Great summary about the ABA. Some facts I found interesting
- Started in 1967 to challenge the boring NBA
- ABA is the reason why players can play right out of high school.
- Pushed the NBA to adopt the 3 point shot and the slam dunk
- Established the All Star Weekend. (NBA had the game on a Tuesday)
- Responsible for culture change (style, dress, woman empowerment)
- Only 4 teams from the ABA joined the NBA
- Got TV rights into perpetuity bringing in $800M since the merger.
- Had the red white and blue ball
I was a.big New York Nets fan. Rick Barry (underhand foul shots) , Bill Melchioni, and later Dr J. I never saw them play at the tiny arena in Hempstead, but I saw many games at the Nassau Coliseum. I had an ABA ball.
Rick Barry was that guy. I guess he had to sit out a year due to the NBA/ABA riff! Crazy
Nice use of cross posting. You hit all three!
They also were first to track blocks, steals, and turnovers.
I've heard the NBA basically bought the ABA just for Dr. J, who was the biggest basketball star in the world.