127: Pittsburgh Pipers - ABA

Sports' Forgotten Heroes

In 1967, a new basketball league was born, the ABA (American Basketball Association) with teams in 11 cities including Indianapolis, Oakland, New Orleans, Denver and Dallas. The ABA also put a team in Pittsburgh, the Pipers. After a slow start, the Pipers got it going and twice won as many as 14 games in a row. In fact, the Pipers finished the season with a record of 54-24. They won the Eastern Conference and then worked their way through playoffs. In the first round, they swept the Indiana Pacers 3-0. In the Eastern Finals, they took out the Minnesota Muskies 4-1 and in the championship, in seven games, the Pipers outlasted the New Orleans Buccaneers 4-games-to-3. The Pipers were good. real good. In fact, they might have been good enough to qualify for the NBA playoffs. They were led by a budding superstar - Connie Hawkins. Blackballed by the NBA for his alleged involvement in a point shaving scandal, Hawkins was named the ABA's regualr season MVP and playoff's MVP. He averaged 26.8 ppg during the regular season and 29.9 ppg in the playoffs. Of course, later in hi career, he was finally granted entry into the NBA where he continued to excel and was ultimately elected into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame. Back to the Pipers. Despite winning the East, the team's fanbase was minimal at best. So, the Pipers, after just one year in Pittsburgh, packed up and headed north to Minneapolis. The Muskies left for Florida. Ironically, the Muskies couldn't draw fans and the Pipers, after relocating to Minnesota, couldn't draw fans in Minneapolis either. So, they packed up and headed back to Pittsburgh. Without a doubt, the Pipers had quite a unique history and on this episode of Sports' Forgotten Heroes, basketball historian and author Mark Whited stops by for a lively discussion about the Pipers, the ABA and Connie Hawkins.