Championship and Bust: Pipers Skip Town after Winning the ABA's First Title

Much to the chagrin of local fans, the Pittsburgh Pipers relocated to Minnesota in the immediate aftermath of the ABA's inaugural season (1967-68). "We packed in the fans," recalls Sweet Charlie Williams, the team’s sharp shooting, "and the town started to talk about the Pipers and Connie Hawkins” – the league’s MVP and top scorer. “You would think that would be something to build on – we were the DEFENDING CHAMPS [author's emphasis], and Connie lived in Pittsburgh year-round."

The Twin cities had an ABA team, the Muskies, that first season. Led by future Hofer Mel Daniels, they finished with the second-best record in the Association. However, Minnesota averaged an underwhelming 2,800 per contest—a figure that was probably exaggerated—and only managed to sell 200 season tickets. As a result, owner Larry Shields decided to jump ship to Miami. On the other hand, the Pipers legitimately drew approximately 3,200 a game. In addition, momentum was surging, as Williams notes, in the wake of the exciting title run. Why, for heaven’s sake, would the ABA nip a promising venture in the bud?

“The real reason for the move,” argues Mike Storen, the Indiana Pacers’ GM at the time, “was that George Mikan,” the league’s commissioner, “was putting pressure for an ABA team to be in Minnesota after the Muskies" turned into the Floridians. “Mikan and the ABA league offices were in Minneapolis,” where “Mr. Basketball” had a successful travel agency, “so it would look bad if there wasn’t a team there too, especially since Mikan had been criticized for not having the league office in New York. Did any of that make sense? Of course not. But that was how Mikan sometimes did business.”