That championship season

BELLEVUE, Wash. — It was a work in progress — a red-white-and-blue basketball covered with autographs resting on a shelf in Zelmo Beaty's trophy room. Scrawled across the leather were the signatures of almost every player on the Utah Stars' 1971 American Basketball Association championship team.

Red Robbins, Ron Boone, Merv Jackson, George Stone, Rod McDonald and Glen Combs had signed it. So, too, had Dick Nemelka, Mike Butler, Sam Smith and Beaty himself.

But for reasons unknown, one autograph was missing. It belonged to Willie Wise, who along with Beaty was carried off the Salt Palace floor by enthusiastic fans following Utah's 131-121 victory over Kentucky in Game 7 of the ABA finals on the night of May 18, 1971.

The brightest Stars of Utah's championship team, Beaty and Wise have remained close friends ever since. They live just a few minutes apart in this wooded suburb of Seattle and regularly get together to reminisce. Beaty wound up in the Northwest, deciding it was a better place than Los Angeles to raise his children. Wise ended up here after being traded to the Seattle SuperSonics by the Denver Nuggets in 1977.

Despite their close proximity and prolonged friendship, it took a while for Wise to finally add his signature to the ball that Beaty so cherishes.

Neither player knows why it took so long. And in the end, both figure, it really doesn't matter.

The keepsake became complete a few weeks before the 30th anniversary of Utah's one and only professional basketball championship.

"It really doesn't seem like that long ago," says Beaty. "I don't really think of it in terms of years until someone mentions it. I think the memories are just about as fresh in our minds today as when it actually happened."

The images remain vivid for both players — as clear as the post-game celebration photograph hanging on a wall in Beaty's home.

"You say 30 years and it's kind of mind-boggling," admits Wise. "Looking at this picture now, I can relive almost every moment. It was quite something. But it just doesn't seem like it was that long ago."

Time, however, has passed. The ABA, the Stars and even the Salt Palace arena are long gone. So, too, is Stars Avenue and that catchy "Here Come the Stars" theme song.

About all that's left are the memories — from fans, players and coaches. In catching up with the championship team, the Deseret News discovered they were spread across the country.