Pittsburgh Condors

History

The Pittsburgh Condors began as the Pittsburgh Pipers, one of the original American Basketball Association franchises in 1967. That year, the NBA considered placing an expansion team in Pittsburgh but chose Seattle instead. Co-owners Jason Shapiro and Gabe Rubin, who ran the Penn Theater with Lenny Litman, signed a three-year lease at the Civic Arena. On June 13, 1967, Rubin named the team the Pipers simply because he liked the sound and wanted to avoid a lengthy selection process.

The Pipers dominated the ABA’s first season, finishing with the league’s best record at 54–24. Led by future Hall-of-Famer Connie Hawkins, who led the league in scoring with 26.8 points per game and won MVP, they swept through the playoffs and beat the New Orleans Buccaneers in a seven-game finals to claim the championship. Hawkins earned Finals MVP. That title remains Pittsburgh’s only professional basketball championship. Despite the success, the players did not receive championship rings until they pooled their own money more than thirty years later. The team averaged about 3,200 fans per game, sharing the Civic Arena with the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins.

After the championship, the franchise moved to Minnesota in 1968, becoming the Minnesota Pipers. A Minneapolis attorney bought a majority stake and convinced Rubin to relocate. Attendance dropped to 2,263 per game, and the team lost twice as much money as it had in Pittsburgh. The Pipers made the playoffs but lost to the Miami Floridians. Rubin called the move a genuine mistake and brought the team back to Pittsburgh in 1969.

For the 1969–70 season, the team kept the Pipers name, but fans stayed away. In 1970, Haven Industries bought the team and held a naming contest. A law student won with “Pioneers,” but a lawsuit and conflict with a local college forced a change. General manager Marty Blake suggested “Condors,” calling it a regal bird, unaware it was a vulture. The Condors played two more seasons before folding.