The 1973–74San Antonio Spurs season was the first season for the newly named San Antonio Spurs, who had spent the past six seasons as the Dallas Chaparrals (and in one season's case, the Texas Chaparrals) in the American Basketball Association. The team initially went by the San Antonio Gunslingers before the season began, but decided to change their name to the Spurs some time before the season officially began either by results of a "Name That Team" contest or by the recommendation of one of the team's new co-owners as a nod to the birth town of Spur, Texas. In any case, the Spurs made their debut on October 10, 1973, against the San Diego Conquistadors in San Antonio, losing 121–106.[1] Afterwards, the Spurs would win just 6 of their next 13 games. By the end of November, they would be back to .500. During this season, the Spurs owners would be able to buyout the previous Dallas Chaparrals owners and permanently own the team after previously being under a lease agreement with them back when they first owned the relocated franchise, which helped secure greater success with a newfound fanbase there. By February the Spurs were at 34–33, but they would win 11 of their next 16 games to finish the season 3rd in the 3 team Western Conference, going to the playoffs. In the 1974 ABA Playoffs, the Spurs lost in the first round 4–3 to the Indiana Pacers.
During the early parts of this draft, the team made what was considered to be their "special circumstances draft" selections while still going by the previous Dallas Chaparrals name. Once the team entered what was considered the "senior draft" onward, the team would make their future selections onward as a part of the new San Antonio name, initially as the San Antonio Gunslingers before retroactively having them become San Antonio Spurs draft picks going forward.
