# 1967–68 Minnesota Muskies season

The 1967–68 Minnesota Muskies season was the first and only season of the Muskies in the newly created American Basketball Association. The team was created on February 2, 1967, for the price of $30,000 to L.P. Shields and Fred Jefferson. The team was named after a nickname for the Muskellunge, which is a fish found in Minnesota. The team did well on the court, finishing 2nd to the Pipers in the Eastern Division. In the playoffs, they made it to the Division Finals, but the Muskies lost in 5 games to the Pipers. However, this proved to be the only season for the Muskies due to losing money (reportedly $400,000) with middling attendance with minimal season tickets purchased (In the five playoff games played in Minnesota, they averaged 3,511 in attendance, with the highest being 8,357 for Game 3 of the Division Finals and the lowest being 661 for Game 1 of the Semifinals). A plan to play 9 games of next season in places around Minnesota and a television contract were curtailed, and the Muskies moved to Miami on May 24, 1968. However, basketball in Minnesota would not be curtailed for long, as the Pittsburgh Pipers moved to play in the same location

## Roster

* 23 Richard Clark – Point guard
* 34 Mel Daniels – Center
* 20 Donnie Freeman – Shooting guard
* 35 Les Hunter – Power forward
* 24 Ervin Inniger – Shooting guard
* 51 Gary Keller – Power forward
* 33 Terry Kunze – Shooting guard
* 32 Errol Palmer – Small forward
* 22 Ron Perry – Point guard
* 52 Sam Smith – Small forward
* 50 Skip Thoren – Center

## Final standings
### Eastern Division

| Team | W | L | PCT. | GB |
| Pittsburgh Pipers C | 54 | 24 | .692 | – |
| Minnesota Muskies | 50 | 28 | .641 | 4 |
| Indiana Pacers | 38 | 40 | .487 | 16 |
| Kentucky Colonels | 36 | 42 | .462 | 18 |
| New Jersey Americans | 36 | 42 | .462 | 18 |

### Record vs. opponents

1967–68 ABA Records :
| Team | ANA | DAL | DEN | HOU | IND | KEN | MIN | NJA | NOB | OAK | PIT |
| Anaheim | — | 2–8 | 3–7 | 6–3 | 2–4 | 0–6 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 2–7 | 6–4 | 1–5 |
| Dallas | 8–2 | — | 4–5 | 8–2 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 4–6 | 7–2 | 2–4 |
| Denver | 7–3 | 5–4 | — | 6–3 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 5–1 | 5–5 | 7–3 | 2–4 |
| Houston | 3–6 | 2–8 | 3–6 | — | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 0–10 | 7–3 | 2–4 |
| Indiana | 4–2 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 3–3 | — | 6–5 | 3–8 | 6–4 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–6 |
| Kentucky | 6–0 | 1–5 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 5–6 | — | 5–5 | 4–7 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 3–7 |
| Minnesota | 5–1 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 8–3 | 5–5 | — | 7–3 | 5–1 | 5–1 | 4–7 |
| New Jersey | 4–2 | 3–3 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 4–6 | 7–4 | 3–7 | — | 3–3 | 5–1 | 3–8 |
| New Orleans | 7–2 | 6–4 | 5–5 | 10–0 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 1–5 | 3–3 | — | 6–3 | 3–3 |
| Oakland | 4–6 | 2–7 | 3–7 | 3–7 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 3–6 | — | 0–6 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–1 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 6–4 | 7–3 | 7–4 | 8–3 | 3–3 | 6–0 | — |

## Playoffs

Eastern Division Semifinals
| Game | Date | Location | Score | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | March 24 | Minnesota | 115–102 | 1–0 | 661 |
| 2 | March 26 | Minnesota | 95–100 | 1–1 | 3,874 |
| 3 | March 27 | Kentucky | 116–107 | 2–1 | 1,458 |
| 4 | March 29 | Kentucky | 86–94 | 2–2 | 4,472 |
| 5 | March 30 | Minnesota | 114–108 | 3–2 | 879 |
Muskies win series 3–2
Division Finals
| Game | Date | Location | Score | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | April 4 | Pittsburgh | 117–125 | 0–1 | 3,159 |
| 2 | April 6 | Pittsburgh | 137–123 | 1–1 | 2,123 |
| 3 | April 10 | Minnesota | 99–107 | 1–2 | 8,357 |
| 4 | April 13 | Minnesota | 108–117 | 1–3 | 3,787 |
| 5 | April 14 | Pittsburgh | 105–114 | 1–4 | 3,350 |
Muskies lose series, 4–1

## Awards and honors

1968 ABA All-Star Game selections (game played on January 9, 1968)
* Mel Daniels
* Donnie Freeman
* Les Hunter
Jim Pollard was selected to coach the Eastern squad.