Las Vegas Dealers

The Las Vegas Dealers, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, were one of seven teams in the Western Basketball Association, which played a single season in 1978-79. James Speed and his wife Sylvia owned the team. Larry Jones, a four-time ABA All-Star, was the coach. Home games were split between the Las Vegas Convention Center and the smaller Chaparral Arena, and the team had trouble getting good dates in either.

The Dealers started 0-8, then recovered and finished 24-24. Guards Willie Smith and Bobby Wilson and forward Jackie Robinson, a former UNLV player, were among the roster. Robinson and Smith were called up to the big leagues during the year. The league's money problems cut the schedule from 60 games to 48.

The finances never worked. By January 1979 the Speeds said they had lost about $180,000, and on January 30 they announced the team was folding. The league finished the season for them, with the team in generic uniforms because the owners kept the name. The Dealers played their last game on March 5, 1979, a 107-104 loss at Fresno. The rest of the league folded that summer.