The 1969–70 ABA season was the third season of the American Basketball Association. Prior to the start of the season, the Minnesota Pipers moved back to Pittsburgh, the Oakland Oaks moved to Washington, D.C., and became the Washington Caps and the Houston Mavericks moved to North Carolina and became the Carolina Cougars. For the regular-season, the schedule was increased from 78 to 84 games per team. The season ended with the Indiana Pacers capturing their first ABA Championship.

1969–70 ABA season
LeagueAmerican Basketball Association
SportBasketball
DurationOctober 17, 1969 – May 25, 1970
Number of games84
Number of teams11
Regular season
Top seedIndiana Pacers
Season MVPSpencer Haywood (Denver)
Top scorerSpencer Haywood (Denver)
Finals
ChampionsIndiana Pacers
  Runners-upLos Angeles Stars
ABA seasons

Spencer Haywood, a rookie from the University of Detroit, led the ABA in scoring (30.0 ppg) and rebounding (19.5 rpg) for the Denver Rockets. Haywood was professional basketball's first "hardship case", leaving college after his sophomore season. The NBA prohibited him from declaring for its draft, and he signed with the Rockets instead, leading them to the Western Division championship.

Teams

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1969-70 American Basketball Association
Division Team City Arena Capacity
Eastern Carolina Cougars Greensboro, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Greensboro Coliseum
Charlotte Coliseum
Dorton Arena
15,000
9,605
7,610
Indiana Pacers Indianapolis, Indiana Indiana State Fair Coliseum 10,000
Kentucky Colonels Louisville, Kentucky Louisville Convention Center 6,000
Miami Floridians Miami, Florida Dinner Key Auditorium
Miami-Dade Junior College North Gym
6,900
N/A
New York Nets West Hempstead, New York Island Garden 5,200
Pittsburgh Pipers Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Civic Arena 12,580
Western Dallas Chaparrals University Park, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Moody Coliseum
Dallas Memorial Auditorium
8,998
9,815
Denver Rockets Denver, Colorado Denver Auditorium Arena 6,841
Los Angeles Stars Los Angeles, California Los Angeles Sports Arena 14,795
New Orleans Buccaneers New Orleans, Louisiana Loyola Field House 6,500
Washington Caps Washington, D.C. Washington Coliseum 7,000

Map of teams

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  Eastern Division   Western Division

Final standings

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Eastern Division

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Team W L PCT. GB
Indiana Pacers * 59 25 .702
Kentucky Colonels * 45 39 .536 14.0
Carolina Cougars * 42 42 .500 17.0
New York Nets * 39 45 .464 20.0
Pittsburgh Pipers 29 55 .345 30.0
Miami Floridians 23 61 .274 36.0

Western Division

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Team W L PCT. GB
Denver Rockets * 51 33 .607
Dallas Chaparrals * 45 39 .536 6.0
Washington Caps * 44 40 .524 7.0
Los Angeles Stars * 43 41 .512 8.0
New Orleans Buccaneers 42 42 .500 9.0

Asterisk (*) denotes playoff team

Bold – ABA champions

Playoffs

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Awards and honors

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Spencer Haywood (Denver) was named ABA MVP and ROTY
 
Mel Daniels (right) was named All-ABA First Team

Finals

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References

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