The Baltimore Claws was an American basketball team which was supposed to appear in the 1975-76 season in the American Basketball Association. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Basketball is a team Sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m The American Basketball Association ( ABA) was a professional Basketball league founded in 1967, and eventually merged in part with the National The team collapsed before the season started, playing only three exhibition games in its brief history.
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Background
The team that eventually became the Baltimore Claws had earlier competed in the ABA as the New Orleans Buccaneers from 1967 through 1970, as the Memphis Pros from 1970 through 1972, as the Memphis Tams from 1972 through 1974 and as the Memphis Sounds during the 1974-75 season. New Orleans Buccaneers was a charter member of the American Basketball Association. Memphis Pros were an American Basketball Association team during the 1970-1971 and 1971-1972 seasons The Memphis Tams were an American Basketball Association team during the 1972 - 1973 and 1973 - 1974 seasons Memphis Sounds was the name of a franchise in the American Basketball Association. The Memphis franchise had struggled through the years and in its last season there it had relied on the league itself to handle some of its bills. The Sounds began the 1974-75 season with a win followed by several losses; fan interest waned but the team rallied to finish in fourth place in the ABA's Eastern Division. In the playoffs they lost in the Eastern Division semifinals to the eventual league champion Kentucky Colonels, 4 games to 1. The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's 9 years Of the Sounds' draft picks that season, two (Lonnie Shelton and Terry Furlow) remained in college and the third (Rich Kelley) signed with the NBA's New Orleans Jazz. Lonnie Jewel Shelton (born October 19 1955 in Bakersfield California) is a retired American National Basketball Association player Terry Furlow ( October 18, 1954 – May 23, 1980) was an American Basketball player Richard (Rich Ryland Kelley (born March 23, 1953 in San Mateo California) is a retired American Basketball player The Utah Jazz is a professional Basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. At the close of the 1974-75 season league commissioner Tedd Munchak issued an ultimatum to the Sounds if they wanted to stay in Memphis: sell 4,000 season tickets, line up new investors and get a better lease at the Mid-South Coliseum. The Mid-South Coliseum, also known as "The Entertainment Capital of the Mid-South" was a multipurpose arena that seated 10085 people in Memphis, Tennessee When none of the conditions were met, the league took control of the franchise and put it on the market.
Relocation to Maryland
Prior to the 1975-76 season a group of Maryland businessmen bought the troubled Memphis franchise (which the ABA league officers had taken over midway through the previous season) for $1 million and relocated it to Baltimore. In August, 1975, ABA Commissioner Dave DeBusschere suddenly awarded the franchise to another group in Memphis due to apparent financial problems involving the Baltimore owners. David Albert DeBusschere (October 16 1940 &ndash May 14 2003 was an American professional Basketball player and coach in the NBA. However, the Memphis group backed out the very next day and the team ended up back with the Baltimore owners.
The team initially called itself the Baltimore Hustlers, but league and public pressure forced them to change it to the Claws.
Personnel
In September the Claws gained attention early by gaining the rights to superstar Dan Issel of the reigning ABA champion Kentucky Colonels. Daniel (Dan Paul Issel (born October 25 1948 in Batavia Illinois) is a retired American professional Basketball player and coach The 1975 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association 's 1974-1975 season. The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's 9 years The Colonels were supposed to receive center Tom Owens and $500,000 in cash for Issel, but the $500,000 never arrived. Thomas William Owens (born June 28, 1949 in The Bronx, New York) is a retired American professional Basketball player An enraged Brown stormed into a Claws board meeting and announced Issel was being sold to the Denver Nuggets. The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. To make the move look like a trade between Denver and Baltimore, the Nuggets sent forward Dave Robisch to the Claws. David George Robisch (born December 22 1949, in Cincinnati Ohio) is an American former professional Basketball player in the The Claws' owners protested, claiming that three more players should have come to Baltimore in the trade. They threatened to fold the team if the other players didn't arrive, but the league ruled against them. The Claws then sent another good player, Rick Mount, to the Utah Stars in another trade. Richard Carl (Rick Mount (born January 5 1947 in Lebanon Indiana) is a former American Basketball player in the American Basketball Association This page is about the American Basketball Association (ABA team
The Claws entered the preseason under coach Joe Mullaney with a roster that included Mel Daniels and Stew Johnson. Joseph A Mullaney ( November 17 1925 &ndash March 8 2000) was a successful American Basketball player and coach Melvin Joe Daniels (born July 20 1944, in Detroit Michigan) is a retired American professional Basketball player Stewart "Stew" Johnson (born August 19, 1944 in Clairton Pennsylvania) is a former professional Basketball player The Claws also suited up guard Skip Wise, who the prior year was the first freshman to make the Atlantic Coast Conference all-conference first team, but then did not return to Clemson for his sophomore year. Skip Wise was an American Basketball player Wise was a sensation as a high school player at Dunbar High School in Baltimore Maryland. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC is a collegiate athletic league in the United States.
Games
The Claws played their first game, a preseason exhibition, in Salisbury, Maryland on October 9, 1975 against the Virginia Squires. Salisbury (ˈsælzbəri or /sɔːɫzbəɹi/ is the County seat of Wicomico County Maryland. Events 768 - Carloman I and Charlemagne are crowned Kings of The Franks. The Virginia Squires was a basketball franchise in the former American Basketball Association that existed from 1967 through 1976 The Squires won 131-121; attendance was reported at 1,150.
Two days later the Claws lost to the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers 103-82 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The Philadelphia 76ers (also known as the Sixers for short are a professional Basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Cherry Hill Township is a township in Camden County, New Jersey, in the United States.
On October 17, 1975 the Claws played the Squires again, this time at Knott Arena, Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Maryland. The Squires won 100-88 in front of approximately 500 spectators.
Continuing problems
Due to mounting financial problems, the second loss to the Squires ended up being the Claws' final game. Players and coaches were going unpaid and not even getting their per diem meal money. Only 300 season tickets had been sold. The players were still wearing old red Sounds uniforms with a green patch placed on it saying "Claws," along with unaltered red Sounds warmups. Their practice T-shirts had rips under the arms.
On October 26 1975, ABA Commissioner DeBusschere got word that one of the Claws' banks had yanked its line of credit. Events 740 - An Earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing much damage and death A line of credit is any credit facility extended to a business by a bank or financial institution DeBusschere responded with an ultimatum: deposit $500,000 with the league as a "performance bond" within four days to cover expenses or be shut down. The Claws got together half of the money but could not raise the rest. Reportedly, the remaining money, plus an additional $70,000, was being held in escrow by the city, to be released only if team president David Cohan resigned.
The ABA disbanded the Claws on October 20, 1975, less than a week before the regular season began. The league issued a statement noting that it had been prepared to enter the 1975-76 season with nine solid teams and had given the Baltimore group extra time to get its affairs in order but that the Claws had failed to do so. The Claws' office at the Baltimore Civic Center was locked up by arena management due to unpaid bills. 1st Mariner Arena (formerly known as the Baltimore Arena and as the Baltimore Civic Center) is an arena located in Baltimore Maryland.
The Claws threatened to seek an injunction delaying the start of the season until the Claws were reinstated, citing a provision in the rules requiring 10 days notice before any team could be shuttered. However, after the league and the city threatened to file their own legal actions, the Claws gave up the ghost and folded. It can be argued that the ABA felt the 10-day rule was trumped by a larger obligation to ensure that its franchises were being run in a professional manner.
Dissolution
The Claws players were put into a dispersal draft. Dave Robisch and Paul Ruffner ended up going to the Spirits of St. Louis. David George Robisch (born December 22 1949, in Cincinnati Ohio) is an American former professional Basketball player in the The Spirits of St Louis were one of two teams still in existence at the end of the American Basketball Association that did not survive the merger with the NBA Stew Johnson was sent to the San Diego Sails. Stewart "Stew" Johnson (born August 19, 1944 in Clairton Pennsylvania) is a former professional Basketball player The San Diego Sails, were an American Basketball Association team based in San Diego California. Claude Terry was sent to the Denver Nuggets. The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. Chuck Williams was sent to the Virginia Squires. For the Bush appointee accused of racism during the 2000 US presidential election see Politics of Marshall Texas. The Virginia Squires was a basketball franchise in the former American Basketball Association that existed from 1967 through 1976 Scott English was sent to the Indiana Pacers. Scott English (born Scott David English, 10 January 1943, Brooklyn, New York) is an American Singer, Songwriter Joe Hamilton was sent to the Utah Stars. This page is about the American Basketball Association (ABA team George Carter also ended up with the Stars despite not being picked in the dispersal draft. George Carter (born January 10 1944, in Buffalo New York) is a retired American professional Basketball player The Claws' best known player, Mel Daniels, was disappointed at the Claws' fate and retired rather than play for another team. In Terry Pluto's book on the ABA, "Loose Balls", Daniels recalled that the Claws' players were allowed to take equipment and furniture from the team office in lieu of payment. Terry Pluto (born in Cleveland, Ohio) is an award-winning sportswriter who primarily writes columns for the Cleveland Plain Dealer Loose Balls The Short Wild Life of the American Basketball Association, is a sports book originally published in 1990 by Simon and Schuster.
Aftermath
Not long after the Claws folded, the San Diego Sails and then the Utah Stars folded early in the 1975-76 regular season, abruptly shrinking the league from ten teams to seven. The San Diego Sails, were an American Basketball Association team based in San Diego California. This page is about the American Basketball Association (ABA team The failure of those franchises was a factor behind the league's merger with the NBA in the summer after the 1975-76 season ended.
External links
- January 1976 column by Dan Pattison on demise of the Claws and other teams and the impact on the ABA
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