San Diego Sails
| San Diego Sails | ||
|---|---|---|
| founding | 1975 | |
| resolution | 1975 | |
| history |
San Diego Conquistadors 1972-1975 San Diego Sails 1975 |
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| Stadion | San Diego Sports Arena | |
| Location | San Diego , California | |
| Club colors | white, royal blue and green | |
| league | American Basketball Association | |
| division | Western Division | |
| Head coach | Bill Musselman | |
| owner | Frank Goldberg | |
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The San Diego Sails were an American basketball franchise based in San Diego , California that played in the American Basketball Association . They succeeded the San Diego Conquistadors , who closed the league at the end of the 1974/75 season. They did not play Sails a full season, they started the 1975/76 season but were disbanded before the end of the season.
history
Frank Goldberg, a former co-owner of the successful Denver Nuggets , renamed the team in San Diego Sails for the 1975/76 season, recruited former University of Minnesota coach Bill Musselman and turned the roster inside out, hoping he would do the same Conversion like the Denver Nuggets could accomplish from mediocrity to championship contender.
But the Sails only drew 3,060 fans to their opening game on October 24, 1975, a loss to the Nuggets, and the crowd continued to drop as the team started with 3-8 wins. For the third and final home game against the San Antonio Spurs there were only 1670 fans. Goldberg soon learned that San Diego should not participate in the union of ABA and NBA ; the Sails were to stay out because of the insistence of Los Angeles Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke, who did not want to share his southern California viewing base with a crew from the south.
In the absence of fan support and prospects for the future, Goldberg carried the franchise to its grave on November 12, 1975.
Downfall of the ABA
The collapse of the San Diego team, along with the failure of the Baltimore and Utah franchises , reduced the ABA to seven teams and signed the league's death warrant. Even so, the NBA picked four of the surviving teams in the summer of 1976.
Professional basketball in San Diego
From 1967 to 1971, San Diego was the home of the expansion team San Diego Rockets from the NBA, who also played in the then new Sports Arena. Despite drafting University of Houston's child prodigy Elvin Hayes , who would later become a star with the Washington Bullets , the Rockets failed to gain victories or crucial support in San Diego. Real estate agent Wayne Duddleston and banker Billy Goldberg bought the team for $ 5.6 million and brought it to Houston , Texas, and Hayes' home to his fans. 1978 the Buffalo Braves from the NBA arrived in San Diego and became the Clippers ; In 1984 they moved to Los Angeles to try to compete with the established Lakers. Since then, San Diego has not had a professional basketball team.