MEMORIES OF BUD PELL: "I was the ballboy for the L.A. Stars both of their seasons at the L.A. Sports Arena. Bill Sharman was an outstanding coach and a great human being. I was glad to hear recently from his former assistant, Larry Creger, that Coach Sharman has made a great recovery from his voice problems of past years. Coach Creger and trainer Buddy Taylor (from Tennessee State) were two other gentlemen who went out of their way to make me feel like I was part of the Stars organization. Of the players who came and went, I remember "Easy" Ed Johnson and Willie Wise most fondly. Ed Johnson in particular took a liking to me that first year in Los Angeles. In fact, I was thrilled when he came to see me play for my high school team in 1969. He was tall (6'10") and thin, a biology major, I believe, out of Tennessee State. He got off to a late start because of a broken arm but, as I recall, did quite well until he was traded to New York. I was very disappointed to see him go and I was delighted when he came back to town in a visiting uniform and went for twenty-two points and twenty rebounds.

Willie Wise (left) was another very decent fellow. He came to the Stars out of Drake University where he got second billing to Willie McCarter. I think Willie was a late round draft pick of the NBA Warriors and a free agent or low round draft pick of the Stars. I remember talking to him in the training camp locker room at Trade Tech J.C. in 1969. I told him how much I hoped he made the team, how impressed I was with his hustle and his ability to score inside over much bigger players. He appreciated my comments and made it clear that he would be thrilled just to make the team. Of course, he did, and went on to have a great, all-star career in the ABA.

I attended a few Stars practices. At one, in training camp, Sharman asked me to fill in for a missing ref during a scrimmage. (He knew I was a pretty decent high school basketball player at the time.) I remember calling three seconds on Bill "The Hill" McGill, and his becoming quite upset since he was trying hard to make the team. At another practice, at the old Pepperdine gym, the team was short-handed and Coach Sharman actually asked me to fill in during a five on five drill. It was one of the thrills of my life to that point, especially as I hit a couple of unguarded shots from the top of the key and received some jocular but favorable comments from George Stone, et al.

MEMORIES OF JOHN BUDKE: "George Stone, of the L.A. & Utah Stars (left, #33), was one of the hottest shooters I have ever seen bar none. In the 69-70 playoffs he almost carried the Stars to the championship. When he got in that zone, he couldn't be stopped. He was very fluid and shot the 3 pointer like no one else before or since that I have seen. What was interesting was that he shot most of his 3 pointers as he drifted left on the right side of the court."

MEMORIES OF DON BAKER: "I remember the first time I saw a nationally televised ABA game. In 1970, CBS showed some of the championship playoff series between the Indiana Pacers and the LA Stars. As I remember, the broadcasts were in black-and-white. I can't recall how many of the games I viewed (three or four), but it was fun. Don Criqui was the voice for CBS. It's interesting to note the really catchy music CBS used to introduce this playoff series (I taped the music with a reel-to-reel recorder). Also, the network's innovative use of a fisheye lens to show Mack Calvin dribbling the basketball down the court. This was CBS's promo for the game and they really did a super job. As for the their camera work for the live game action, it was typical NBA style: a downward angle from somewhere high in the stands. For me, it was the first and only time I ever saw George Stone, Merv Jackson, Craig Raymond -- just to name a few -- play. If you remember that series, Willie Wise, George Stone and Craig Raymond really held their own against a more talented Indiana frontline. Jim O'Brien (of The Sporting News ) called LA the "Sleepwalking Stars" and they took the Pacers to six games."

MEMORIES OF BRUCE MARSHALL: "In all of my years watching basketball, I'm not sure I've ever been as captivated by a team as I was by the 1969-70 L.A. Stars and their improbable run through the playoffs. Growing up in Southern California, I followed the Lakers and UCLA closely, like most kids. But I was fascinated by the entire concept of the ABA. I never saw the Anaheim Amigos in person, but I followed them nonetheless, as they had a local TV contract with KTTV-Channel 11 in Los Angeles. Their play-by-play announcer, Dick Schad, was the last person other than Chick Hearn to do play-by-play on the Laker network (in November of 1965). So in L.A. we followed the Amigos and continued to watch the franchise when it moved to the L.A. Sports Arena for the 1968-69 season. The Amigos and Stars didn't exist in a vacuum, as some would lead you to believe. L.A. sports fans knew about the team, but I don't think anybody took it seriously until the famous playoff run in the spring of 1970. It was very exciting, following the team during its late-season charge as it barely squeezed into the playoffs.

Game 6 of the Stars' first-round matchup against the Dallas Chaparrals was played at the Long Beach Arena, and, since we lived in Long Beach, it was a chance for me to finally see the Stars in person! I convinced my brother, my cousin, and my uncle to go to the game. It was a Sunday night, and the attendance was only about 3000, but it was a raucous sort of atmosphere because the game was so electric. The Chaparrals were tough, with Cincy Powell and Manny Leaks on their frontline, but the Stars dueled them bucket for bucket. It may have been the best game I ever witnessed in person. In the final seconds, Stars center Craig Raymond blocked a Leaks shot in the key, saving a 124-123 win for Los Angeles. And believe me, there was more energy in that crowd than many Laker crowds I have seen over the years! The Stars' reward was passage into the Western Finals vs. the heavily-favored, Spencer Haywood-led Denver Rockets. The Stars won Game 2 in Denver to get an important split in Colorado. Game 3 was at Anaheim, won by the Stars, and Game 4 was back at Long Beach, and this time I convinced my dad and younger brother to go, too. The Stars won, 114-110, with a crowd of over 4000, just as raucous as it was a week and a half earlier vs. Dallas. We got some big news during the that game: the P.A. announcer informed the crowd that Game 5, Saturday afternoon at Denver, would be nationally televised by CBS! Don Criqui did play-by-play, and the Stars won the game (and the series) on a last-second Merv Jackson bucket. 109-107. It was magical stuff! The Stars were now attracting a local following, getting front-page sports coverage in the L.A. Times. They also got significant spots on the nightly TV sports segments. For me, I felt vindicated after telling my friends for so long about how good the Stars were. Now, most believed me because they could see them live on TV. Two of the Finals games against the powerful Pacers were also televised by CBS, including Game 5 at Indianapolis, when the Stars staved off elimination with a 117-113 win (I always found it interesting that the Pacers wore their "road" blue uniforms at home during those playoffs). Indiana was awfully strong, though -- Roger Brown scored over 50 points when the Pacers won game 4 at Anaheim. With that win, Indiana took a seemingly insurmountable 3-1 series lead, only to see the Stars spoil their championship party in Game 5. Back to California, where the Stars fought valiantly in Game 6. It was their first game at their L.A. Sports Arena "home" since the opening round against Dallas. But they lost by 3 points.

The crowd was almost 9000 for that last game, and the talk around the southland was that the team would relocate to Anaheim, since the support had been especially good at the Convention Center during the playoffs. Apparently, ownership was unable to swing the deal at Anaheim, so the team was moved to Salt Lake City. Sadly for L.A. Stars fans, the team became a viable sports entity in the L.A. market just at the time it was to be moved to Utah. We'll never know if the Stars could have remained, and flourished, in Los Angeles. They were clearly on their way to the top (remember that the Utah Stars, with Zelmo Beaty in tow, won the '71 ABA crown, and would have been very warmly received in L.A. if they were still in town). All we're left with is memories of Bill Sharman's battling club, the playoff thrills, the likes of Willie Wise, Mack Calvin, Larry Miller, Merv Jackson, Craig Raymond and Tom Washington, And what might have been if the Stars stayed in L.A. or Anaheim."

MEMORIES OF RICHARD A. MACALES: "I attended my first Los Angeles Stars game in December 1969. It was at the L.A. Sports Arena against the Indiana Pacers. The game was a Bar Mitzvah present from my dad and brother and I cherish the game to this day. I remember that just before tip-off, the turnstiles at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Area seemingly began showing that lots of people were rushing in at the last minute to see the game. I was very excited that there were lots of other Stars fans out there. In those days, the scoreboard at the Sports Arena was hooked up to the turnstiles and you could see the attendance as people were going through the turnstiles. The only thing missing was the people! While the Stars lost to the Pacers that night, I still saw flashes of greatness to be in the form of two hard-working rookies, guard Mack Calvin and forward Willie Wise. Calvin had a brilliant game. Thought to be too small for the NBA, Calvin proved his critics wrong years later when he landed with the Los Angeles Lakers. Coach Bill Sharman said of Calvin that he was the best all-around athlete in sports. Wise was very thin, but also proved to be a durable all-star in future years.

Despite these promising players, it seemed as if the season was over for the Stars only halfway through the campaign. They were doing poorly. They had just traded their "high priced" second-year guard, Larry Miller, to the Carolina Cougars. And a few weeks later, the Stars traded Warren Davis (another pricey veteran and the last of the original Anaheim Amigos still on the team) to the Pittsburgh Pipers. But that trade with Pittsburgh was be the turning point of the season for the Stars. They received two valuable big men for their stretch run: 7-foot center Craig Raymond (Wilt Chamberlain's seldom-used backup on the 1968-69 Philadelphia 76ers) and power forward Tom Washington (an ABA original).

The Stars had more or less been dumped by owner Jim Kirst, and league took them over. That's why the Stars lowered their payroll by getting rid of Bill "The Hill" McGill, Wayne Hightower, Warren Davis and Larry Miller. The ABA wanted to find a new owner for the team, so the league lowered the overhead and hyped the attendance to attract an appropriate suitor (or is that sucker?). What was left of team management decided to make the crowds seem as if they were over 2,000 people. In those days, 2,000 was a great crowd for an ABA game in most cities. In March 1970, Bill Daniels (a close friend and business associate of Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke) finally bought the team. Daniels, who was in the cable TV business with Cooke, quietly agreed to move the "competition" Stars out of town at the end of the season.

One thing I wish to clarify. Many people have claimed that during the 1970 playoffs the Stars had to move their games to the Anaheim Convention Center and Long Beach Arena because the Sports Arena was booked...and no one thought the Stars would make the playoffs, let alone go to the ABA Finals. The reality is that L.A. played its first home playoff game (vs. the Dallas Chaparrals in the first round) at the Sports Arena in front of an announced crowd of about 800 people. After that, Daniels wanted to punish the small but loyal L.A. fan base for their non-support by moving later home playoff games to other cities in Southern California. Daniels later relented and chose to play the Stars last game in Los Angeles at the Sports Arena to give the team some Hollywood glitz. More than 8,000 people, by far the largest crowd in L.A. Stars history, turned out. Jerry West, whose Lakers had earlier lost to the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, was on hand, as were a few celebrities. Billy Crystal was not one of them. He waited to root for the Clippers at the Sports Arena years later. I remember in the 1970s going to Los Angeles Sharks World Hockey Association games and Los Angeles Strings World Team Tennis matches at the Sports Arena. I vividly recall seeing a team picture of the 1969-70 Los Angeles Stars proudly hanging on the wall of the ticket booth. The guy selling the ducats for all of these now-defunct Dennis Murphy/Gary Davidson teams was most proud of his former L.A. Stars. I wonder if that picture is still at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, a wonderful place to watch basketball?"

MEMORIES OF MICHAEL P. TAYLOR: "I remember seeing the Anaheim Amigos play in the Anaheim Convention Center...which only had about 7000 seats...As I remember, most of them were empty. Then the team moved to L.A. and became the Stars. I remember going to the playoff games between the Indiana Pacers and Stars in the Anaheim Convention Center. For some reason which I don't remember, they came back to Anaheim to play some of their playoff games. The place was just about sold out. And everyone was excited about the Stars. Then a rumor started floating around that the team might move to Salt Lake City. I remember one guy passing a petition around for people to sign, in hopes of keeping the Stars in Southern California."