The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association (ABA) for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky Colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of any franchise in the league's history, but the team did not join the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the 1976 ABA–NBA merger. The downtown Louisville Convention Center was the Colonels' venue for their first three seasons before moving to Freedom Hall for the remaining seasons, beginning with the 1970–71 schedule.
Westley Sissel Unseld Sr. was an American professional basketball player, coach and executive. He spent his entire National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets. Unseld played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals and was selected with the second overall pick by the Bullets in the 1968 NBA draft. He was named the NBA Most Valuable Player and NBA Rookie of the Year during his rookie season and joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only two players in NBA history to accomplish the feat. Unseld won an NBA championship with the Bullets in 1978, and the Finals MVP award to go with it. After retiring from playing in 1981, he worked with the Bullets/Wizards as a vice president, head coach, and general manager.
Artis Gilmore Sr. is an American former professional basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). Gilmore was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on August 12, 2011.
Robert Allen McAdoo Jr. is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a five-time NBA All-Star and named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1975. He won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers during their Showtime era in the 1980s. In 2000, McAdoo was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
Daniel Paul Issel is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, Issel was twice named an All-American en route to a school-record 25.7 points per game for his career. The American Basketball Association Rookie of the Year in 1971, he was a six-time ABA All-Star and a one-time NBA All-Star.
Caldwell "Pops" Jones Jr. was an American professional basketball player.
Steven Charles Mix, nicknamed "The Mayor", is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Mix had a thirteen year playing career, was an NBA All-Star and played in the NBA Finals on four occasions. He later had a lengthy career as a broadcaster for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Robert Kauffman was an American professional basketball player and coach. Kaufmann was a three time NBA All-Star.
Bailey E. Howell is an American former professional basketball player. After playing college basketball at Mississippi State, Howell played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Howell was a six-time NBA All-Star, two-time NBA champion and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997.
Marvin Jerome "Bad News" Barnes was an American professional basketball player. A forward, he was an All-American at Providence College, and played professionally in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA).
Michael Leon Carr is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA), and former head coach and General Manager of the Boston Celtics.
Carl John Neumann, nicknamed "Johnny Reb", was an American professional basketball player and coach. At 6'6" and 200 pounds, he played at the shooting guard and small forward positions.
Theodore McClain is a retired American professional basketball player.
Fred J. Foster was an American professional basketball player.
The 1975–76 Buffalo Braves season was the sixth season for the expansion Buffalo Braves franchise in the National Basketball Association and its Atlantic Division. It was the team's fourth season under head coach Jack Ramsay. The team's official home arena was Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
The 1973–74 Kentucky Colonels season was their seventh in the American Basketball Association. The Colonels finished in second place in the ABA's Eastern Division. They met the Carolina Cougars in the Eastern Division Semifinals and swept them in 4 games. They met the eventual champion New York Nets in the Eastern Division Finals, where they lost. McCarthy was let go after this season.
Daniel James "Gus" Gerard is an American former professional basketball player. He played for the Carolina Cougars and Spirits of St. Louis and Denver Nuggets of the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the Denver Nuggets, Buffalo Braves, Detroit Pistons, Kansas City Kings and San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The 1975–76 American Basketball Association season saw the defending champion Kentucky Colonels finish in fourth place in the ABA, defeat the Indiana Pacers 2 games to 1 in the first round of the 1976 ABA Playoffs, and lose to the regular season champion Denver Nuggets 4 games to 3 in the ABA Semifinals. The 1975–76 season was the Colonels' ninth and last, as Kentucky was one of two ABA teams left out of the 1976 ABA-NBA merger.
The 1975-76 American Basketball Association season saw the Spirits of St. Louis, led by Marvin Barnes, Moses Malone, Ron Boone and Caldwell Jones, drop to sixth place in the ABA, with a record of 35-49. As a result, the Spirits missed the playoffs in their second and final season.
The 1975–76 Phoenix Suns season was the eighth season for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. The season included an improbable run to the NBA Finals by a team that had never won a playoff series and made the playoffs only one other season in the franchise's existence. With a regular season record of 42–40, the Suns had finished third in the Pacific division standings and improved upon last season's win total by 10 games. The ensuing playoff run took plenty by surprise, including a seven-game series win against the Western Conference's top seed and defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors, a team that had finished 17 games ahead of the Suns in the divisional standings. The franchise's first Finals appearance pitted them against a 12-time champion in the Boston Celtics, whose roster featured three players from that season's All-Star Game. The 1976 NBA Finals would feature a memorable Game 5 triple-overtime thriller filled with controversies in which the Suns narrowly lost. Returning home for Game 6, the demoralized Suns would lose Game 6 and the series but not before endearing a generation of fans to the Suns franchise and showcasing basketball from the desert southwest. The team's "Cinderella" season earned them the nickname Sunderella Suns. John MacLeod was head coach and the Suns played their home games at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
