With the founding of the ABA on February 2, 1967, a charter franchise was awarded to a group of seven investors, including Morton Downey, Jr.

Charles G. Smither, one of the seven owners, served as team president; another of the investors, Maurice M. Stern, was operations manager.

Among the team's first players were Doug Moe, Larry Brown, Gerald Govan, Jimmy Jones and Red Robbins.

Prior to the season the Buccaneers traded away Larry Brown and Doug Moe to the Oakland Oaks in exchange for Steve Jones and Ron Franz.

The Buccaneers met the Dallas Chaparrals in the Western Division semifinals and prevailed in a close series, 4 games to 3.

The Buccaneers moved their home games to Tulane Gym (now known as Devlin Fieldhouse) and the Municipal Auditorium for the season.

The team picked up Wendell Ladner in the draft and rechristened itself the Louisiana Buccaneers, planning to play its home games throughout the state during the 1970–1971 season including in New Orleans, Shreveport, Lafayette, Monroe and Baton Rouge.

Like most ABA teams, the Bucs were never on strong financial ground, and the move to the smaller Tulane Gym combined with the marked dropoff in their play caused revenue to dry up.