The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a men's professional basketball major league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA merged into the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1976, resulting in four ABA teams joining the NBA and the introduction of the NBA 3-point shot in 1979.
A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one or both hands. It is a type of field goal that is worth two points. Such a shot was known as a "dunk shot" until the term "slam dunk" was coined by former Los Angeles Lakers announcer Chick Hearn.
Richard Francis Dennis Barry III is an American retired professional basketball player who starred at the NCAA, American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) levels. Barry ranks among the most prolific scorers and all-around players in basketball history. He is the only one to lead the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), ABA, and NBA in points per game in a season. He ranks as the all-time ABA scoring leader in regular season and postseason (33.5) play, while his 36.3 points per game are the most in the NBA Finals history. Barry was also the only player to score at least 50 points in a Game 7 of the playoffs in either league until Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum both reached that mark in 2023. He is one of only four players to be a part of a championship team in both leagues.
Julius Winfield Erving II, commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American former professional basketball player. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and he was the best-known player in that league when it merged into the National Basketball Association (NBA) after the 1975–1976 season.
The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association (ABA) for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky Colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of any franchise in the league's history, but the team did not join the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the 1976 ABA–NBA merger. The downtown Louisville Convention Center was the Colonels' venue for their first three seasons before moving to Freedom Hall for the remaining seasons, beginning with the 1970–71 schedule.
Darryl R. Dawkins was an American professional basketball player and coach. He was particularly known for his tenure with the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, although he also played briefly for the Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz late in his career. His nickname, "Chocolate Thunder", was bestowed upon him by Stevie Wonder. He was known for his powerful dunks, which led to the NBA adopting breakaway rims due to him shattering a backboard on two occasions in 1979.
Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. is an American former professional basketball player who played small forward. He played for eight teams in his 17-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Gus (Honeycomb) Johnson Jr. was an American college and professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (NBA). A chiseled 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), 235-pound (107 kg) forward who occasionally played center, Johnson spent nine seasons with the Baltimore Bullets before he split his final campaign between the Phoenix Suns and ABA champions Indiana Pacers. He was a five-time NBA All-Star before chronic knee issues and dubious off-court habits took their tolls late in his career.
The NBA Slam Dunk Contest is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) competition held during the NBA All-Star Weekend. Sports Illustrated wrote "the dunk contest was the best halftime invention since the bathroom."
Melvin Joe Daniels was an American professional basketball player. He played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for the Minnesota Muskies, Indiana Pacers, and Memphis Sounds, and in the National Basketball Association for the New York Nets. Daniels was a two-time ABA Most Valuable Player, three-time ABA Champion and a seven-time ABA All-Star. Daniels was the All-time ABA rebounding leader, and in 1997 was named a unanimous selection to the ABA All-Time Team. Daniels was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
William Edward Paultz is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in the now defunct American Basketball Association (ABA). Nicknamed "the Whopper", He was a 4-time ABA All-Star and led the ABA in blocks in 1976.
Maurice Lucas was an American professional basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a four-time NBA All-Star and won an NBA championship with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977. He was named to the ABA All-Time Team.
Christopher Vernard Morris is an American former professional basketball player. In his 11-season (1988–1999) National Basketball Association (NBA) career, the 6'8" small forward played for the New Jersey Nets, Utah Jazz, and Phoenix Suns. He is a graduate of Atlanta's Douglass High School where his jersey has been retired, and played collegiately for the Auburn Tigers. He scored 8,184 total points in his NBA career.
Muhsin Kenon, is an American former professional basketball player, known in his playing career as Larry Kenon.
The 1977 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1976–77 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Portland Trail Blazers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. It was Portland's first NBA title. Bill Walton was named NBA Finals MVP.
The 1975–76 New York Nets season was the ninth and final season of ABA basketball on Long Island. The Nets won their second ABA Championship.
The ABA–NBA merger was a major pro sports business maneuver in 1976 when the American Basketball Association (ABA) combined with the National Basketball Association (NBA), after multiple attempts over several years. The NBA and ABA had entered merger talks as early as 1970, but an antitrust suit filed by the head of the NBA players union, Robertson v. National Basketball Ass'n, blocked the merger until 1976.
A backboard shattering is an accident or stunt in basketball. It occurs when a player performs a slam dunk with sufficient force to shatter the tempered glass of the backboard, often causing the hoop to break off as well. The stunt usually causes games to be canceled or delayed, incurring a foul for the offending player, serious injuries to occur and expensive costs of cleanup and replacement. Shattering a backboard can be dangerous, sending various small pieces of the backboard glass flying over the players, sideline press personnel, referees, and spectators. In the National Basketball Association (NBA), shattering a backboard during a game is penalized with a "non-unsportsmanlike" technical foul and a possible fine towards the player. The player may not be ejected, nor shall the foul count towards a player's total towards either ejection or suspension. The referee also has latitude to waive off the foul, if it is determined the shattering was accidental due to a defect in the backboard or its structure, the board was broken during a rebound of the ball from a jump shot, or if the player had no intentions to dunk with force.
ABC gained the NBA in 1964, the network aired its first NBA game on January 3, 1965, but lost the broadcast rights to CBS after the 1972–73 season with the initial tenure ending on May 10, 1973. As the national broadcaster of the NBA, CBS aired NBA games from the 1973-74 until the 1989–90 season, during which the early 1980s is notoriously known as the tape delay playoff era.
