Memphis Pros

Memphis Pros 1970–72

The Memphis Pros were created on August 21, 1970, when Mississippi businessman P. W. Blake purchased the New Orleans Buccaneers and moved the team to Memphis ten days later. The name "Pros" was chosen because the already-purchased "Bucs" uniforms could be converted at little expense. The team faced immediate scheduling difficulties: the Mid-South Coliseum was nearly fully booked for the winter, allowing only one Friday home game, so the Pros played most of their home schedule in various arenas across Tennessee and Mississippi.

By the start of the season, only 180 season tickets had been sold. Roster moves included acquiring Bob Warren from the Los Angeles Stars, trading Ron Franz and Dave Nash to The Floridians for Wilbert Jones, Al Cueto, and Erv Staggs, and trading Red Robbins to the Utah Stars for Craig Raymond and Skeeter Swift to the Pittsburgh Pipers for Charlie Williams. Jimmy Jones, Steve Jones, and Wendell Ladner represented the Pros in the 1971 ABA All-Star Game, and Ladner made the ABA All-Rookie Team.

In December 1970, Blake walked away from the team, claiming a $200,000 loss. The league found no buyers until February 1971, when a community group called Memphis Area Sports Inc., composed of 4,600 Tennessee residents who bought stock at $5, $10, and $50 a share, purchased the team for $700,000. Albert S. Hart was installed as team president. The team added Johnny Neumann and Larry Cannon but lost Steve Jones to the Dallas Chaparrals via free agency and Jimmy Jones to the Utah Stars.

Memphis Tams 1972–74

On June 13, 1972, Charles O. Finley, owner of the Oakland Athletics and California Golden Seals, purchased the team and its debts. Legendary former University of Kentucky head coach Adolph Rupp became team president, serving mostly as a figurehead who was flown in to sit at the press table during games. A "Rename the Team" contest produced the name Memphis Tams, an acronym for Tennessee–Arkansas–Mississippi, with a tam o'shanter-style hat logo in white, green, and gold—colors shared with Finley's Oakland-area teams.

Bob Bass succeeded McCarthy as coach. According to Loose Balls, Finley's interest in buying a basketball team was sparked when Bob Bass, hearing from Rudy Martzke about Finley owning teams in every league but basketball, called Finley about buying the Miami Floridians; Finley declined but was spurred by friend Dick Tinkham to buy the cheaper Memphis franchise. The Tams acquired George Thompson in a dispersal draft of Pittsburgh Condors players and traded Gerald Govan to the Utah Stars for Merv Jackson.

Thompson played in the ABA All-Star Game, but the Tams finished 24–60, the worst record in the ABA, placing fifth in the Eastern Division, 33 games behind the Carolina Cougars. They missed the playoffs, partly due to 28 roster moves in the first two months. Despite poor play, average attendance was 3,476. Finley had the team wear all combinations of green, white, and gold uniforms but had little personal involvement in operations.

He entered negotiations to move the team to St. Paul, Minnesota, and when word leaked, his reputation shifted from savior to pariah. He also instituted cost-cutting measures.

Memphis Sounds 1974–75

After two seasons of declining morale and disappearing amenities under Finley, the ABA took control of the team for a third time. ABA Commissioner Mike Storen resigned his league position to run the team in Memphis. Storen lined up local co-owners including funk musician Isaac Hayes and Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson. He renamed the team the Memphis Sounds and introduced a red and white color scheme and logo, which received positive reception.

Storen cleared out the former Tams roster and brought in veteran players such as Mel Daniels, Freddie Lewis, Roger Brown, Chuck Williams, Collis Jones, George Carter, Rick Mount, and Julius Keye. The only holdover from the Tams was Larry Finch, a local favorite from Memphis State University. Coached by Joe Mullaney, the Sounds finished the 1974–75 season at 27–57, placing fourth in the Eastern Division and earning a playoff spot because the Virginia Squires had a faultier operation.

In the first round, the Sounds faced the Eastern Division champion Kentucky Colonels and lost 4 games to 1, with the one win being the franchise's only playoff-game victory while in Memphis. The Colonels went on to win the 1975 ABA Championship.

Aftermath

The 1974–75 season saw the highest attendance figures during the team's Memphis tenure, but both Wilson and Hayes faced financial troubles and sold their shares. After the season, the ABA demanded that Storen and his group find more investors, sell more season tickets, and secure a more favorable lease at the Mid-South Coliseum. Storen could not meet these demands, and the league took over the team for a fourth time. The franchise was sold to a group of Baltimore businessmen, who renamed it the Baltimore Hustlers and then the Baltimore Claws.

A local group initially planned to keep the team in Memphis but reneged one day after taking over. The Claws had serious financial problems and collapsed before the season started, playing only three exhibition games, all losses. Shortly after, the San Diego Sails and Utah Stars folded early in the 1975–76 regular season, shrinking the league from 10 to 7 teams. These failures were a key factor behind the ABA–NBA merger after the 1975–76 season.

When the ABA became defunct and its copyrights lapsed, a new minor league baseball team in Nashville—the Nashville Sounds—adopted the Memphis Sounds' color scheme and logo, which remains in use as of 2025, though replaced as the primary scheme after 1998; it is still used for Throwback Thursday promotions and merchandise. Professional basketball returned to Memphis in 2001 with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, who played at The Pyramid until 2004 and then moved to FedExForum.

During the 2015–16 season, the Grizzlies wore Hardwood Classics throwback uniforms honoring the Memphis Sounds for select games, debuting on November 16, 2015, against the Oklahoma City Thunder.