American Basketball Association (1967-1968, 1969-1970)
Tombstone
Born: February 2, 1967 (ABA founding franchise)1Expect Mikan To Head ABA, UPI via The News-Dispatch, Feb. 2, 1967
Moved: June 28, 1968 Minnesota Pipers 2Minnesota Gets ABA Champions, AP via The Free Lance-Star, Jun.29, 1968
Returned: July 21, 19693Pipers to return to Pittsburgh, Pa, AP via The Rochester Sentinel, Jul. 22, 1969
Rebranded: July 23, 1970 (Pittsburgh Condors)4Blake Picks ‘Condors’ Nickname, The Pittsburgh Press, Jul. 24, 1970
First Game: October 23, 1967 (W 110-107 @ New Jersey Americans)
Last Game: April, 15, 1970 (W 132-110 vs. Carolina Cougars)
ABA Championships: 1968
Arena
Pittsburgh Civic Arena(13,500)51970-71 Sporting News American Basketball Association Guide
Opened: September, 17, 19616Civic Arena In Pittsburgh Is Dedicated, AP via The Washington Observer, Sep. 18, 1961
Demolished: September 26, 20117On This Day: September 26, 2011, Demolition begins on Civic Arena, WPXI 11 News, Sep. 26, 2021
Marketing
Ownership
Owners:
1967-1969: Gabe Rubin and Jason Shapiro8Expect Mikan To Head ABA, UPI via The News-Dispatch, Feb. 2, 1967
1970: Airport Services Inc. (Haven Industries subsidiary)9Pipers Franchise Is Sold, UPI via The Beaver County Times, Apr. 21, 1970
Background
The Pittsburgh Pipers were charter members of the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1967, and spent four seasons playing in two different cities under three different names. Still, they lasted longer than any of the city’s previous pro cage teams, of which there were four.
Earlier pro basketball teams in Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Pirates were the Steel City’s first pro basketball team, playing in the National Basketball League (NBL) from 1937 to 1939. Another NBL team, called the Raiders, played one season, 1944-45. The following year, the city had a team in the new Basketball Association of America (BAA), but they too only lasted a year. The NBL and BAA merged in 1949 to form the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Undeterred by the failure of three previous teams, the NBA became interested in Pittsburgh as the location for an expansion franchise in 1960, as did a new league called the American Basketball League (ABL). The latter was largely bankrolled by Abe Saperstein, the promoter who owned the Harlem Globetrotters. Both leagues were attracted by the city’s new arena, then under construction.
The ABL welcomed the Pittsburgh franchise, later named the Rens, as a charter member in May 1960 to begin play in 1961. Undaunted, the NBA awarded an expansion franchise to Pittsburgh on January 17, 1961, only to have the team’s owner back out the next day.10Harris Decides Against Team; Expansion Plans Stalled, UPI via The Eugene Register Guard, Jan. 19, 1961 The Rens, along with the rest of the ABL, went out of business halfway through their second season on December 30, 1962.
NBA dreams for Pittsburgh
The NBA and Pittsburgh did not give up on each other, though. In June of 1966, the city, along with Cleveland, was named as a possible location for expansion.11Cleveland And Pittsburgh Seek NBA Franchises, AP via The Times Daily, Jun. 7, 1966 To grease the wheels, Jason Shapiro arranged to have the cross-state Philadelphia 76ers play six regular-season games in Pittsburgh.12Sidelights on Sports, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 5, 1967 Shapiro’s family owned the National Record Mart music chain.
The NBA, however, selected Seattle for expansion13Seattle Awarded NBA Franchise For ’67 Season, AP via The St. Petersburg Times, Dec. 21, 1966leaving only one slot open. That was quickly grabbed by San Diego.14San Diego Joins NBA, UPI via The Times-News, Jan. 12, 1967 Soon after, ABA organizers contacted Shapiro and Gabe Rubin. The latter had amassed a small fortune by opening a string of drive-in movie theaters in Western Pennsylvania and later bought the Penn Theatre and Heinz Hall downtown.
Pittsburgh joins the ABA
Rubin was keen to throw in with the ABA, seeing the $30,000 entrance fee as a bargain over the $2.25 million being sought by the NBA.15Roamin’ Around, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 26, 196716Gabe Rubin Obituary, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 7, 2003 On February 2, 1967, Pittsburgh was announced as one of the participating cities in the new league. On June 13, the team was nicknamed the Pipers.17ABL(sic) Opens In New York, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jun. 14, 1967 Three days before that, the team signed Joe Strawder away from the NBA’s Detroit Pistons.18ABA Club Here Gets ABA Star, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jun. 10, 1967 Unfortunately, the deal fell through when Strawder re-signed with the Pistons on September 22.19Strawder Back With Pistons, AP via The Spokesman-Review, Sep. 23, 1967
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A big signing that did stick was that of Connie Hawkins, an extremely talented player who had been barred from the NBA after being mixed up in a point-shaving scandal while in college. Even though the facts revealed it was impossible for him to have participated (he was ineligible to play varsity sports at the time of the illegal activity), the NBA stood firm. Hawkins wound up playing in the ABL for the Rens, where he earned MVP honors in his rookie season. He caught on with the Harlem Globetrotters after the Rens and the ABL went under. The ABA, and its commissioner, George Mikan, after some deliberation, gave Hawkins the greenlight. He signed with the Pipers on April 27, 1967, making him the team’s first player.20Pittsburgh Signs Former Rens Star, AP via The Washington Observer, Apr. 29, 1967
Pittsburgh Pipers championship season
The Pipers opened their inaugural season with a 110 to 107 win over the New Jersey Americans. The next night, 5,719 fans came through the turnstiles at the Civic Arena for the home opener, a 104-86 loss to the Minnesota Muskies.
Led by Hawkins, along with Art Heyman, Charlie Williams, and Chico Vaughn, the Pipers finished first in the ABA’s Eastern Division. Sadly, few fans witnessed their triumphant march. Most nights, only 1,400 or so would show up. A December 5th contest against the Denver Rockets drew only 698 paying customers. Still, they made it to the ABA Championship where they faced the New Orleans Buccaneers.
They topped the Bucs in seven games, with 11,457 in attendance at the Civic Arena to watch the home team capture the title, 122-113, on May 4, 1968. The team wouldn’t receive championship rings until some 35 years later, when surviving teammates got together and bought their own.21Decades later, Pittsburgh Pipers finally got championship rings, Trib Live, Apr. 21, 2018
Move to Minnesota
Less than two months after capturing the title, Rubin, oddly, partnered with Minnesota attorney Bill Erickson and announced the team was moving to Minnesota. That market had just been abandoned by fellow ABA squad the Minnesota Muskies, whom the Pipers had beaten in the second round of the playoffs. The Muskies packed their bags on May 24 and headed to South Florida.22Basketball’s Muskies Find New Home In Miami, UPI via The St. Petersburg Times, May 23, 1968
The relocation of the Pipers started an odd trend in the ABA, as the league’s second champions, the Oakland Oaks, moved to Washington, D.C. after capturing the title in 1969. In his book Breaking the Game Wide Open, league co-founder Gary Davidson wrote sarcastically of the shifts, “Naturally, it is very important to move your champion to a new city every season, it seems.”23Breaking the Game Wide Open, Gary Davidson with Bill Libby, 1974, p. 39
The Pipers didn’t fare much better than the Muskies in the Twin Cities as they notched a record of 36-42. Their record was still good enough to make the playoffs, but they lost to The Floridians (the former Muskies) in the first round.
And back again
On July 21, 1969, Rubin decided to move the team back to the Steel City, where they once again became the Pittsburgh Pipers. Things went from bad to worse, though, as the team finished with a record of 29-55, out of the playoffs, and were unable to draw even 1,500 fans a night to the Civic Arena.
Rubin had had enough, and on April 21, a week after the end of the regular season, he sold the team to Airport Services Inc., a subsidiary of New Jersey-based Haven Industries. A few months later, the team was renamed the Pittsburgh Condors24Blake Picks ‘Condors’ Nickname, The Pittsburgh Press, Jul. 24, 1970 and hung on for two more seasons before folding on June 13, 1972.25Condors Finally Extinct, ABA Divvies Up Players, The Pittsburgh Press, Apr. 14, 1972
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