San Antonio Spurs 1973 - Present
The San Antonio Spurs started out as the Dallas Chaparrals of the original version of the American Basketball Association (ABA). Coached by Player/Coach Cliff Hagan the Dallas Chaparrals were one of 11 teams to take the floor in the inaugural season of the upstart ABA. The Chaps second season was a bit of a disappointment, as the team finished in 4th place with a mediocre 41–37 record. In the playoffs the Chaparrals quickly fell to the New Orleans Buccaneers.
The team suffered from poor attendance and general disinterest in Dallas. In fact, during the 1970–71 season, the name "Dallas" was dropped in favor of "Texas" and an attempt was made to make the team a regional one, playing games in Fort Worth, Texas, at the Tarrant County Convention Center, as well as Lubbock, Texas, at the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum, but this proved a failure and the team returned full-time to Dallas in time for the 1971–72 season, splitting their games at Moody Coliseum and Dallas Convention Center Arena. Three years later, the team would relocate to San Antonio and be renamed the Spurs.
The Spurs are one of four former American Basketball Association teams to remain intact in the NBA after the 1976 ABA–NBA merger and the only former ABA team to have won an NBA championship. The Spurs' five NBA championships are the fourth most in history behind only the Boston Celtics (17), Los Angeles Lakers(16), and Chicago Bulls (6). The Spurs currently rank first among active franchises for the highest winning percentage in NBA history.
In their 38 NBA seasons since 1976–1977, the Spurs have won 20 division titles. They have made the playoffs in 24 of the last 25 seasons (since 1989–1990) and have missed the playoffs four times since entering the NBA; they have not missed the playoffs in the 18 seasons since Tim Duncan was drafted by the Spurs in 1997. With their 50th win in the 2013–2014 season, the Spurs extended their record for most consecutive 50+ win seasons to 15 (the 1998/1999 season was shortened to 50 games because of a lockout and based on their win percentage of .740, would have easily surpassed 50 wins in an 82-game season, and thus extend the record by 2 more seasons). Thus, since the 1997/1998 season, the Spurs have actually had 17 consecutive seasons with a winning percentage of .610 or greater during the regular season which is also an NBA record. Only the team's current head coach, Gregg Popovich, who had been the team's general manager before replacing Bob Hill in 1996, has had a longer tenure with the Spurs.
Team Name Games Wins Losses Ties W-L%
Dallas Chaparrals (1967-1973) 492 232 260 - .471
ABA Spurs (1973-1976) 252 146 106 - .579
NBA Spurs (1976-Present) 3143 1933 1210 - .615
Overall total 3887 2311 1576 - .594
Playoff record 359 202 157 - .562
Dallas Mavericks 1980 - Present
The Mavs entered the National Basketball Association as an expansion team in 1980. In the Mavericks' debut game, taking place in the brand-new Reunion Arena, the Mavericks defeated the Spurs, 103–92. But the Mavs started the season with a 6–40 record on their way to finishing 15–67. However, the Mavericks did make a player acquisition that, while it seemed minor at the time, turned out to play a very important role in the early years of their franchise. Journeyman 6 ft 3 in guard Brad Davis, who played for the Anchorage Northern Knights of the Continental Basketball Association, was tracked down and signed by the Mavs in December. At the time, there was absolutely no reason to expect that Davis would be any better than the expansion-level talent the Mavs had. But he started the Mavs' final 26 games, led the team in assists, and his career soared. He spent the next twelve years with the Mavericks, and eventually his number 15 jersey was retired. The Mavericks also marked the first NBA team to have a profitable debut season, with an average of 7,789 spectators
The team would see minimal sucsess during the 80's and 90's. However the franchise would start to change for the better when head coach Don Nelson worked some draft day deals for Dirk Nowitzki & Steve Nash. Nowitzki was aquired from the Milwaukee Bucks along with Pat Garrity for Robert Traylor. Nowitzki would later go on to become the face of the franchise. Garrity would later be flipped to the Phoenix Suns for Nash.
With Nowitzki blossoming into one of the greatest forwards in NBA history, The Mavs have enjoyed much success in the last 15 years. They would make it to The Finals in 2006 losing to the Miami Heat in six games. However they would get revenge in 2011, winning The Finals in six games against the Lebron James led Heat.
Team Name Games Wins Losses Ties W-L%
Mavericks (1980-Present) 2816 1436 1380 - .509
Overall total 2816 1436 1380 - .509
Playoff record 186 89 97 0 .479
Houston Rockets 1971 - Present
The team was established in 1967 and played in San Diego, California for four years as the San Diego Rockets, before moving to Houston in1971.
The Rockets won only 15 games in their debut season as a franchise. However, after drafting Elvin Hayes first over all in the 1969 NBA Draft, they made their first appearance in the playoffs in 1969. After Hayes was traded, Moses Malone was later acquired to replace him. Malone went on to win the MVP award twice, and lead Houston to the conference finals in his first year with the team. He also took the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1981, but they were defeated in six games by Larry Bird's Boston Celtics which also featured the Rockets current head coach, Kevin McHale.
In 1984, the Rockets drafted Hakeem Olajuwon who, paired with Ralph Sampson and both collectively known as the "Twin Towers", led them to the 1986 Finals in their second and third year respectively, where in another brave effort they lost again to the Boston Celtics. In the next seven seasons, plagued by injury including to Sampson who would be traded in 1988, they lost in the first round of the playoffs five times, until finally advancing in 1993 with a re-tooled roster past the L.A. Clippers and battle the rival Seattle SuperSonics to the bitter end before falling short in an overtime Game 7. Inspired by the tough playoff defeat, Olajuwon famously proclaimed to the team "We go from here." The Rockets stormed all the way to the 1994 NBA Finals, where Olajuwon led them to the franchise's first championship against his rival Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks. The team repeated as champions in 1995 with a memorable run as the 6th seed in the West and sweeping the favored Orlando Magic led by a young Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway.
After winning two championships, the Rockets traded away most of the championship team for Charles Barkley, changed their championship uniforms, and, to date, have not advanced to the finals again. They missed the playoffs from 2000–2003, and did not advance past the first round of the playoffs again until 2009. The Rockets narrowly missed the playoffs the following three seasons. After Yao Ming's retirement in 2011, the Rockets entered a period of rebuilding, completely dismantling and retooling their roster. The recent acquisitions of franchise players James Harden and Dwight Howard have launched the Rockets back into championship contention.
Team Name Games Wins Losses Ties W-L%
San Diego Rockets (1967-1970) 328 119 209 - .362
Hou. Rockets (1971-Present) 3554 1888 1666 - .531
Overall total 3882 2007 1875 - .517
Playoff record 249 120 129 0 .481
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