1968–69 Houston Mavericks season

NBA professional basketball team season

Head coach

Slater Martin (3-9)
Jim Weaver (20-46)

Arena

Sam Houston Coliseum

Results

Record

23–55 (.295)

Place

Division: 6th (Western)

< 1967–68

The 1968–69 Houston Mavericks season was the second and final season of the Mavericks in the American Basketball Association. By this point, attendance were at all-time lows at home for the Mavericks, who trudged to finish dead last in a much improved Division, 18 games behind the 4th place Dallas Chaparrals. T.C. Morrow announced to the league that he would not put any more money into the team midway through the year, and the league stepped in to make sure the team did not fold midway through, making trades and such. In January 1969, Jim Gardner agreed to buy the team for $650,000 to move them to North Carolina, which would occur after the season. One bright spot was their performance on January 17, 1969, when the team made 36 of 36 free throws in a 130–118 victory over the New York Nets. April 2, 1969 was the final game in Houston, with a reported attendance of 89, though the Mavericks beat the New York Nets 149–132. The next night, in their final ever game (versus the Dallas Chaparrals), they lost 136–144. The team lived on in Carolina, playing as a regional team. Houston would not have a pro basketball team until 1971, with the Houston Rockets.

Roster

34 Art Becker - Small forward
25 Spider Bennett - Point guard
33 Larry Bunce - Center
14 Don Carlos - Shooting guard
33 Dick Clark - Shooting guard
25 Rich Dumas - Guard
15 Bill Gaines - Guard
24 Tom Hoover - Center
24 Tony Jackson - Small forward
20 Stew Johnson - Power forward
52 Tom Kondla - Center
21 Steve Kramer - Shooting guard
35 Leary Lentz - Small forward
31 Guy Manning - Small forward
21 Jerry Pettway - Shooting guard
15 Willie Porter - Power forward
44 Kendall Rhine - Center
12 Willie Somerset - Point guard
32 Keith Swagerty - Power forward
35 Levern Tart - Shooting guard
22 Bob Verga - Shooting guard
12 Hank Whitney - Power forward

Final standings

Western Division


Team	W	L	PCT.	GB
Oakland Oaks C	60	18	.769	-
New Orleans Buccaneers	46	32	.590	14
Denver Rockets	44	34	.564	16
Dallas Chaparrals	41	37	.526	19
Los Angeles Stars	33	45	.423	27
Houston Mavericks	23	55	.295	37