Editing Pittsburgh Condors (section)

====1971–72 season====
For the next season, Haven tried to change the Condors' image, with a new logo and uniforms, plus a slick marketing campaign. In October, they lured the defending [[NBA]] champion [[Milwaukee Bucks]] (and star Lew Alcindor) to Pittsburgh for an exhibition game, guaranteeing the Bucks $25,000. A local ad proclaimed "Bring on Alcindor" and that "the [[ABA–NBA merger]] is here". (The merger would not actually happen until 1976, and it would not include Pittsburgh.) Unfortunately for the Condors, Alcindor—who had changed his name to [[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar]] just a few days before the game—was injured and did not play (the Bucks won anyway, 129–115). Only 8,881 fans showed up, and the Condors "took a bath" on the deal—not a good start for the season.<ref name="remember"/>

After a 4–6 start, general manager [[Mark Binstein]] fired McMahon and named himself head coach, citing a need for the team to have "more discipline".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pghcitypaper.com/arts-entertainment/the-abas-pipers-later-condors-make-a-mixed-case-for-pittsburgh-as-a-basketball-town-25689491 | title=Pittsburgh was briefly a basketball town. Could it happen again? }}</ref> The move backfired disastrously; the Condors only went 21-50 the rest of the way.

As the season progressed, attendance dropped below 1,000 fans per game, fueling speculation the Condors would fold before [[Christmas]]. While they did manage to survive into the New Year, Haven had finally seen enough and announced the Condors would be playing elsewhere for the 1972–73 season. In the meantime, they began relocating home games, first to other cities in [[Pennsylvania]], and then to farther-away places. On March 24, 1972, the Condors hosted the [[Kentucky Colonels]] in [[Birmingham, Alabama]]; four days later, the Condors hosted the Colonels again, this time in their last 'home' game, in [[Tucson]], [[Arizona]].

[[John Brisker]] and [[George Thompson (basketball)|George Thompson]] played in the ABA All-Star Game. The Condors finished in sixth place in the Eastern Division at 25-59 and failed to make the playoffs. They averaged 2,215 fans per home game—a figure that would have been even lower if not for the gates brought in at both Birmingham (an estimated 3,000) and Tucson (reported as 5,000). These were significantly better than the ones in Pittsburgh; the Condors drew only 689 at their final game at the Civic Center.