Throwback: 1970-71 Utah Stars and their journey to the ABA championship

Everybody loved seeing John Stockton and Jim Nantz in a hot tub, so I’m very excited to announce a project in collaboration with KSL sports anchor Jeremiah Jensen to digitize and upload classic basketball footage from the KSL archives.

Today’s clip is a spectacular retrospective celebrating the 1970-71 ABA Champion Utah Stars. This is probably the first video introduction most Jazz fans 50-years-old and younger will have to the team that brought the first professional championship to Utah. It’s amazing to see a young Ron Boone and get to know the mythical Willie Wise, Zelmo Beaty Red Robbins, and the rest.

The clip is narrated by longtime Utah broadcaster Bill Howard, who passed away in 1994. Howard notes that Stars owner Bill Daniels “…made a promise, made a pledge, that Salt Lake City would become the Green Bay of professional basketball.”

A full write-up is forthcoming. In the meantime, tell me what you love in the clip. Every single second is mesmerizing.