey) falls apart.... 6Feb73 Rich Jones plays in the All-Star Game .... McCarthy resigns after a 24-48 start and is replaced by Dave Brown .... Finish in last place .... Silas named to ABA All-Rookie Team .... fail to qualify for the playoffs

1973-74 (45-39) Third Place in Western Divsion
Avg. Regular Season Attendance: 6,303
9Apr73 The franchise is "leased" to Professional Sports Inc., a group headed by John Schaefer, Angelo Drossos, Art Burdick and B.J. "Red" McCombs.... Professional Sports Inc. negotiates an option to buy the team after three years and relocates to San Antonio for the 1973-74 season .... The team is renamed the San Antonio Gunslingers (briefly) and then the San Antonio Spurs .... McCombs named President .... Jack Ankerson named General Manager .... Draft Kevin Kunnert (who signs with Buffalo of the NBA) in special circumstance draft .... Play in Hemisfair Arena .... Nissalke rehired as coach .... Draft Kevin Joyce (who signs with Indiana) .... Draft Dwight Jones (who signs with Atlanta of the NBA) and Tom Henderson (who stays in college) in undergraduate draft .... Oct73 Collis Jones sold to Kentucky .... Nov73 Netolicky sold to Indiana .... 21Nov73 Trade a first-round draft choice and $300,000 to Virginia for Swen Nater .... 30Jan74 Jones and Nater play in the All-Star game .... 30Nov74 Purchase George Gervin from Virginia for $225,000 .... Drossos' San Antonio group purchases the franchise outright from the former Dallas owners.... 6Feb74 A federal court in San Antonio rules that commissioner Storen cannot stop the sale of Virginia's George Gervin to San Antonio .... Nater Second Team All-ABA .... Nater named ABA Rookie of the Year and named to ABA All-Rookie Team .... Lose to Indiana 4 games to 3 in the first round of the playoffs

1974-75 (51-33) Second Place in Western Division
Avg. Regular Season Attendance: 7,853
Draft Len Robinson (who signs with Washington of the NBA) .... Select Tom Boerwinkle, Clyde Lee, Neal Walk, Steve Kuberski and Lloyd Neal in draft of NBA players .... Jul74 Purchase Donnie Freeman from Indiana .... 13Dec74 Nissalke fired as coach and replaced by Bob Bass after a 18-10 start .... 28Jan75 Freddie Lewis of St. Louis is named Most Valuable Player of the All-Star Game as the East defeats the West 151-124 in San Antonio as Nater, Gervin and Silas play .... Gervin and Silas Second Team All-ABA.... Lose to Indiana 4 games to 2 in the first round of the playoffs

1975-76 (50-34) Third Place
Avg. Regular Season Attendance: 8,003
Draft Mark Olberding and Robert Parish (who stays in college) .... 3Jun75 Nater traded to New York for Larry Kenon .... 3Jun75 Mike Gale is purchased from New York .... 20Aug75 Rights to Olberding sold to San Diego .... 8Sep75 Rich Jones, Chuck Terry, Bobby Warren and Kim Hughes traded to New York for Billy Paultz .... John Begzos named Vice President and General Manager .... 12Nov75 Select Olberding in the dispersal draft of players from the San Diego Sails .... 27Jan76 Gervin, Silas, Paultz and Kenon play in the All-Star Game .... Silas First Team All-ABA .... Gervin Second Team All-ABA .... Olberding named to ABA All-Rookie Team .... Silas breaks his ankle in the first game of the playoffs .... Lose to New York 4 games to 3 in the first round of the playoffs

17Jun76 An ABA/NBA merger finally takes place, with Denver, Indiana, New York and San Antonio each paying $3.2 million to join the NBA....The four ABA clubs agree not to receive any television money for their first three seasons in the NBA, and not to participate in the 1976 college draft....The four ABA clubs agree to be referred to as "expansion franchises".... The four ABA clubs agree that for two years, they will have no vote regarding the distribution of NBA gate receipts or the realignment of NBA divisions....The four ABA clubs keep the players on their rosters with the remaining ABA players (from Kentucky and St. Louis) going into a special dispersal draft