American Basketball Association

American Basketball Association (ABA)
ABA logo.gif
Sport Basketball
Founded 1967
No. of teams 11
Country(ies)  United States
Ceased 1976
Last champion(s) New York Nets

The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.

Contents

League history

The original ABA was founded in 1967, competing with the well-established National Basketball Association, until the ABA–NBA merger in 1976. According to The NBA Encyclopedia, its long-term goal was to force a merger with the more established league. ABA officials told potential owners that they could get an ABA team for half of what it cost to get an NBA expansion team at the time. When the merger occurred, ABA officials said, their investment would more than double.

Ultimately, four ABA teams were absorbed into the older league: the New York Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs. Two other clubs, the Kentucky Colonels, and the Spirits of St. Louis, were disbanded upon the merger. A third, the Virginia Squires, had folded less than a month earlier, missing out on the opportunities that a merger might have provided.

The ABA distinguished itself from its older counterpart with a more wide-open, flashy style of offensive play, as well as differences in rules - a 30-second shot clock (as opposed to the NBA's 24-second clock, though the ABA did switch to the 24 second shot clock for the 1975-76 season) and use of a three-point field goal arc. Also, the ABA used a colorful red, white and blue ball, instead of the NBA's traditional orange ball. The ABA also had several "regional" franchises, such as the Virginia Squires and Carolina Cougars, that played "home" games in several cities.

The ABA also cleverly went after four of the best referees in the NBA: Earl Strom, John Vanak, Norm Drucker and Joe Gushue, getting them to "jump" leagues by offering them far more in money and benefits. In Earl Strom's memoir "Calling The Shots," Strom conveys both the heady sense of being courted by a rival league with money to burn -- and also the depression that set in the next year when he began refereeing in the ABA, with lesser players performing in inadequate arenas, in front of very small crowds.

But the emergence of the ABA boosted the salaries of referees just as it did the salaries of players.

The freewheeling style of the ABA eventually caught on with fans, but the lack of a national television contract and protracted financial losses would spell doom for the ABA as an independent circuit. In 1976, its last year of existence, the ABA pioneered the now-popular slam dunk contest at its all-star game in Denver.

One of the more significant long-term contributions of the ABA to professional basketball was to tap into markets in the southeast that had been collegiate basketball hotbeds (including North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky). The NBA was focused on the urban areas of the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast. At the time, it showed no interest in placing a team south of Washington, D.C.

Commissioners

NBA great George Mikan was the first commissioner of the ABA, where he introduced both the 3-point line and the league's trademark red, white and blue basketball.[1] Mikan resigned in 1969. Dave DeBusschere, one of the stars of the New York Knicks championship teams, moved from his job as Vice President and GM of the ABA's New York Nets in 1975 to become the last commissioner of the ABA and facilitate the ABA-NBA merger in 1976.[2]

Teams

List of ABA championships

Year Winner Runner-Up Games Playoffs MVP
1967–1968 Pittsburgh Pipers New Orleans Buccaneers 4–3 Connie Hawkins C, Pittsburgh
1968–1969 Oakland Oaks Indiana Pacers 4–1 Warren Jabali G, Oakland
1969–1970 Indiana Pacers Los Angeles Stars 4–2 Roger Brown F/G, Indiana
1970–1971 Utah Stars Kentucky Colonels 4–3 Zelmo Beaty C, Utah
1971–1972 Indiana Pacers New York Nets 4–2 Freddie Lewis G, Indiana
1972–1973 Indiana Pacers Kentucky Colonels 4–3 George McGinnis F/C, Indiana
1973–1974 New York Nets Utah Stars 4–1 Julius Erving F, New York
1974–1975 Kentucky Colonels Indiana Pacers 4–1 Artis Gilmore C, Kentucky
1975–1976 New York Nets Denver Nuggets 4–2 Julius Erving F, New York

Prominent players of the ABA

  • Marvin Barnes
  • Rick Barry
  • Zelmo Beaty
  • Ron Boone
  • Hubie Brown
  • Larry Brown
  • Roger Brown
  • Don Buse
  • Mack Calvin
  • Darel Carrier
  • Jim Chones
  • Billy Cunningham
  • Louie Dampier
  • Mel Daniels
  • Julius "Dr. J" Erving
  • Donnie Freeman
  • George "Ice Man" Gervin
  • Artis Gilmore
  • Jerry Harkness
  • Connie Hawkins
  • Spencer Haywood
  • Dan Issel
  • Warren Jabali
  • Bobby Jones
  • Jimmy Jones
  • Larry Jones
  • Freddie Lewis
  • Maurice Lucas
  • Moses Malone
  • George McGinnis
  • Doug Moe
  • Bob Netolicky
  • Billy Paultz
  • Charlie Scott
  • James Silas
  • David "Skywalker" Thompson
  • Willie Wise

For more information, see ABA All-Time Team.[3]

Succession

In 1999, a new league calling itself the ABA 2000 was established. The new league uses a similar red, white and blue basketball as the old ABA, but unlike the original ABA, it does not feature players of the same caliber as the NBA, nor does it play games in major arenas nor on television as the original ABA did.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ESPN Classic: Mikan was first pro to dominate the post". http://espn.go.com/classic/obit/s/2005/0602/2074322.html. Retrieved 2007-12-04. 
  2. ↑ "Dave DeBusschere Bio". NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/history/players/debusschere_bio.html. Retrieved 2008-03-09. 
  3. ↑ RememberTheABA.com ABA All-Time Team Page (as selected at 30 year ABA anniversary event)

External links

American Basketball Association seasons
Seasons
1967–68 · 1968–69 · 1969–70 · 1970–71 · 1971–72 · 1972–73 · 1973–74 · 1974–75 · 1975–76
Playoffs
1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976
All-Star Games
1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976
List of champions
American Basketball Association teams
Anaheim Amigos/Los Angeles Stars (1967–1970) · Baltimore Claws (1975) · Carolina Cougars (1969–1974) · Dallas Chaparrals/Texas Chaparrals (1967–1973) · Denver Rockets/Denver Nuggets (1967–1976) · Houston Mavericks (1967–1969) · Indiana Pacers (1967–1976) · Kentucky Colonels (1967–1976) · Memphis Pros/Memphis Tams/Memphis Sounds (1970–1975) · Miami Floridians/The Floridians (1968–1972) · Minnesota Muskies (1967–1968) · Minnesota Pipers (1968–1969) · New Jersey Americans/New York Nets (1967–1976) · New Orleans Buccaneers (1967–1970) · Oakland Oaks (1967–1969) · Pittsburgh Pipers/Pittsburgh Condors (1967–1968;1969–1972) · San Antonio Spurs (1973–1976) · San Diego Conquistadors/San Diego Sails (1972–1975) · Spirits of St. Louis (1974–1976) · Utah Stars (1970–1975) · Virginia Squires (1970–1976) · Washington Caps (1969–1970)
American Basketball Association champions

1967–68 Pittsburgh Pipers | 1968–69 Oakland Oaks | 1969–70 Indiana Pacers | 1970–71 Utah Stars | 1971–72 Indiana Pacers | 1972–73 Indiana Pacers | 1973–74 New York Nets | 1974–75 Kentucky Colonels | 1975–76 New York Nets