Editing Pittsburgh Condors (section)

===Pittsburgh Pipers - First ABA Champions (1967–1968)===
[[File:Connie Hawkins 1968.jpeg|thumb|right|[[Connie Hawkins]] in 1968–69 at [[Met Center]] in Bloomington, Minnesota]]
The Pipers were one of the ABA's inaugural franchises in 1967. There had been an interest in potentially having an expansion team play in Pittsburgh in 1967 for the NBA, but the league ultimately went with [[Seattle Supersonics|Seattle]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://newspaperarchive.com/indiana-gazette-jul-25-1993-p-24/ | title=Indiana Gazette Newspaper Archives, Jul 25, 1993, p. 24 | date=July 25, 1993 }}</ref> The team was co-owned by Jason Shapiro (of  National Record Mart) and Gabe Rubin, who had partnered with Lenny Litman to run the downtown [[Penn Theater]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com/jason-shapiro-known-for-national-record-mart-pittsburgh-pipers-dies-at-99/ | title=Jason Shapiro, known for National Record Mart, Pittsburgh Pipers, dies at 99 | date=April 28, 2025 }}</ref>

On June 13, 1967, team president Gabe Rubin selected the name of the team to be "Pipers" while signing a three-year deal to play games in the Civic Arena. Rubin stated in the press that he picked the name because he "liked the way it sounded" and wanted to eschew a long process for a name selection.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://newspaperarchive.com/oil-city-derrick-jun-14-1967-p-16/ | title=Oil City Derrick Newspaper Archives, Jun 14, 1967, p. 16 | date=June 14, 1967 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://newspaperarchive.com/linton-daily-citizen-jun-14-1967-p-5/ | title=Linton Daily Citizen Archives, Jun 14, 1967, p. 5 | date=June 14, 1967 }}</ref>

The team had great success on the court, posting the league's best record during the regular season (54–24, .692) and winning the league's first ABA Championship. The Pipers were led by their star player, ABA MVP and future Hall-of-Famer [[Connie Hawkins]], who led the ABA in scoring at 26.8 ppg. The Pipers swept through the [[1968 ABA Playoffs]] and defeated the [[New Orleans Buccaneers]] 4 games to 3 to take the title, with Hawkins earning Finals MVP honors. The ABA title remains Pittsburgh's only pro basketball championship.<ref name="remember">{{Cite web|url=http://www.remembertheaba.com/Pittsburgh-Pipers.html|title=Remember the ABA: Pittsburgh/Minnesota Pipers}}</ref>

Coupled with the [[Philadelphia 76ers]]' NBA championship [[1967 NBA Finals|one year earlier]], Pennsylvania had two professional basketball champions in as many years. Despite this, the team did not have a championship ring until over three decades later when players came up with money to have rings made.<ref>https://archive.triblive.com/sports/us-world/decades-later-pittsburgh-pipers-finally-got-championship-rings/</ref>

[[File:Mellon Arena - drive through side 01.JPG|thumb|The Civic Arena was home to the franchise during their time in Pittsburgh.]]

The Pipers shared the [[Pittsburgh Civic Arena]] with the city's expansion [[National Hockey League]] team, the [[Pittsburgh Penguins]]. The Pipers attracted fairly respectable gates by ABA standards, averaging 3,200 fans per game.<ref name="remember"/>