Yes, Iowa Had An NBA Team

Here's the front cover of the official 1949-50 Waterloo Hawks program.

The Hawks, a former National Basketball League team (they joined that circuit in 1948), became part of the newly formed National Basketball Association, a product of the 1949 merger between the 12-year old NBL and the three-year old Basketball Association of America.

They played one year in the NBA before defecting the newly-formed (and ill-fated) National Professional Basketball League, an attempted revival of the old NBL.  Both the team and that league folded in 1951.

The Hawks remain Iowa's only entry in any of the Big-Four professional sports leagues (the NBA, NHL, NFL, and Major League Baseball).

It's The DENVER Rockets!

Here's the front cover of the 1967-68 press, radio, and TV guide of the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association.

The Rockets were renamed the Nuggets in 1974.

Here Are Your Dallas Chaparrals!

Here's the official 1967-68 team photo of the ABA's Dallas Chaparrals (the current-day NBA's San Antonio Spurs).

Adios, Amigos!

Here's the front cover of the 1967-68 official guide of the Anaheim Amigos of the newly-formed American Basketball Association.

The Amigos lasted one year before moving to Los Angeles to become the Los Angeles Stars.