The Full Circle
The First Fifteen
The First Exile
The First 27 Days
The Finish Line Is
The Final Showdown
The Dragon Slayer
The Devils We Know
The Devil You Do o
The Dead Can Still

The Good Things in
The Great Lie
The Great White Sh
The Hidden Immunit
The Instigator
The Jocks vs. the
The Line Will Be D
The Martyr Approac
The Past Will Eat
The Penultimate St
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The Good Guys Should Win in the End" in the January 15, 1968, issue of Sports Illustrated. In the first two seasons, the league had a player drafted into the first round of the NBA draft six times. In a third season, the NBA had another ten players chosen. The WBL continued until the 1970-71 season when the leagues merged into one league with four leagues of 10 teams each. The WBL remained as a farm league for the NBA after that. On December 5, 1967, the first pro sports event held at The Forum was an NBA game between the Detroit Pistons and the Los Angeles Lakers. The event marked a beginning for a relationship between the Forum and NBA that continues today. This began in 1970 when NBA games moved to the Forum from The Forum in Inglewood when it opened in 1967. The first exhibition game held at the Forum was on October 8, 1966, when the Detroit Pistons defeated the Loyola Marymount University Lions 82-75. The first season of the WBL included six cities in the Western United States (Oakland, Sacramento, Oakland, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Salt Lake City). After the first season, in 1967-68, the league doubled in size by including teams from Denver (Denver Rockets), Long Beach (Long Beach Chiefs), Spokane (Spokane/Portland Spokane), and St. Louis (St. Louis Bombers). The league expanded with the 1969-70 season by adding teams from San Diego (San Diego/Santa Barbara Islanders) and Hawaii (Hawaii Chiefs). With the introduction of two expansion teams, there were some major name changes. The expansion draft of the 1968-69 WBL saw the addition of a new team in Portland, the Portland Pipers (changed to Portland/Long Beach Pipers during the 1969-70 season and finally to the Portland/Phoenix Suns after the first season). The NBA's Portland Trail Blazers had been a charter member of the WBL from its inception until leaving in the 1968-69 season and the NBA. The WBL also added new teams to many existing cities. The Portland/Phoenix Suns moved to Phoenix and became the Phoenix/Tucson Suns, and moved to Portland a few years later. The San Diego/Santa Barbara Islanders moved to San Diego and became the San Diego/Long Beach Piranhas. New league names for the 1968-69 season included (in alphabetical order): Albuquerque/Chicago Rockets Anchorage/Oakland Mustangs Atlanta/Orlando Scorpions Billings/Seattle Sonics (became Sonics in the mid 1970s) Chicago Cougars (changed to Chicago Express during the 1970-71 season) Cleveland/Toledo Musketeers Colorado Springs/Pueblo Rockets Denver/Dallas Rockets Duluth/Minneapolis Lakers (became Lakers in the mid 1970s) Erie/Oklahoma City Thunder (became Oklahoma City Stars during the mid 1970s) Honolulu/Tri-City Chinooks Long Beach/Sacramento Kings Milwaukee/Twin Cities Pioneers Olympia/Seattle Metropolitans Phoenix/Tucson Suns (changed to Suns in the mid 1970s) San Diego/Santa Barbara Islanders (changed to Islanders in the mid 1970s) Syracuse/Buffalo Braves Utah Stars (renamed Utah Stars in the mid 1970s) Wyoming/Anchorage Buffaloes For the 1969-70 season, the league was split into two conferences. The Eastern Division included the Albuquerque/Chicago Rockets, Anchorage/Oakland Mustangs, Cleveland/Toledo Musketeers, Denver/Dallas Rockets, Long Beach/Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee/Twin Cities Pioneers, and San Diego/Santa Barbara Islanders. The Western Division included the Arizona/Orlando Scorpions, Atlanta/Orlando Scorpions, Cincinnati/Tampa Bay Sea-hawks, Seattle/Portland/San Diego/Santa Barbara Suns (the latter three moved to Portland after the first season), and Tucson/Phoenix Suns. 1969-70 NBA Season The NBA decided to expand its schedule from 23 games in the previous season to 28 for the 1969-70 season. The WBL teams were not given the same priority that they had had in earlier years and the result was a more challenging schedule than many of the teams could handle. This led to a decrease in WBL attendance. It wasn't until 1972 that the NBA scheduled a WBL team, the Anaheim Amigos, in the league's All-Star Game. The league returned to its 22-game schedule in 1972-73, then dropped back to 20 games in the 1974-75 season, when the NBA dropped its All-Star Game and switched to a true round-robin schedule. The NBA's expanded schedule caused many teams in the WBL to struggle. In the 1970-71 season, only four WBL teams won 40% or more of their games, and only the Denver Rockets won a division championship. The Milwaukee/Twin Cities Pioneers, Cleveland/Toledo Musketeers, Cincinnati/Tampa Bay Sea-hawks, and Seattle/Portland/San Diego/Santa Barbara Suns folded, and the New Orleans Buccaneers, San Francisco/Oakland Clippers, Anaheim Amigos, Portland/Phoenix Suns, Long Beach/Sacramento Kings, and Buffalo Braves were replaced by expansion teams, the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, and Kentucky Colonels, respectively. Although the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Bullets joined the league for the following season, no expansion teams joined for the 1972-73 season. The Kansas City Kings withdrew from the WBL after 14 games, and was replaced by a new expansion team from Philadelphia called the Indiana Pacers. The league made up the schedule difference by adding more road games. A few years later, this became common practice with the WBL after the NBA expanded its schedule to 22 games and was followed by the American Basketball Association, which used 21 games for its schedule. 1969-70 Expansion Teams After the 1968-69 season, the league announced its plan to expand by two teams and had a series of expansion drafts and trades that resulted in some notable players and teams. The expansion occurred in three rounds: The first round was held on December 4, 1968. The Kansas City/Omaha Kings were awarded by lottery to the Baltimore Bullets, Buffalo Braves, New York Nets, and San Diego/Santa Barbara Islanders. These franchises were known as the lottery teams as they would take over three existing teams. The second round of expansion draft and draft rights trades was held on December 9, 1968. Kansas City/Omaha was the sole team awarded from the lottery teams. Charlotte Hornets was awarded to the Seattle Sonics by lottery and was renamed the Seattle SuperSonics in 1971. Other lottery teams (San Diego/Santa Barbara Islanders and Baltimore Bullets) were given expansion teams as well. The final round of expansion was held on December 15, 1968. The Cleveland/Toledo Musketeers joined the league as part of the WBL and the Oakland Mustangs were placed in the Eastern Division with the Anaheim/Long Beach Pipers. The Anaheim Amigos joined the WBL in January 1969 as part of the NBA. The New Orleans Buccaneers, San Francisco/Oakland Clippers, and Anaheim/Long Beach Pipers folded for the 1969-70 season. Teams added for the next season included: Eastern Division Chicago Cougars (became Chicago Express) Cleveland/Toledo Musketeers (became Cleveland Cavaliers) Indiana Pacers New Orleans Buccaneers (became Charlotte Hornets) Oklahoma City Stars Philadelphia/Kansas City Kings Tucson/Phoenix Suns (changed to Suns in the mid 1970s) Western Division Baltimore Bullets (became New York/Baltimore franchise; became Indiana Pacers after 1972-73 season) Buffalo Braves Cincinnati/Tampa Bay Sea-hawks (became Cincinnati Royals) Salt Lake City Stars (became Utah Stars) San Diego/Santa Barbara Islanders (became California/Santa Barbara Islanders) Seattle Sonics (became Kings) For 1970-71, the WBL expanded by adding two teams and switched to a split schedule format. The Western Division included Cincinnati/Tampa Bay Sea-hawks, Cincinnati Royals, Long Beach/Sacramento Kings, and Portland/Phoenix Suns, while the Eastern Division included Cleveland/Toledo Musketeers, Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Buccaneers (changed to Hornets in the early 1970s), Oklahoma City Stars, and Seattle Sonics. The league also dropped to 20 games a year and moved the All-Star game from December to January. 1970-71 NBA Season During the 1970-71 season, the NBA expanded its schedule to 22 games. For the first time, the league planned to play a