1969–70 ABA season

1969–70 ABA season
League	American Basketball Association
Sport	Basketball
Duration	October 17, 1969 – May 25, 1970
Number of games	84
Number of teams	11
Regular season
Top seed	Indiana Pacers
Season MVP	Spencer Haywood (Denver)
Top scorer	Spencer Haywood (Denver)
Finals
Champions	Indiana Pacers
Runners-up	Los Angeles Stars

The 1969–70 ABA season was the third season of the American Basketball Association. Prior to the start of the season, the Minnesota Pipers moved back to Pittsburgh, the Oakland Oaks moved to Washington, D.C., and became the Washington Caps and the Houston Mavericks moved to North Carolina and became the Carolina Cougars. For the regular-season, the schedule was increased from 78 to 84 games per team. The season ended with the Indiana Pacers capturing their first ABA Championship.

Spencer Haywood, a rookie from the University of Detroit, led the ABA in scoring (30.0 ppg) and rebounding (19.5 rpg) for the Denver Rockets. Haywood was professional basketball's first "hardship case", leaving college after his sophomore season. The NBA prohibited him from declaring for its draft, and he signed with the Rockets instead, leading them to the Western Division championship.

Teams

1969-70 American Basketball Association
Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
Eastern	Carolina Cougars	Greensboro, North Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina Raleigh, North Carolina	Greensboro Coliseum Charlotte Coliseum Dorton Arena	15,000 9,605 7,610
	Indiana Pacers	Indianapolis, Indiana	Indiana State Fair Coliseum	10,000
	Kentucky Colonels	Louisville, Kentucky	Louisville Convention Center	6,000
	Miami Floridians	Miami, Florida	Dinner Key Auditorium Miami-Dade Junior College North Gym	6,900 N/A
	New York Nets	West Hempstead, New York	Island Garden	5,200
	Pittsburgh Pipers	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Civic Arena	12,580
Western	Dallas Chaparrals	University Park, Texas Dallas, Texas	Moody Coliseum Dallas Memorial Auditorium	8,998 9,815
	Denver Rockets	Denver, Colorado	Denver Auditorium Arena	6,841
	Los Angeles Stars	Los Angeles, California	Los Angeles Sports Arena	14,795
	New Orleans Buccaneers	New Orleans, Louisiana	Loyola Field House	6,500
	Washington Caps	Washington, D.C.	Washington Coliseum	7,000

Map of teams

Carolina

Indiana

Kentucky

Miami

New York

Pittsburgh

Dallas

Denver

Los Angeles

New Orleans

Washington

Eastern Division Western Division

Final standings

Eastern Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Indiana Pacers *	59	25	.702	—
Kentucky Colonels *	45	39	.536	14.0
Carolina Cougars *	42	42	.500	17.0
New York Nets *	39	45	.464	20.0
Pittsburgh Pipers	29	55	.345	30.0
Miami Floridians	23	61	.274	36.0

Western Division

Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Denver Rockets *	51	33	.607	—
Dallas Chaparrals *	45	39	.536	6.0
Washington Caps *	44	40	.524	7.0
Los Angeles Stars *	43	41	.512	8.0
New Orleans Buccaneers	42	42	.500	9.0

Asterisk (*) denotes playoff team

Bold – ABA champions

Playoffs

See also: 1970 ABA playoffs

Awards and honors

Spencer Haywood (Denver) was named ABA MVP and ROTY

Mel Daniels (right) was named All-ABA First Team

• ABA Most Valuable Player Award: Spencer Haywood, Denver Rockets
• Rookie of the Year: Spencer Haywood, Denver Rockets
• Coach of the Year: Bill Sharman, Los Angeles Stars and Joe Belmont, Denver Rockets
• Playoffs MVP: Roger Brown, Indiana Pacers
• All-Star Game MVP: Spencer Haywood, Denver Rockets
• All-ABA First Team
  • Rick Barry, Washington Caps (2nd selection)
  • Spencer Haywood, Denver Rockets
  • Mel Daniels, Indiana Pacers (3rd selection)
  • Bob Verga, Carolina Cougars
  • Larry Jones, Denver Rockets (3rd selection)
• All-ABA Second Team
  • Roger Brown, Indiana Pacers (2nd selection)
  • Bob Netolicky, Indiana Pacers
  • Red Robbins, New Orleans Buccaneers (2nd selection)
  • Louie Dampier, Kentucky Colonels (3rd selection)
  • Donnie Freeman, Miami Floridians (2nd selection)
• All-ABA Rookie Team
  • Mike Barrett, Washington Caps
  • John Brisker, Pittsburgh Pipers
  • Mack Calvin, Los Angeles Stars
  • Spencer Haywood, Denver Rockets
  • Willie Wise, Los Angeles Stars

Finals

See also: 1970 ABA Finals