Remember the ABA: San Diego Conquistadors

Did you see a San Diego Q's game? Or, did you have a favorite ABA Q's player? Contribute to this web page by describing your favorite Q's memories.

The San Diego Conquistadors (the "Q's" to their loyal fans and sportswriters) were an ABA rarity: an ABA expansion team. Their players for their first season (1972-73) were unprotected players taken from other ABA teams in a special expansion draft. Given the talent available in this pool, one national basketball publication predicted that in their first season, the Conquistadors would be "the worst team in organized professional basketball history."

As always, however, the ABA was anything but predictable. The Q's weren't all that bad (well, not as bad as people thought they would be) and actually made the playoffs in that first year (barely beating out the established Dallas Chaparrals for the last playoff spot). While they were swept in the first round by the Utah Stars, the season was still regarded as a success. The Q's coach was K.C. Jones (yes, the future coach of the World Champion Boston Celtics), and his players were Chuck Williams, Stew Johnson, Austin "Red" Robbins, and George Adams.

The team's most pressing problem did not stem from its supposed lack of talent. San Diego's owner, Leonard Bloom, had a personality conflict with Peter Graham, proprietor of the city's brand new 14,400 seat Sports Arena. Graham was angry that the ABA had granted the expansion franchise to Bloom and not him. Graham retaliated by refusing to lease the modern Sports Arena to the Q's. Out of necessity, the Q's "cozy" arena was Peterson Gym on the campus of San Diego State. Peterson Gym only had a capacity of 3,200 and looked like a high school gymnasium. But at least the fans could get close to the action.

Before their second season, Leonard Bloom and his Q's captured the attention of the entire basketball world when they signed Los Angeles Lakers superstar Wilt Chamberlain to a $600,000 per year contract to play for (and coach) the team. An excited Bloom told San Diego fans: "Wilt's my player-coach, with the emphasis on player." The Q's immediately distributed media photos showing Wilt in a Q's uniform, holding an ABA ball (below).

But San Diego's hopes were dashed when the Lakers sued to prevent Wilt from playing for the Q's. A California court ruled that if Wilt played basketball during the 1973-74 season, it would have to be with the NBA Lakers. However, the court also ruled that while Wilt's contract with the Lakers was valid, it would not prevent him from coaching the San Diego franchise. As a result, Wilt was relegated to a mere gate attraction on the bench.

Wilt's only role with the team was a coaching role (which included playing in team scrimmages). However, the rigors of coaching didn't really seem to suit him. Early during the season, Wilt missed a game at Indianapolis. The team said he was sick, but it eventually was revealed that Wilt was in Los Angeles attending an autograph session for his new book. During the last week of February, Chamberlain was absent from the team for a pair of games. Assistant coach Stan Albeck took over the team for both of those games -- which the Q's won. A reporter called both Leonard Bloom and the Q's office to find out where Wilt was for these games. But nobody connected with the San Diego franchise had any knowledge of Wilt's whereabouts.

Despite all of this, the Q's were a better team during the 1973-74 season. Fortunately for San Diego, when Chamberlain arrived, he brought along Caldwell Jones -- a skinny but talented 6'7" center. Fresh out of Albany State, Caldwell had failed to come to terms with the Philadelphia 76ers during the summer of 1973. It soon became obvious that Jones was a future All-Star center. Chamberlain also signed his former friends on the Lakers team, Travis "Machine Gun" Grant and Flynn Robinson. Rookie Dwight "Bo" Lamar made a big splash, averaging more than 20 points per game. On January 13, 1974 against the Pacers, Lamar scored a team-record 50 points. Finally, rookie Tim Bassett was also impressive.

Despite their youth, the Q's were occasionally able to beat the better ABA teams like Indiana, New York, and Carolina. On December 29, 1973, the Q's tailed the eventual champion Nets by 22 points at halftime, but came back to win the game. Eventually, the Q's barely beat out the established Denver Rockets for the final playoff spot in the Western Division (winning a one game playoff at Denver to win the spot), and actually pushed the Utah Stars to six games in the first round.

The 1973-74 Q's fought through the loss of Wilt Chamberlain the player and then the frequent absences of Wilt Chamberlain the coach. They battled from behind most of the season as the other Western Division teams (Indiana, Utah, Denver and San Antonio) got off to better starts. They finally tied Denver for 4th place and the last playoff spot, whipped Denver (at Denver) in a one-game playoff, and then carried eventual ABA finalist Utah to six tough first-round playoff games.

Without Chamberlain, the Q's still had an intriguing group of players, each with unique talents. Guard Billy Shepherd (above left and middle, #20) was known for one thing one the court: he was one of the most dangerous 3-point shooters in ABA history.

Stew Johnson (above right, #13) was the team's main scoring threat. He put up jumpers from every possible angle in his time with the Q's. He averaged 20.1 ppg in 1973-74, and even played in the 1974 ABA All-Star Game.

Center Caldwell Jones (right, #42) showed flashes of brilliance during his rookie season. His offensive game still needed work. But when healthy he was able to defense any ABA center. The Q's also had some longtime ABA veterans coming off the bench, such as center/forward Red Robbins (right, #21), and guard Larry Miller (right, #44).

Off the court, there was continual chaos. Bloom continued his feud with Peter Graham, and the Q's were forced to play in a small, confined downtown gym called Golden Hall. On November 7, 1973 owner Leonard Bloom's proposed 20,000 seat arena in a $200 million development in suburban Chula Vista failed by a mere 294 votes out of 19,000 cast in a special referendum. Chamberlain had refused to go into Chula Vista to campaign for the arena, saying: "If I have to go there, they can't want it very much." On November 10th, the league ordered Bloom to begin preliminary investigations into moving the team northward -- to Los Angeles. Much of the 1973-74 season was overshadowed by rumors regarding the team's possible move to Los Angeles. Veteran team publicist Ans Dilley resigned in mid-season, stating that: "When I try to make an appointment for someone to interview Wilt, he's always too busy. The guy is just impossible to work with." A month into the season, Dilley reminded Coach Chamberlain that the team picture hadn't been taken yet. When Wilt responded that it was too early, and that there would be significant changes on the roster, Dilley typed a letter of resignation.

San Diego's third season, without Wilt, was a case of good news and bad news. The team finally made peace with Peter Graham, and moved into the spacious Sports Arena. But the season was a last place disaster. The one bright spot was center Caldwell Jones, who continued to improve. After their third season, the Conquistadors were purchased by former Denver Nuggets owner Frank Goldberg, and became the San Diego Sails.

MEMORIES OF RICHARD CRAIG: "The Q's played in a total of three arenas. The first was Peterson Gym on the San Diego State campus, and the second was Golden Hall, which was basically a ballroom in the middle of San Diego's civic center downtown complex. They played there during the Wilt year (1973-74). It wasn't any bigger than Peterson Gym but since it was downtown it was easier for most fans to find (not that many ever did). There's a shot near the end of the HBO documentary of an organist playing right at the end of the court at a Q's game, and that was in Golden Hall. In fact, the organist is Danny Topaz, who was the Padres' organist for years and who may also still be floating around San Diego somewhere. Golden Hall is still there, by the way, though Peterson Gym is not. I remember Ron Reina calling Q's games and having what seemed like an uncanny knack for knowing the exact distance of every jump shot. I distinctly remember him calling a shot by Travis Grant at the end of the first half of a game -- "Grant ... 41-footer ... Good!" I'm sure he was just guessing, but I was impressed. I recall seeing Wilt on the sidelines wearing a bright kelly green outfit and sandals (I wish there was film of it). I also remember watching Bo Lamar and Stew Johnson gunning away, and seeing a VERY young Caldwell Jones at center battling Billy Paultz."

MEMORIES OF REGINALD MARSHALL: "When Washington D.C. had an ABA team, I watched Warren Armstrong very closely. Of course the Caps moved after their only season, and I moved to a non-ABA city. I thought I might never see him play again, although I followed his career closely in the newspapers, through several teams and a name change. In 1973 he was 1st-team all-ABA for the Denver Rockets, as well as MVP of the All-Star game. The next season he was also a Western Conference starter in the All-Star game, and then something happened which to my knowledge has never happened before or since in the history of professional sports: the day after the All-Star game Jabali was placed on waivers, and no team picked him up. I was aware of his reputation as a black militant and a troublemaker but this was incredible. I remember reading that he'd done something during All-Star weekend that embarrassed and enraged the (white) owners, and they'd obviously blacklisted him. Shortly after that I read that he'd moved to Africa, and it seemed his career was over.

Then, in the fall of 1974 I moved to Los Angeles. Around that time, the San Diego Conquistadors were desperate for a point guard. They tracked Warren down in Tanzania and signed him. I drove down and saw him play several times that season. In the five years since I'd seen him in DC he'd put on weight, and knee and back problems had robbed him of his leaping ability, but he had his moments, and was still a great floor general. I went down for a Nets game in February, looking forward to seeing Dr.J for the first time since his rookie year with the Squires. Going in the "Q's" had a seven-game losing streak, and the Nets had an eight-game winning streak. The only memorable thing about this game's regulation play was that Dr. J scored 45 on a dazzling assortment of moves and shots. In spite of this about half the crowd filed out with several minutes to play and the Nets comfortably ahead. Then the Conquistadors came to life. Travis Grant and Dwight "Bo" Lamar started filling it up from outside, and Jabali started taking it to the hole. I'd long since resigned myself to never again seeing Warren dunk like he used to, but to my amazement, with about 30 seconds left and the Q's down five he drove the lane, took the ball in his left hand, lifted off like a great bird of prey, and threw down a thunderous dunk, getting fouled in the process. That cut the lead to two and a Grant jumper from the corner at the buzzer sent the game into OT.

Dr. J scored 12 more in the 1st OT period, giving him 57, but the Q's hung in there and another buzzer-beater sent it into OT #2. With two minutes left in that period, Doc had 61 and climbing. At this point Warren was in the groove and they decided to switch him onto Erving. The 2nd overtime period ended with another last second shot to tie, as did the 3rd. In the 4th OT the Q's finally pulled away. The final score was 176-166, at that time the highest scoring game in the history of pro basketball. But Dr. J finished with "only" (a career high) 63. In the last 12 minutes of the game, with Jabali guarding him, he managed only a meaningless dunk shot in the final seconds with the game out of reach. Warren scored 19 of his 23 points at the end of regulation and in overtime.

That was Warren's last season. My final memory of him, from the last game I saw him play, is him walking off the court, his tiny son next to him holding his hand. He didn't look like the angry young man anymore. He looked more mature, more at peace with himself and the world. After his career ended I had no idea what happened to him, and I was glad to see that he is alive and was able to come to the Reunion in Indianapolis. I wish I could be there. Certainly he deserves the honor of being named one of the top 30 players in the league. I'm still an avid NBA fan, but I'm not as impressionable as I was when I was younger. Yeah, I know Michael is the greatest player who ever lived, but Hakeem is the only player to crack my all-time favorite five in the last quarter-century. The rest of the team consists of the idols of my youth -- Honeycomb, The Pearl, Doc, and The Rock -- Warren Jabali."

MEMORIES OF JOE HAMELIN: "It wasn't Warren Jabali who 'stopped' Julius Erving the night Erving scored 63 in the San Diego Sports Arena. By the 4th (and last) overtime, Erving was playing on a bad ankle sprain, and even I could have guarded him. I know, because I was there, covering the game for the San Diego Union. It was the damnedest game I ever saw. My editor told me before the game to hold my piece to 7-8 paragraphs. I remember calling every 10 minutes, begging for more space. Travis Grant forced the first overtime with a baseline 20-foot fallaway, Bill Melchionni provoked the next one with a three-pointer, and Brian Taylor the one after that with another three-pointer.

After the Q's found Jabali in Tanzania, I interviewed him the night his plane landed in San Diego. Went to his Mission Valley hotel, knocked on his door. Frankly, I remember shaking in my shoes, thinking what he might do and say, given his militant reputation and the fact that's he'd been in the air for about 40 hours. It wasn't just that he was a "militant." He'd actually stomped on a player's head during a brawl on the court a few years before. He was cordial, however, and all went well. He was overweight and out of shape, but time had been good to him in other ways. He'd mellowed some.

Wilt Chamberlain may not have done much coaching in San Diego, but he was a lot more agreeable than others seem to remember. I have the odd distinction (?) of being the only writer to cover teams coached by both Wilt (the Q's) and Bill Russell (the Sacramento Kings) -- and I'd take the Dipper in a heartbeat. Win or lose, he was always pleasant to deal with, always answered the questions, and always returned phone calls (on his own good time, of course). Once he called me at home (from Virginia, as I recall), because there was a negative story in the paper there. He assumed it was a wire-service rewrite of something I'd written. I still remember my wife cupping the phone and saying "It's Wilt Chamberlain" and me saying "Nah." Wilt proceeded to scream at me for five minutes while I kept saying "but...but...but..." I finally bellowed, "I DIDN'T WRITE THE STORY!!" There was an awkward little silence, and he finally said in a soft little voice, "Oh. Well. How's the weather out there?"

I remember, about four or five years after the merger, writing a piece noting that 40 percent of the ABA players at the time of the merger were still in the league, more than double the percentage of NBA players. I believe Caldwell Jones was one of the last ABA vets to quit. In the late 1980s, when I was a columnist in Sacramento and Caldwell was a Portland Trail Blazer, he noticed me at the press table while he was warming up. He cocked his head as if remembering -- it had been a decade -- and walked over to me and stuck out his hand. I'll admit I was touched.

Anyhow, it was pretty good stuff, that league. The writers who covered the ABA considered it our little secret."

MEMORIES OF TIM BASSETT (Q's player, 1973-74 through 1974-75): "A story that comes to mind for me was the night in Indianapolis (March 15, 1974) where I set the ABA record for offensive rebounds in one game. Wilt decided to take me out when they announced I had tied the record with 17 rebounds. But the guys on the team kept telling him to put me back in. He reluctantly did, saying "Go ahead son, that record will be mine as soon as they let me play." With around two minutes left in the game I was lined up next to Roger Brown for a free throw. Roger told me: "I can't let you break that record on us." But as he spoke, Caldwell Jones shot the free throw and missed, and I was able to get the ball for the record. When I came off the court, Wilt said "Great job my man, you remind me of me, when I was at Overbrook High School."

I also remember that drill during which CJ dunked over Wilt in practice. I was in line in front of CJ, and was knocked out by Wilt in my attempt to dunk over him. Actually, there were a number of confrontations between Wilt and CJ in practice over whether CJ blocked or goaltended Wilt's fingerroll.

Finally, that 4 overtime game against the Nets. I was injured and doing the broadcast on radio. We had just picked up Scott English from the Phoenix Suns and it was his very first game in the ABA. English had not really seen Dr. J before. The Doctor greeted him with a dunk off the opening tip on his way to his 63 points. As hot as Doc was in that game, I'm kind of glad I was injured that night. I also have lots of Nets memories, including Dr. J preparing for the slam dunk contest in the last All-Star Game in Denver. The ABA was a great league with great players. Many of them finally got to show their wares on the big NBA stage. I was proud to have played in the ABA."

MEMORIES OF AL HERRE: "In 1975 I went to a Q's game against the Memphis Sounds. The game was at the San Diego Sports Arena. The capacity of the Arena was around 14,000, but there were maybe 500 people in attendance. Very quiet during the game! I was a teenager at the time and I was allowed to participate in the shootarounds with both teams (imagine that). Taking shots with Billy Shepherd and Lee Davis, totally cool! At halftime there was a free throw contest. I stepped up to the line and swished my free throw. About 20 people cheered. I won a Ringo Starr album -- "Goodnight Vienna" was the title, sheesh! But it was a special day for me nonetheless. I really loved the ABA."

San Diego Conquistadors

Years of existence: 1972-73 through 1974-75
Colors: Yellow & Red
Home Arenas:
1972-73: Peterson (San Diego State) Gymnasium (3,200)
1973-74: Golden Hall
1974-75: San Diego Sports Arena (14,400)
Coaches:
1972-73: K.C. Jones
1973-74: Wilt Chamberlain
1974-75: Alex Groza & Beryl Shipley

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

Sound Clip -- November 1973: Chamberlain discusses his relegation to the Q's bench, and gives his opinion about the ABA's three-point shot and red, white and blue basketball.

Streaming RealAudio File -- 28.8 Modem & RealPlayer required (free download here)
(clip courtesy of Van Vance and used with permission)

March 1974 ABA Fan Club Interview with Caldwell Jones (by Scott Haebich)

Q's 1972-74
Road Uniform
Q's 1974-75
Home Uniform
Q's 1974-75
Road Uniform

CONQUISTADORS YEAR-TO-YEAR RESULTS

San Diego Conquistadors

Years of existence: 1972-73 through 1974-75 Colors: Yellow & Red Home Arenas: 1972-73: Peterson (San Diego State) Gymnasium (3,200) 1973-74: Golden Hall 1974-75: San Diego Sports Arena (14,400) Coaches: 1972-73: K.C. Jones 1973-74: Wilt Chamberlain 1974-75: Alex Groza & Beryl Shipley

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