The 1970–71 Kentucky Colonels season was the fourth season of the Colonels in the American Basketball Association. University of Kentucky star Dan Issel was signed by the Colonels. Issel was given a 10-year contract worth $1.4 million, while playing all but one game in the whole season, leading to him being named Rookie of the Year, alongside averaging 29.9 points and 13.2 rebounds per game during the season. Despite a 10–5 record, Rhodes was fired during the season. After having business manager Alex Groza coach the team for 2 games, Frank Ramsey was hired to coach the rest of the season. In the Semifinals, the Colonels beat The Floridians in a four-game sweep. In the Eastern Division Finals, they beat the Virginia Squires in six games to reach their first ABA Finals. In the championship series, they lost to the Utah Stars in seven games.

Notably, this was the first season for the Colonels after rebranding from their original colors of chartreuse and white.

Roster

<noinclude>

Final standings Eastern Division Eastern DivisionWLPCTGBVirginia Squires *5529.655 –Kentucky Colonels *4440.52411.0New York Nets *4044.47615.0The Floridians *3747.44018.0Pittsburgh Condors3648.42919.0Carolina Cougars3450.40521.0

ABA Playoffs ABA Eastern Division Semifinals Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 April 2 Kentucky 116–112 1–0 3,182 2 April 4 Kentucky 120–110 2–0 3,881 3 April 6 Florida 102–120 2–1 4,126 4 April 8 Florida 117–129 2–2 4,268 5 April 10 Kentucky 118–101 3–2 4,996 6 April 12 Florida 112–103 4–2 4,478 Colonels win series, 4–2

ABA Eastern Division Finals Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 April 15 Virginia 136–132 1–0 4,250 2 April 17 Virginia 122–142 1–1 5,000 3 April 19 Kentucky 137–150 1–2 4,777 4 April 21 Kentucky 128–110 2–2 5,221 5 April 23 Virginia 115–107 3–2 10,013 6 April 24 Kentucky 129–117 4–2 12,822 Colonels win series, 4–2

ABA Finals Game Date Location Score Record Attendance 1 May 3 Utah 117–136 0–1 12,051 2 May 5 Utah 125–138 0–2 13,208 3 May 7 Kentucky 116–110 1–2 12,337 4 May 8 Kentucky 129–125 (OT) 2–2 9,863 5 May 12 Utah 127–137 2–3 13,260 6 May 15 Kentucky 105–102 3–3 11,793 7 May 18 Utah 121–131 3–4 13,260 Colonels lose series, 4–3

Awards and honors 1971 ABA All-Star Game selections (game played on January 23, 1971) Dan Issel Cincy Powell ABA Rookie of the Year Dan Issel (shared with Charlie Scott) ABA All-Second Team Dan Issel (tied with Zelmo Beaty for the Center position)

References

Colonels on Basketball Reference

External links RememberTheABA.com 1970–71 regular season and playoff results RememberTheABA.com Kentucky Colonels page