Remember the ABA: Pittsburgh Condors

Did you see a Pittsburgh Condors game? Or, did you have a favorite Condors player? Contribute to this web page by describing your favorite Condors memories.

The Pittsburgh Pipers were part of the ABA's 1967-68 inaugural season. Led by Hall of Famer Connie Hawkins, the Pipers were a strong team - they earned some hardcore fans and positive local attention as they fought for and won the first ABA Championship. But the next season, team owner Gabe Rubin inexplicably abandoned Pittsburgh and moved his team to Minneapolis, Minnesota (where another inaugural ABA team, the Minnesota Muskies, had already failed due to lack of fan support). The Pipers' move to Minnesota was a disaster in all respects. The fans left behind in Pittsburgh were angry and upset. And, Minneapolis residents cared about the Minnesota Pipers even less than they cared about the Minnesota Muskies - attendance was almost non-existent during the 1968-69 season, and the franchise lost huge amounts of money.

After spending only one season in Minnesota, team owner Gabe Rubin made another inexplicable decision - he moved the team BACK to Pittsburgh. Needless to say, Pittsburgh residents were more than a little annoyed with the situation - many of the team's former fans viewed the ABA as a "mickey mouse" operation, and wanted nothing more to do with the league. The Pipers received terrible press upon their return to the Steel City. Very few season tickets were sold. The Civic Arena was largely empty during the 1969-70 season - not only did the fans hold a grudge against the team, but Hawkins had departed to the NBA. That left the Pipers with little talent. Nobody in Pittsburgh seemed to care about ABA basketball, as the Pipers struggled to a dismal 29-win 5th place finish.

Given this situation, it seemed logical that the Pipers should either fold or move to a new city for the 1970-71 season. But ABA business decisions rarely made sense - especially those made in Pittsburgh. In the spring of 1970, Rubin sold the team to a new corporate owner, Haven Industries, Inc. - the owner of the "Jack Frost" brand of sugar products. While Haven Industries was headquartered in New York City, it still decided to keep the team in Pittsburgh. For some unknown reason, the company believed that Pittsburgh still could support ABA basketball.

Haven Industries immediately got rid of the Pipers nickname. Understandably, it wanted to promote a new image and a new attitude for the team. The team's new front office held a "name the team" contest, open to the general public. The name "Pioneers" was selected as the winning entry, and the man who submitted the name won a $500 cash prize. At this point, things really started to get strange - even by ABA standards. A local NAIA school, Point Park College, was already using the "Pioneers" nickname. In fact, the school's offices were only five blocks from the team's offices. The school threatened immediate legal action against the ABA club if the "Pioneers" name was not dropped. At the same time, a female contestant sued the team, claiming that the winning "Pioneers" entry did not stay within the designated 25-word contest limit. Faced with an alarming amount of litigation over a mere nickname, the team avoided further chaos by dumping the "Pioneers" name and picking its own "safer" alternative - the "Condors." Why "Pittsburgh Condors"? No explanation was ever provided, although the "endangered" status of real condors seemed equally applicable to this franchise.

With the pesky nickname issue finally resolved, the team received a badly-needed infusion of cash from Haven Industries. It seemed that the franchise would finally be able to focus on winning back some Steel City fans.

Their prize rookie, Mike Maloy, arrived at training camp 50 pounds over his college playing weight. One club official joked that Maloy showed up so fat that "we put him out in the middle of the court and ran the team around him to build up our wind." New coach Jack McMahon promptly shipped Maloy to the Virginia Squires and got virtually nothing in return.

To no one's surprise, the Condors got off to a poor start - through November 9, 1970, their record stood at 4-8. To "jumpstart" local interest, new GM Marty Blake decided to give away all available tickets to Pittsburgh's November 17, 1970 home game against the Floridians. With every seat in the 13,000 seat Civic Arena given away for free (!), only 8,074 fans actually showed up to watch the game. More than 3,000 ticketholders didn't even bother to come. Of course, the Condors lost the game 122-116.

Haven Industries trustee Donald J. Bezahler condemned the free ticket night as "an act of desperation" and relieved Blake of his GM position a month and a half later when Pittsburgh's record slipped to 17-27. "I'm tired of the promotional gimmicks" Bezahler stated. He wasn't satisfied with the team's performance on the floor either. "We've put more than a million dollars into this club, and we have very little show for it. I have to think if we had something to offer we could get four or five thousand people to come out to see it."

The primary reason for the team's poor record in 1970-71? The Condors were vulnerable to the fast break, and every other team in the ABA knew it. The Condors lacked overall quickness, and were prone to falling into a static offense. Pittsburgh played in a lot of entertaining, high scoring games, but usually came out on the losing end.

While the 70-71 Condors were terrible, they did have some entertaining players. A few of them are pictured above. At left, team scoring leader John Brisker (#40) battles Julius Keye of Denver for a rebound. At middle is a rarity - gunners Brisker (#40) and George Thompson (#25) both in defensive mode! At right, famous leaper Charles "Helicopter" Hentz (#21) throws up a one-handed shot against the Pacers, while Mike Lewis (#24) awaits a possible rebound. (Pittsburgh Condors publicity photos)

Talented forward/guard John Brisker took advantage of the frequent shootouts to boost his scoring average to an impressive 29.3 points per game. Brisker was not a timid shooter. He often heaved up 25-30 shots per game. At one point during the season, Brisker scored 53 points against the Indiana Pacers, and 50 points against the Texas Chaparrals--on consecutive nights (November 12 & 13, 1970). He ended up being the ABA's third leading scorer in 1970-71. Brisker's offensive skills and gaudy scoring average attracted the notice of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks. Each of these NBA clubs tried to tempt Brisker into jumping leagues. However, Brisker seemed happy in Pittsburgh and signed a contract extension with the Condors.

Brisker had a feathery jump shot and used finesse to get many of his points. But he also had a nasty court personality, and loved to fight. During the 1970-71 season, Brisker was involved in bloody confrontations with Joe Caldwell of Carolina, Wendell Ladner of Memphis, and Ron Boone of Texas. Around the league, Brisker became known as the "heavyweight champion of the ABA." Appropriately, the Condors' press guide pictured Brisker as an ill-tempered hombre - ready to draw a pair of six-shooters.

Many of Brisker's teammates were wary of practicing hard against him, as he was perfectly happy to fight them at the slightest provocation. Condors guard Walt Szczerbiak recalls: "The only problem I had in Pittsburgh was I had to guard John Brisker in practice every day. And he wasn't a very nice person the day after a game, in practice. And he didn't want some rookie who was trying to do his job competing and trying to win some playing time. Even getting within ten feet of him."

Another memorable Condor was Stew Johnson. Johnson, like Brisker, was also "offensive-minded." But, he was not as consistent as Brisker. On March 6, 1971, Johnson surprised the entire ABA by scoring 62 points again the Floridians. That was an ABA record at the time - the previous record of 59 points belonged to Spencer Haywood of the Denver Rockets. To beat Haywood, Johnson went 25 of 44 from the field, including one three-pointer. He also hit 11 straight at the foul line. The night before, he had poured in a scintillating 3 points against the Virginia Squires, going 0 for 7 from the floor. One ABA executive told writer Jim O'Brien: "If I had made a list of 50 ABA guys who might hit 60 points, Stew Johnson would not have been on it." The Condors' other star was hard-working forward/guard George Thompson, who averaged 18.5 ppg in 1971-72.


Jack McMahon (left) was the coach of the Condors. He had one of the most frustrating jobs in the history of the ABA. He had the ultimate scoring machine/ruffian John Brisker (middle with headband), hard-working George Thompson (second from right), and hustling center Mike Lewis (far right). But Brisker was always far more interested in inflating his scoring average than helping the Condors to the playoffs. The team lacked chemistry, and especially fans. With their distinct lack of home attendance, the Condors were always on the ABA's "endangered species" list.

Mark Binstein took over as GM after Blake's departure from the team. Binstein acquired Rich Johnson and Arvesta Kelly for the team's "stretch drive." He also devoted a lot of time trying to lure Connie Hawkins back to the Condors from the NBA Phoenix Suns. The latter half of the 1970-71 season was filled with rumors that Hawkins would return to the franchise to finish his career in his home town. The "Return of Hawkins" never happened - Binstein habitually answered "no comment" to just about every press inquiry on the subject. The Condors limped home with a 36-48 record, and ended up with the worst home attendance in the league. The Condors "officially" averaged 2,806 fans per game in 1970-71. Observers close to the team noted that this figure was obviously padded and that the true figure was probably about 1,100 per game.

With all of the constant problems, it seemed highly unlikely that the team could last another year - let alone in Pittsburgh. But that is exactly what happened. A deal to sell the team to Washington D.C. interests fell through a month before the season started. After that, Haven Industries gambled and decided to give the Condors one more try in Pittsburgh. It seemed that Haven Industries wanted to keep the team afloat at any cost, so that the Condors could cash in on a possible ABA/NBA merger. Haven Industries representative Bezahler stated: "We want to keep this team in Pittsburgh. An awful lot of money has been poured into the franchise, and we feel it's on the verge of a breakthrough."

Of course, gambling big money on a distant and unlikely payoff is never a good idea if most everyone in your geographic market dislikes your current product. This was the basic problem facing the 1971-72 Condors. To its credit, the team's front office (and in particular publicity director Fred Cranwell) tried very hard to fix the image of the team. The Condors:

Retired their 1970-71 cartoon bird logo in favor of a more militaristic and "intimidating" bird logo.

Completely redesigned their uniforms to reflect the new logo. The new unis were sharp. They're one of the most popular "throwback" jerseys today - just check eBay.

Mailed out an attractive and flashy season ticket brochure, known among ABA collectors to be one of the best ticket brochures ever produced by any ABA team. The brochure had John Brisker on the cover. It touted an exclusive "Igloo Club" for season ticket holders - club membership gave special parking privileges, autograph sessions with Condors coaches and players, and access to a special hospitality room at the Civic Center before and after home games.

Ramped up the production of team merchandise. There were Condors wristwatches, Condors windbreakers (left), Condors team photo sets, Condors ashtrays, Condors t-shirts, Condors stocking caps, and Condors wristbands. Some ABA beat writers noted that Pittsburgh had the best merchandising program of any ABA team and offered items not on display anywhere else.

Scheduled an exhibition game at the Civic Center against the NBA Champion Milwaukee Bucks and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (for various reasons, the game itself did not live up to expectations - see Fred Cranwell's memory found below).

The Condors had signed 6' 8" All-American Howard Porter to a contract in December of 1970. However, Porter observed the franchise during the spring of 1971, and decided he didn't like the Condors as much as he thought earlier. He signed another contract with the NBA's Chicago Bulls. A bitter legal battle ensued between the Condors and the Bulls. Porter ended up as a Bull for the 1971-72 season (as part of the unique settlement, the Condors received the gate receipts from an exhibition game against the Bulls, plus journeyman forward Paul Ruffner).

After a 4-6 regular season start (not bad by Condors standards!), GM Binstein suddenly canned coach Jack McMahon. Then, in a move that further surprised many ABA observers, Binstein named himself as McMahon's replacement. Binstein had no previous pro coaching experience, although he had played some college basketball at West Point.

Serving as both GM and coach, Binstein shook things up right away. He traded offensive gunner Stew Johnson to the Carolina Cougars for...well...another offensive gunner, Bob Verga. On obtaining Verga, Binstein made this strange comment: "I have three players who might kill him if he doesn't give up the ball. It is my hope that a young man with all his talent is aware that this is his sixth team."

Binstein made further strange moves. The Condors had a promising young guard for the 1971-72 season - Jimmy O'Brien out of Boston College. Under McMahon, O'Brien enjoyed significant playing time. But under Binstein, O'Brien rode the pine. Binstein finally traded O'Brien to the Kentucky Colonels for forward Goose Ligon. While the Condors needed Ligon's rebounding and hustle, they missed O'Brien's playmaking and unselfish game. After the trade, O'Brien noted that: "The deal was a complete surprise to me. When Jack McMahon was coach, I wasn't starting, but I did average about 24 minutes of playing time. I was more or less running the entire offense, and I had some very good games. Especially early in the season. When McMahon was fired and Binstein took over, I was reduced to two minutes of playing time. What really bothered me was the fact that Binstein never offered any kind of an explanation. The offense was changed completely, and it was obvious that there were no plans for me." O'Brien also offered this stark comparison of the Colonels and the Condors: "Kentucky is a great franchise and one that is not going to fold. As you know, Pittsburgh is in trouble at the gate and there have been rumors of a sale and also of the team just folding."

Jimmy O'Brien (above, # 44) was a Pittsburgh Condor for just the first few weeks of the 1971-72 season. Coach Jack McMahon played him a lot, saying: "He's going to be a good one. He does everything smoothly. The shooters on this club are going to buy all of his cokes. He'll be that valuable to them. He'll get everybody more points."

After only 18 games, McMahon was already gone (fired by GM Mark Binstein), and O'Brien was traded to the Kentucky Colonels for Goose Ligon. The Condors missed his unselfish play. O'Brien, on the other hand, happy to go to Kentucky - in contrast to the Condors, Kentucky had good owners, money and fan support.

Under Binstein's first nine games as coach, false optimism abounded as the Condors went 5-4. The five wins included a road victory over the defending champion Utah Stars, and a home triumph against the eventual 1971-72 champion Indiana Pacers. The Condors even attracted an impressive 4,502 fans to the Civic Center for a game against Rick Barry and the New York Nets. But, as often was the case in Pittsburgh, things "went south" pretty quickly. The Condors went 16-49 the rest of the way.

Frustration set in soon enough. In early December John Brisker was ejected from a home game against the Denver Rockets only 2 minutes into the game. He had brutally elbowed Art Becker of the Rockets. After receiving his ejection notice from referee Earl Strom, Brisker came back onto the floor and hit Becker again. Both benches cleared, and Brisker was held back by his teammates. But as Becker went to the free throw line, Brisker broke free and hit the Denver forward yet again. Finally, the police rushed onto the court and pulled Brisker off the Civic Arena court. Denver's coach, Alex Hannum, had this to say about the incident: "Utterly uncalled for. It was a cheap shot, the worst I've seen in all my years in basketball."

Aside from being kicked out of games for fighting, Brisker also missed 15 of the team's first 55 games due to a variety of ailments, including groin pulls, hamstring pulls, a strained Achilles tendon, bruised ribs, a chipped elbow bone, and severe back pain. On January 25, 1972, Brisker felt good, returned to the starting lineup, and scored 36 points to help the Condors upset the New York Nets in overtime at the Civic Arena. He then went back to the bench with more injuries. Upon returning a week later, he scored 52 and 40 points in consecutive games at Greensboro vs. the Cougars (Feb. 5) and Miami vs. the Floridians (Feb. 6). But in the next game, at Indianapolis vs. the Pacers, he injured himself yet again. At the time he said "I'm having a better year than last all around - scoring, assists, rebounds - but I'd sure like to play more. I've never had a season like this. I've just been riddled with injuries." When he did play, Brisker was the heart of the team, 29.2 ppg, 86.3% from the line, and 32.2% from three-point land.

Here are some rare shots from a Condors home game during the ill-fated 1971-72 season. Note all the empty seats, a common sight at the Civic Arena.

At top left, Pittsburgh center Mike Lewis (#24) battles Virginia's Jim Eakins (#42) for a jump ball.

At top middle, Condors forward Goose Ligon (#12, under basket) grabs a loose ball from Julius Erving (#32), with John Brisker (#40) and Lewis (#24) looking on.

At top right, a classic ABA photo. Rookie and future Hall-of-Famer Julius "Dr. J" Erving (#32) shooting a free throw in front of a sparse and bored Pittsburgh "crowd." Condors forward George Thompson (#25) looks on as well. Is anyone in the stands actually watching Dr. J? I count only one person - the father at the top right.

At left, John Brisker, the "heavyweight champion of the ABA," dribbles in a posed photo.

(action shots courtesy of Al Hall)

As the losses mounted for the Condors, attendance plummeted to less than 1,000 fans per game. Rumors abounded that the Condors would soon move to New Haven, Connecticut to finish out the season. Players were actually told to wind up their personal business in the Steel City. The very last Condors home game at the Civic Arena was supposed to be against Kentucky on December 21. New York Nets owner Roy Boe offered his own wide-ranging thoughts on the Condors' increasingly dire situation:

December 21 came and passed, and the Condors remained in Pittsburgh. Sounding like a broken record, team President Bezahler finally issued a statement: "There is no sense to keep pouring good money into the franchise while it is in Pittsburgh. There is too much talent on our club for it not to be appreciated by the fans. We are not going to move this season since it is too late. But we are looking around for next year. New Haven-Hartford-Springfield is just one possible area for us."

The Condors never "moved" to another city during the 1971-72 season. But, in the spring of 1972, they took unique and unprecedented steps to abandon Pittsburgh. In February, they shifted several home games from the Civic Arena to other locations across Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh's February 9 home game vs. the Utah Stars was shifted to Uniontown, over 40 miles from Pittsburgh. That game was played in at Uniontown High School and drew 1,750 fans. The March 14 home game vs. the Virginia Squires was shifted to Connellsville, around 15 miles away from Pittsburgh. That game only drew only 500 fans.

But, to improve non-existent gate receipts in the Pittsburgh area, why not shift home games to other far-flung and remote locations - maybe even other states? Amazingly, that is what the Condors decided to do. Essentially, they became the "United States Condors." The March 24 home game against the Kentucky Colonels was moved to - of all places - Birmingham, Alabama. 3,000 half-interested fans showed up at Birmingham's Boutwell Auditorium to see the Condors lose to the Colonels, 134-107. The March 28 home game, also against Kentucky, was shifted to Tucson, Arizona. Yes, Tucson, Arizona. 5,000 fans showed up to see the Condors lose to the Colonels, 136-134. It was the very last Condors "home" game ever.

After the "U.S. Condors" staggered to the end of the 1971-72 season with a 25-59 record, the league had finally seen enough. The ABA finally folded the franchise and held a special dispersal draft for those Condors players who were still under contract. George Thompson went to the Memphis Tams (another "difficult" location), Mike Lewis went to the Carolina Cougars, Skeeter Swift went to the Dallas Chaparrals, and Walt Szczerbiak went to the Kentucky Colonels. John Brisker finally decided to test the NBA. He signed a new contract with the Seattle SuperSonics. The Condors became only a fond and distant memory for hard-core ABA fans.

MEMORIES OF HARVEY LIPSKY (reprinted from the ABA Fan Club Newsletter, September 1972): "The Pittsburgh Condors had only one capacity crowd in Pennsylvania during the 1971-72 season. I was at that game along with 1,749 other spectators. The date was February 9, 1972, and the place was Uniontown, Pennsylvania. I had planned on going to the Utah Stars/Pittsburgh Condors game at Pittsburgh since November 1971. The only thing to stop me would have been the Condors' rumored move to New Haven, Connecticut. On February 8, I checked the Buffalo Evening News to be sure that the Stars were playing at Pittsburgh on the 9th, since I recalled reading that the Condors had not shown up for a game in New York, and thus couldn't be trusted. The paper said Utah at Pittsburgh, so on February 9th I went to Pittsburgh for the game. While I was driving through Pittsburgh, I heard some sports reports and not one mentioned the Condors/Stars game. Instead, they were talking about the Penguins road game that night. I didn't think much of it at the time and I shook it off as the lousy press the Condors received. When I got to the Civic Arena, I went to park my car at the Arena's parking lot and was told by the attendant that the game had been moved out of the Civic Arena. I went to the Arena's ticket office to find out where the game was being played, but not even the ticket attendant knew where the Condors were playing. Fortunately, he did know their phone number, so I called the Condors' office and was told the shocking news: the game had been moved to Uniontown High School. I went back to the ticket attendant and he gave me directions to Uniontown, 40 miles from Pittsburgh. Two gas stations later, I had directions to the school. I arrived early and saw the preliminary game. Time went fast and the players arrived. At warmup time, I caught a glimpse of Mark Binstein. Binstein was in top form--telling the ball-boys how to put the adhesive tape for the 3-point shot on, after they had measured wrong and had to tear the tape off the first time. The game progressed to be a runaway for Utah, as Wise and Beaty scored 70 points. In the fourth quarter, the announcer thanked all 1,750 people for showing up. The figure was probably more than they would have drawn in Pittsburgh anyway. I saw the Condors play once more after that, March 4th at Nassau Coliseum. It was the make-up of the game they hadn't shown up for against the Nets."

MEMORIES OF AGUSTIN TORRES: "I remember the St. Patrick's Day ABA doubleheader held in Madison Square Garden in New York in 1971 or 1972. I still have the button they handed out, with the logos of Kentucky, New York, Pittsburgh, and the Floridians (who also brought their famous ballgirls). Written on the button is the saying: 'So go the Irish, so go the ABA.' What I remember of the Pittsburgh game was the crowd on its feet in the second half as John Brisker kept burying 3-pointers, something many people had never seen before. They kept chanting his name and stomping their feet, and he kept firing. I don't remember how many he had but it could have been anywhere between 7 and 10 of them. This year, I was at a luncheon at St. Peter's College in Jersey City where Fred Cranwell is the college's public relations man (a position he held with Pittsburgh). Fred always recalls sitting in his Condors office with John Brisker. He was on the phone with a Condors' executive, and in his pocket he had a court injunction to prevent Brisker from jumping to Seattle in the NBA. All Cranwell could think about was that John owned a gun. He basically froze while the executive kept yelling on the phone, from long distance: "give 'im the damn papers!" Fred said Brisker was actually a nice sweet man with children. Some years later, Fred said he picked up Brisker's voice on his telephone answering machine saying hello. He didn't sound well, said Fred. He never heard from Brisker again. Fred told me, believe it or not, that Brisker may have gone to Africa to fight for Idi Amin during civil war in Uganda. Fred told me this with a straight face and swears it's true."

MEMORIES OF PAUL DORMAN: "I attended an exhibition game in Pittsburgh between the Condors and the Milwaukee Bucks. Surprisingly enough, the game was fairly well attended, probably about 5,000-6000 people. For the Condors, that was a huge crowd. The game itself was a big disappointment because Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who was the big draw) did not play. He had suffered a poke in the eye a couple of nights before. I believe this was during the final year of the Condors' existence. They had a couple of good players besides Brisker. I remember that George "Machine Gun" Thompson was on that team. Also, one of the great names in all of sports -- Harley "Skeeter" Swift. That year, it seemed like the Condors always scored lots of points. But the other teams usually scored a few more."

MEMORIES OF FRED CRANWELL: "Some extra info on the Condors' 1971 exhibition games with NBA teams. For the record, the October 2, 1971 game between the Pittsburgh Condors and the Chicago Bulls was NOT played in Pittsburgh, but rather in Sarasota, Florida, the hometown of Howard Porter. The game was part of a settlement between the Bulls and the Condors -- who both had Porter under contract. The Condors agreed to allow Porter to fulfill his contract with the Bulls. And the Condors could keep all the gate receipts from the exhibition game. We had offered to play the game at Villanova -- from whence Porter came (costing Villanova big NCAA bucks as well as many forfeitures) -- but AD Art Mahan declined. This game did not attract a large crowd. I remember Mark Binstein offering a $500 bonus to any player who could "accidentally" cause Porter not to finish the game. After a skirmish, Porter was forced to leave the game and did not return. John Brisker returned to Pittsburgh $500 richer.

We guaranteed the Milwaukee Bucks $25,000 to play in Pittsburgh on October 10, 1971. We spent big bucks advertising: "ALCINDOR IS COMING." He changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar just before the game. I believe we gave the Bucks $10,000 when the contract was signed, with the rest due the day of the game (which was a Sunday afternoon). The Friday before, the Bucks called and insisted that we wire them the rest of the money immediately or they would not show up for the game. What they did NOT tell us was that Kareem was injured and was not going to play. On the day of the game, the Bucks further advised us that Kareem would not even show up at the game. Rather, he was going to rest in his hotel room. After a lot of bickering, the big guy agreed to take a bow before the game -- in his street clothes. I think the crowd was actually somewhere between 8 and 9 thousand. But we took a big financial bath. There were about 5,000 empty seats, which gives you an idea of what kind of basketball town Pittsburgh is. We were going to give the profits from the game -- if any -- to the Pittsburgh Press Newsboy Fund, which sent kids to summer camp. The next day, the Press ripped us for falsely proclaiming that Alcindor was coming when we really knew he wasn't (not true). The Press also stated that the only people in Pittsburgh who were happy with the game were "the Condors officials who took the money to the bank." So much for credibility. The Pittsburgh media was cruel."

MEMORIES OF ALEX STEWART: "I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, and we didn't have a pro team. But I remember my dad taking me and my best friend to an ABA game at Boutwell Auditorium between the Pittsburgh Condors and the Kentucky Colonels. It was in 1971 or 1972. I remember that the Colonels won. I don't know if this was an exhibition game or regular season game, but it was my very first pro basketball game."

FROM THE JANUARY 1973 ABA FAN CLUB NEWSLETTER (reprinted with permission): "In the spring of 1972, the ABA received a letter from Hersey Boyer, No. 23594, who called himself the Inmate Basketball Commissioner of C Block at Attica Prison in upstate New York. Hersey was requesting help for the prison basketball league. The ABA answered the call by sending two red, white and blue basketballs. Then, with the league purchase of the Pittsburgh and Floridians franchises, the league came into possession of a number of uniforms and the chance to give further aid. The uniforms of the Pittsburgh Condors, sweatsuits and all, were sent to the prison. While the Condors no longer existed, their uniforms lived on."

Pittsburgh Condors

Years of existence: 1970-71 through 1971-72
Colors: Red and Gold
Home Arena: Pittsburgh Civic Arena (12,939)
Coaches:
1970-71: Jack McMahon
1971-72: Jack McMahon & Mark Binstein

Condors Fan Memories
Detailed Franchise Year-to-Year Notes
Condors Ownership History and Rosters
Franchise All-Time Top 20 Scorers

Brett Ballantini's April 1999 Interview with Walt Szczerbiak (Condors' forward, 1971-72 season)

CONDORS YEAR-TO-YEAR RESULTS

Pittsburgh Condors

Years of existence: 1970-71 through 1971-72 Colors: Red and Gold Home Arena: Pittsburgh Civic Arena (12,939) Coaches: 1970-71: Jack McMahon 1971-72: Jack McMahon & Mark Binstein

Condors Fan Memories Detailed Franchise Year-to-Year Notes Condors Ownership History and Rosters Franchise All-Time Top 20 Scorers

Brett Ballantini's April 1999 Interview with Walt Szczerbiak (Condors' forward, 1971-72 season)

CONDORS YEAR-TO-YEAR RESULTS

Years of existence: 1970-71 through 1971-72
Colors: Red and Gold
Home Arena: Pittsburgh Civic Arena (12,939)
Coaches:
1970-71: Jack McMahon
1971-72: Jack McMahon & Mark Binstein

Condors Fan Memories
Detailed Franchise Year-to-Year Notes
Condors Ownership History and Rosters
Franchise All-Time Top 20 Scorers