Memphis Pros ( American Basketball Association )

Beautifully engraved Specimen Certificate from the Memphis Area Sports, Inc - Memphis Pros . This historic document was printed by the Nothewest Banknote Company in 1971 and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of the team's logo. This item has the printed signatures of the company's officers. This is first time we have seen this certificate.






Certificate Vignette

On February 1, 1967, promoter Dennis Murphy announced that he and a group of investors had formed the American Basketball Association, to begin play that fall with ten teams: The Anaheim Amigos, Dallas Chaparrals, Houston Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, Minnesota Muskies, New Jersey Americans, New Orleans Buccaneers, Oakland Oaks, Pittsburgh Pipers, and a still unnamed team in Kansas City.

With competition for college stars driving up costs, the NBA and ABA began merger talks in 1970 and reached a tentative agreement. However, the NBA Players Association brought suit on anti-trust grounds and a federal court issued a restraining order that blocked the proposed merger.

By the beginning of the 1975-76 season, there were only nine teams left. The San Diego and Utah franchises folded before the All-Star game, leaving just seven, and the end was in sight.

In the summer of 1976, four of the remaining ABA teams, Denver, Indiana, New York, and San Antonio, joined the NBA, at the price of $3.2 million apiece. The New York Nets also had to pay the New York Knickerbockers $4 million for invading the NBA team's market.

Memphis Pros Colors: Scarlet, Navy Blue & White Arena: Mid-South Coliseum (10,753) Coach: Babe McCarthy

1970-71 New Orleans Buccaneers became the Memphis Pros

1972-73 Memphis Pros changed their name to the Memphis Tams

1974-75 Memphis Tams became the Memphis Sounds

1975-76 Memphis Sounds folded before the season



The ABA's Memphis franchise was first located in New Orleans, as the Buccaneers. In 1970, the franchise packed up, moved to Memphis and chose the name "Pros." When the national media questioned the nickname, team officials had a dubious explanation. To save costs, the team had decided to use the New Orleans uniforms left over from the year before. Those uniforms had the word "Bucs" sewn on the front. After removing the word "Bucs", a simple four-letter "replacement" nickname was necessary. Apparently, the team could not think of any better candidate than "Pros." Of course, in the world of the ABA, once "Pros" was placed on the recycled uniforms, it was too expensive to change.

The Pros had players like Steve "Snapper" Jones , Gerald Govan, Jimmy Jones, and Wendell Ladner and a coach Babe McCarthy.