The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a popular men's professional basketball 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.
David O'Neil Thompson is an American former professional basketball player. He played with the Denver Nuggets of both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA. He was previously a star in college for North Carolina State, leading the Wolfpack to its first NCAA championship in 1974. Thompson is one of the eight players to score 70 or more points in an NBA game. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996.
Robert Clyde Jones is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Denver Nuggets in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Secretary of Defense", Jones won an NBA championship with the 76ers in 1983, was a four-time NBA All-Star, an eight-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team, and was the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 1983.
Daniel Paul Issel is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, Issel was twice named an All-American en route to a school-record 25.7 points per game for his career. The American Basketball Association Rookie of the Year in 1971, he was a six-time ABA All-Star and a one-time NBA All-Star.
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.
Ronald Bruce Boone is an American former professional basketball player. He had a 13-year career in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). Boone set a record for most consecutive games played in professional basketball history with 1,041 and claims to have never missed a game from when he started playing basketball in the fourth grade until his retirement. Boone is the current color commentator on Utah Jazz broadcasts.
Rodney King Thorn is an American basketball executive and a former professional player and coach, Olympic Committee Chairman, with a career spanning over 50 years. In 2018, Thorn was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The 1976–77 NBA season was the 31st season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Portland Trail Blazers winning their first NBA Championship in franchise history, beating the Philadelphia 76ers in six games in the NBA Finals.
Mack Calvin is an American former basketball player. A five-time ABA All-Star, Calvin recorded the second most assists in ABA history, and was later named to the ABA All-Time Team.
The 1975 NBA draft was the 29th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 29, 1975, before the 1975–76 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The first two picks in the draft belonged to the teams that finished last in each conference, with the order determined by a coin flip. The Atlanta Hawks, who obtained the New Orleans Jazz first-round pick in a trade, won the coin flip and were awarded the first overall pick, while the Los Angeles Lakers were awarded the second pick. Prior to the draft, the Kansas City-Omaha Kings were renamed the Kansas City Kings. Before the draft, 18 college underclassmen and 2 high school players were declared eligible for selection under the "hardship" rule. These players had applied and gave evidence of financial hardship to the league, which granted them the right to start earning their living by starting their professional careers earlier.
Marvin Jerome "Bad News" Barnes was an American professional basketball player. A forward, he was an All-American at Providence College, and played professionally in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA).
Michael Leon Carr is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA), and former head coach and General Manager of the Boston Celtics.
Utah Rockies was the name under which the Spirits of St. Louis were to play during the ultimately aborted 1976–77 American Basketball Association (ABA) season.
The 1976–77 NBA season was the Spurs first season in the NBA. Months earlier, the Spurs were part of the American Basketball Association. The ABA had ended its ninth and last campaign. Of the seven remaining ABA teams, four joined the NBA: the Denver Nuggets, New York Nets, Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs. The Kentucky Colonels and Spirits of St. Louis agreed to take a cash settlement and cease operations. Immediately, the ABA players were dispersed across the new 22-team league. The other ABA teams from the prior season were all folded prior to the ABA–NBA merger: the Baltimore Claws, Utah Stars, San Diego Sails and Virginia Squires.
The 1976–77 Denver Nuggets season, is the Nuggets first season in the NBA, after nine seasons in the ABA.
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.
The 1975–76 ABA season was the ninth and final season of the American Basketball Association. The shot clock was changed from 30 to 24 seconds to match the NBA. Dave DeBusschere was the league's new commissioner, its seventh and last. This was also the only season that did not use the East-West division setup. The NBA would adopt the ABA's three-point shot for the 1979–80 season.
The 1974–75 ABA season was the eighth season of the American Basketball Association. The Kentucky Colonels won the 1975 ABA Championship after winning the Eastern Division; the Denver Nuggets won the Western Division. Julius Erving and George McGinnis shared the league's MVP award.
The 1974-75 American Basketball Association season saw the Spirits of St. Louis, led by Marvin Barnes, Maurice Lucas, Gus Gerard and coach Bob MacKinnon, finish third in the ABA Eastern Division and defeat the New York Nets in the 1975 ABA Semifinals before losing in the Eastern Division Finals to the eventual ABA champion Kentucky Colonels.
The 1975-76 American Basketball Association season saw the Spirits of St. Louis, led by Marvin Barnes, Moses Malone, Ron Boone and Caldwell Jones, drop to sixth place in the ABA, with a record of 35-49. As a result, the Spirits missed the playoffs in their second and final season.
