1972–73 Kentucky Colonels season

The 1972–73 Kentucky Colonels season was the sixth season of the Colonels out in the American Basketball Association. Despite finishing the season only one game short of leading the Eastern Division, being behind the revamped Carolina Cougars led by future Hall of Fame head coach Larry Brown, the Colonels would still manage to make it to the ABA Finals for the second time in three seasons after not just beating their stateside division rivals, the regional-based Virginia Squires, in five games, but also upset the Carolina Cougars in seven games, with them beating the regional-based Carolina squad on their home turf, which was played in Charlotte, North Carolina that night. Once they returned to the ABA Finals, the Colonels would see their stateside rivals, the defending champion Indiana Pacers, as opposed to having a rematch with the Utah Stars like it was back in 1971; while the Colonels would keep the series tight and have it go down to the wire, they ultimately lost to the defending champion Indiana Pacers in a tight seven-game series, making them the only ABA team to ever repeat as champions in the ABA. Following the season's end, the Colonels would fire head coach Joe Mullaney and replace him with former New Orleans Buccaneers/Memphis Pros and Dallas Chaparrals head coach Babe McCarthy in the hopes of overcoming their rivals to end up winning an ABA championship soon.