Here it is, folks. The end of the Utah Stars. The Deseret News headline, “Stars perish in sea of red ink,” is a nice reference to Moses Malone and the incredible debt the franchise had racked up by the end of 1975. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, we need to go back to the start of the 1974-75 season.
After sheepishly admitting that he had lied about having sold the Stars, Bill Daniels committed to keeping the franchise in Salt Lake for at least one more season. James A. Collier was quietly phased out of his role as team president. (Sadly, Collier died of leukemia in 1980 at age 48.) With Arnie Ferrin also out of the picture, the Stars began the season without a general manager. Daniels quickly realized that he wasn’t up to handling the day-to-day business his basketball team, which was apparently bleeding money. It took a couple of months for Daniels to find his man, and in January 1975, he finally announced his new GM.
Bill Orwig Jr. was the son of a former basketball and football star, who had a long career in coaching and sports administration. Orwig Sr. was serving as the athletic director at Indiana when the ABA was formed, and it seems like his connections enabled his 29-year-old son to become an assistant manager for the Pacers. Orwig Jr. helped build the Pacers into the ABA’s best team, which won three championships between 1970 and 1973. However, he failed to convince his team to draft Moses Malone — which turned out to be the main selling point for him to take the Utah Stars job.
In announcing Orwig, Daniels reiterated that he owned the Stars 100%. He claimed that he was no longer actively seeking any buyers and that he was committed to keeping the team in Salt Lake beyond the 1974-75 season. Of course, he did quickly add the caveat that an amazing offer could change his mind. It’s hard for me to tell if Daniels was being completely honest here since I know how this story ends. I also have evidence of him being dishonest in 1974. But I will concede that everything about the Stars and the ABA drastically changed month to month. So the only tangible thing we can take away from this was that Orwig was now in control of the Stars.
The first thing Orwig did was convince Daniels to finally sell off Willie Wise’s contract. Despite all the legal threats and fines, Wise held true to his philosophy of seeking happiness over wealth, and refused to play for Utah. Although Daniels had developed a reputation as being incredibly kind and generous, he notoriously hated the idea of anyone failing to live up to their contract (which is why he spent years dragging Bill Sharman through the courts). But Orwig brought Daniels to his senses that it would be much better to cut their losses than to stubbornly hang on to try to prove a point. So in the end of January, Orwig began negotiating a deal with the Virginia Squires to buy out Wise’s contract.
The deal hit an unexpected snag. According to the Stars, Wise refused to go to Virginia. But Wise denied the claim, saying he was happy to play anywhere outside of Utah. I suspect the real holdup may have been on Virginia’s side, as the Squires were also struggling financially at the time. Ultimately, Wise did become a Squire at the end of February, and he stayed with them until they folded in 1976. Unfortunately, his holdout seemed to hurt his career, as he was never again able to recapture his All-Star form. After the ABA-NBA merger, Wise played one season in a reserve role for the Nuggets before being traded to Seattle in 1977. Sadly, he only appeared in two games for the Sonics before he suffered a career-ending knee injury.
Orwig’s second big move was nowhere near as sensible. In fact, it was downright controversial. Disgusted by Utah’s lackluster record at the time (24-32), Orwig decided that Bucky Buckwalter should not be the head coach anymore. After spending more than a week in secret discussions, Orwig announced Utah’s new head coach, who just happened to be Buckwalter’s old boss.
Tom Nissalke was born in Wisconsin but went to college at Florida State. After graduating in 1957, he became the coach of a high school in Wisconsin called Wayland Academy. In 1962, he became an assistant at the University of Wisconsin, then took that same role at Tulane a year later. In 1968, he upgraded to the professional level by becoming an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks. In 1971, he finally became a head coach again by taking over the ABA’s Dallas Chaparrals. After winning the 1972 ABA Coach of the Year award, he jumped ship to the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics. But Nissalke was fired after just one year and was replaced by his assistant, Buckwalter.
So in 1973, Nissalke returned to his old ABA franchise, which was now the San Antonio Spurs. But they fired him in December 1974. I don’t know why Orwig was so keen to hire Nissalke, and it apparently wasn’t easy. Nissalke had turned down the head coaching job at San Diego, choosing instead to become a scout for the Houston Rockets. He was in the process of planning a trip to Portugal when Orwig (and apparently Daniels) began wooing Nissalke. After 10 days of secret discussions, Nissalke said he was finally won over by Orwig and Daniels (which indicates that Daniels was taking a more hands-on approach than he had in previous years). Nissalke was naturally worried about being unable to install his system this late into the season, and he was a bit dismayed that he didn’t get a chance to talk to his friend Buckwalter before the announcement.
Insultingly, Orwig offered Buckwalter a spot as an assistant coach. Buckwalter naturally refused. He was equally furious with Orwig’s insistence that the Stars were not living up to the potential of their roster. Buckwalter pointed out that Orwig had only observed two practices before reaching this conclusion, and never stayed for more than 30 minutes. Left unsaid was the obvious fact that no one should have expected the Stars to win as many games as they had in years past after losing Zelmo Beaty, Jimmy Jones, and Willie Wise.
Buckwalter was a former Ute and was rather popular in Utah. The local columnists decried his firing, saying Daniels and Orwig were being unfair and underhanded. I almost wonder if this was part of a greater ploy to intentionally weaken the Stars in order to justify folding or moving the team. Or maybe it was just a byproduct of 35-year-old Orwig’s inexperience and a good demonstration of why Daniels had always had a hands-off role in the past. Anyway, Buckwalter later became an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers in 1979 before taking a job in their front office in 1986. In 1991, he was named NBA Executive of the Year and retired in 1997. As painful as it was to be pushed out of Utah, I think it served him better in the long run.
In the meantime, Nissalke did help the Stars … a little bit. He went 14-14 for the rest of the season and helped Utah limp into the playoffs. But Utah was soundly defeated by Denver 4-2 in the opening round. The one bright spot was Moses Malone’s monster 30-point, 32-rebound performance in Utah’s Game 3 victory. Speaking of which, let’s take a look at the five most interesting players this season.
Ron Boone thrived in his role as the new team leader, putting up a career-high 25.2 points per game, as well as 1.5 steals per game. He returned to the All-Star Game for the third time and maintained his impressive streak of consecutive games played. Of course, he was nowhere near enough to fill the void left by Beaty, Wise, and Jones, but he tried his best.
Moses Malone proved to be every bit worth the hype he received in the offseason. He put up 18.8 points per game, 14.6 rebounds per game (including a league-high 5.5 offensive rebounds), 1.5 blocks, and 1.0 steals. He was Utah’s only other All-Star this season, and he finished third in voting for Rookie of the Year. Unfortunately, he was unable to pull off the miracle needed to keep the Stars in Utah. For example, his remarkable Game 3 performance was witnessed by about 5,600 people in the Salt Palace (less than 50% of capacity).
Jim Eakins was Utah’s other big offseason acquisition. The 6-11 center was born and raised in Sacramento and then played at BYU. He was drafted by the Oakland Oaks in 1968 and signed with them about a week before the San Francisco Warriors picked him in the fifth round. After helping the Oaks win the 1969 ABA championship, Eakins followed the franchise to Washington, D.C., where it became the Washington Caps and then the Virginia Squires.
After finally reaching the All-Star Game for the first (and only) time of his career in 1973-74, Virginia packaged him in a trade to Utah in the 1974 offseason. Stars fans were thrilled to see a former BYU Cougar on their roster, but Eakins only put up an average 12.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game. If I had to wager a guess, I’d say he struggled finding a role in the front court next to Malone.
Larry Miller was a familiar face (of sorts) to be included in the Eakins trade. The former North Carolina standout had been drafted by the Anaheim Amigos and put together an impressive rookie season for the Los Angeles Stars before being traded to Carolina. He had a couple of strong years for the Cougars, but suddenly saw a steep decline in his production once he turned 27. Perhaps there was an injury involved? In any case, he was picked by the San Diego Conquistadors in their expansion draft, then traded to Virginia a year later. And a year after that, he was sent to Utah.
In the turmoil of the 1974 offseason, Miller was initially another one of the holdouts for training camp. But he soon realized that he didn’t have any leverage, so he obediently reported for duty. However, he quickly realized that all of his athleticism was gone by this point. After just five games with averages of 5.2 minutes and 1.8 points per game, Miller retired from basketball. He returned home to Pennsylvania, where he found work in real estate construction. And he died there in 2025 at the age of 79.
Roger Brown was signed by the Stars on the same day Miller announced his retirement. The 6-5 small forward from Brooklyn was unfortunately banned by the NCAA and NBA in 1960 for associating with a known gambler and point-shaver. Even though there was never any evidence that Brown himself engaged in point-shaving, he had to wait seven long years of working at General Motors and playing amateur basketball before he became the first member of the brand-new Indiana Pacers.
As a member of the Pacers, Brown was a four-time All-Star and a frequent thorn in Utah’s side. In addition to winning three championships, Brown was named the 1970 Playoffs MVP. But knee and back injuries left him a shadow of his former self by 1974 and he was traded to the Memphis Sounds. Seven games later, the Stars bought out his contract. I don’t know if this was done by Collier, Daniels, or even Buckwalter, but I think it’s safe to say that Utah was a bit underwhelmed by Brown’s production. In just 39 games, Brown only put up 9.2 points per game. Orwig eventually released Brown, enabling him to finish out the season in Indiana and retire as a Pacer.
Interestingly enough, Brown managed to serve on the Indianapolis city council from 1972 to 1976. In 1985, he coached in the Continental Basketball Association for two seasons. In 1996, he died of colon cancer at age 54. In 2013, he was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
So yeah … it wasn’t the best season for the Stars. In fact, it was the worst. Which is a shame because Moses Malone had shown such tremendous potential. But after the chaos of 1974, there really was no redeeming this franchise. The fans had pretty much turned against the team and Bill Daniels was losing money like crazy. By the spring of 1975, Utah needed a miracle to keep its professional basketball team.
Snellen Johnson and his brother, Lyle, suddenly swooped in to save the Stars in June. The brothers were local businessmen in their 30s, who dabbled in a wide variety of ventures including a satellite system for the navigation of ships and a real estate company targeted toward helping German investors set up tax shelters. I find that one ironic, as most ABA owners, including Daniels, primarily used their teams as tax shelters, as well. Anyway, the Johnsons had been asked to join Collier’s group of investors in 1974, but they were unwilling and/or unable to at the time. But in 1975, their navigation satellite had just signed a huge deal, promising a massive windfall for the Johnsons, who agreed to purchase the Utah Stars for approximately $2 million. Plus, they promised some of their German investor buddies would also buy a piece of the franchise.
Obviously this purported price was less than the $3 million Daniels was asking for in 1974. So despite all his promises of being here to stay unless an amazing offer knocked his socks off, the evidence suggests that Daniels was actually quite desperate to offload this money-loser. Especially when you consider just how shady the Johnsons were right from the beginning. By the age of 35, Snellen Johnson already had a checkered past of bankruptcies and lawsuits. So it should be no surprise that the negotiations for this sale dragged on all summer.
It was a relatively quiet offseason for the Stars this year, as there weren’t any high-profile rookies to woo or holdouts to negotiate with. But an air uncertainty hung over everything as weeks turned into months without any official agreement from the Johnsons or approval from the ABA. And the ABA was dealing with its own issues. The Memphis Sounds had relocated to Baltimore, but promptly folded before it could get up and running. The San Diego Sails were on the brink of collapse, and the Virginia Squires weren’t looking so hot, either. In other words, the Stars wouldn’t be able to count on any help from the league.
Suddenly, the 1975-76 season was about to begin. Even though the ownership situation hadn’t been resolved, the team still had a contract with the Salt Palace, Tom Nissalke was still the head coach, and Bill Orwig was still the general manager and team president. So they suited everybody up to play one more season with the hope and prayer that the Johnsons could cobble together enough cash quickly enough. Oh, and for some reason they brought in new uniforms.
I do miss the daring swoop, but it looked really bad in the back with the player’s name awkwardly patched over it. Those jerseys were also a little too similar to Utah’s rivals, the Pacers. So we got brand new uniforms for the last hurrah of this franchise. And I think they are the most solid, classic look the team ever had. One little tweak I would have made would be to extend those red stripes on the side of the shorts all the way up. Sadly, one of Utah’s best players never got to wear these fancy jerseys.
Moses Malone broke his foot in September, essentially leaving Ron Boone all alone. Boone did increase his scoring up to 26.2 ppg, but it wasn’t near enough. The Stars were downright dismal, racking up loss after loss. Including the bombshell news on November 11 that the Johnsons’ deal had fallen through. Their satellite navigation system had collapsed and none of their promised German investors showed up. Making matters worse, Daniels announced that he would not continue to operate the franchise, no matter what. He was done.
By this point, the San Diego Sails had already folded after playing just 11 games of the season. And rumors of an NBA-ABA merger were stronger than ever, even though the Oscar Robertson lawsuit was still a year away. ABA officials began enacting a plan to whittle down their league to just six teams, believing that would increase their chances of merging with the NBA. With that in mind, a wild, last-ditch scheme was hatched between Daniels and Ozzie Silna, owner of the Spirits of St. Louis.
For about two weeks in November, Daniels and Silna discussed an unusual merger of the two teams. Silna would own 70% of the team, Daniels 20%, and the remaining 10% would go to local investors in Salt Lake. Silna was upset that the NHL’s St. Louis Blues got all the best dates over his Spirits, which apparently had lost $1 million last season and were on pace to lose $2 million this season. Likewise, Daniels claimed that he had lost over $3 million during the time he owned the Stars. So a consolidation of resources seemed like a logical — if unique — move. Even with the slightly awkward outcome of needing to release 11 players, several coaches, and who knows how many staff in the front offices.
However, this plan died almost as soon as it began. Daniels couldn’t quite put his finger on the reason for Silna backing out of talks. He speculated Silna may have felt Salt Lake was too small a market, or that he realized it would have been too costly to break his contract with his arena in St. Louis. Others reported that the mayor of St. Louis had pledged to give the Spirits everything they needed to stay in Missouri. Daniels, meanwhile, was bemoaning the lack of local support. He did appreciate the $100,000 offer from Bonneville Corp. (owned by the LDS Church), but that figure was only a fraction of what he needed.
On the first day of December 1975, Daniels found himself unable to cover payroll for the team. With no other options available to him, he uttered these dire words: “It would take a miracle to keep us from going down the tube.”
That miracle didn’t come.
I really appreciate the Salt Lake Tribune’s coverage of this disastrous event. From the emotional photo of a distraught Bill Orwig to the heart-breaking stories of the lowly staffers who had to hastily clean out their office just two hours after learning the news. As inconceivable as it sounds, the Utah Stars, one of the ABA’s best teams, had folded after just 16 games into the 1975-75 season. They had a 4-12 record.
Most of Utah’s players were sold off to other ABA teams, with the Spirits acquiring the top four, including Ron Boone and Moses Malone. So in the end, Silna did sort of get his merger — he just had to stay in St. Louis. Boone’s scoring dipped to 21.0 ppg, but he still made the All-Star Game (for the fourth and final time of his career). Malone managed to play in 43 games for St. Louis, putting up 14.3 ppg and 9.6 rpg. Ironically, former Stars coach Joe Mullaney was brought in for the Spirits’ final 37 games, but he was unable to lead them to the playoffs.
As Utah sorted through the emotions of losing their first professional basketball team, the newspaper writers seemed to direct most of the blame on Bill Daniels. Some joked that he had spent millions of his own money to become Colorado’s governor and came in fourth place in a race of four people. Others mocked Daniels for saying his proudest accomplishment during his tenure with the Stars was winning his lawsuit against Bill Sharman. This tidbit became even funnier a year or so later when a higher court actually reversed the ruling, giving Sharman the victory over Daniels.
I find myself agreeing with the complaints against Daniels. His run for governor was ill-timed and ill-conceived. At the very least, he should have tried to sell the team long before he announced his intentions to run. Because the way he handled it only created an inordinate amount of uncertainty that turned fans against the franchise and compounded every problem it had exponentially.
In later years, Daniels was able to not only reclaim his fortune, but also his reputation as a kindly, generous businessman. In 1980, he returned to Utah to repay more than 3,000 former season ticket holders the money they had lost plus interest. Daniels continued expanding his business empire, purchasing a chunk of the Los Angeles Lakers at one point and becoming an investor in the United States Football League. He seemed to have learned his lessons from his time in the ABA, as he managed to cash out on his USFL stock of over $8 million before that league collapsed. Daniels also wisely refrained from seeking public office for the rest of his life, which ended in 2000 at the age of 79.
The Daniels Fund has assets of over $1 billion and is still providing scholarships to kids in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. The Utah Stars 1971 ABA championship trophy still resides in their Denver office, far from the city that earned that title. Salt Lake City quietly removed the street signs for “Stars Avenue” and the championship eventually disappeared after the Utah Jazz felt silly honoring a team it had no connection to. But the Stars were never quite forgotten. And as we all know, professional basketball would return to Utah before too long.
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