In early-1970s, the CBS television network aired American Basketball Association (ABA) games, specifically league's annual All-Star Game [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] /selected playoff games. [6] [7] Pat Summerall [8] [9] served as the CBS analyst on some ABA games alongside Don Criqui [10] on play-by-play. Game 5 of the 1970 ABA Finals (Indiana vs. Los Angeles) was nationally televised by CBS [11] on Saturday, May 23 at 3 p.m Eastern Time. The broadcast was however, blacked out in Indiana. After that league's 1972-73 season, CBS lost its TV airing rights as they started airing National Basketball Association (NBA) games in its 1973-74 season onward.
The 1973 ABA All-Star Game was a syndicated telecast with Andy Musser [12] and Alex Hannum providing the play–by–play and color commentary respectively.
For the 1973–74 season, the ABA signed a television contract with the Hughes Television Network. [13] The first game under Hughes' contract was the 1974 ABA All-Star Game on January 30. Ray Scott and Wilt Chamberlain provided the play–by–play and color commentary for the All-Star Game respectively.
Had there been a seventh game of the 1975-76 season's championship playoff series it would've been televised by NBC, [14] [15] because that network signed contract to a potential seventh game on Sunday, May 16, 1976. Since the ABA Finals ultimately ended in six games, with the New York Nets triumphing over the Denver Nuggets in what would become the ABA's final game of its nine year existence, NBC's contract was void.
Team | Radio station | Radio announcers | Television station | Television announcers |
Anaheim | KTTV 11 [16] | Dick Schad [17] [18] | ||
Dallas | ||||
Denver | Dick Carlson [19] | |||
Houston | KNUZ [20] | Gary DeLaune [21] | ||
Indiana | WIRE | Jerry Baker [22] | WLWI 13 | Brian Madden |
Kentucky | ||||
Minnesota | WLOL | Rod Trongard [23] | ||
New Jersey | WJRZ | Spencer Ross [24] | ||
New Orleans | ||||
Oakland | KPAT | Chuck Hinkle [25] and Rick Barry | ||
Pittsburgh | WEEP | Jack Fleming [26] |
When the American Basketball Association began play in 1967, Terry Stembridge broadcast the Dallas Chaparrals games on radio. Stembridge continued as the team's announcer after it became the San Antonio Spurs and when the Spurs moved into the NBA as part of the ABA-NBA merger. Stembridge broadcast 1,252 consecutive Chaparrals/Spurs games and served as their announcer for fifteen years. [27]
Team | Radio station | Radio announcers | Television station | Television announcers |
Dallas | KRLD | Terry Stembridge | KDTV 39 | Frank Filesi |
Denver | KTLN | Bob Martin and Dick Carlson | ||
Houston | ||||
Indiana | WIRE | Jerry Baker | WLWI 13 | Brian Madden |
Kentucky | WHAS [28] [29] [30] | WAVE | Ed Kallay [31] | |
Los Angeles | KBIG | Bob Rhodes | KTTV 11 | Chuck Benedict [32] |
Miami | WOCN [33] | Dick Kumble | ||
Minnesota | KSTP | Rod Trongard | WTCN 11 | Ray Scott |
New York | WBAB | Spencer Ross | ||
New Orleans | WDSU 6 | Bruce Miller and Lynn Cole | ||
Oakland | KEMO 20 [34] | Hal Peterson |
Team | Radio station | Radio announcers | Television station | Television announcers |
Carolina | WSOC | Bill Currie and Bob Lamey | ||
Dallas | KRLD [35] | Terry Stembridge | ||
Denver | KOA | Bob Martin and Dick Carlson | ||
Indiana | WIRE | Jerry Baker | WLWI 13 | Don Hein |
Kentucky | WAVE | Ed Kallay | ||
Los Angeles | XERB [36] | Sam Balter [37] | ||
Miami | WGBS | Bob Martin [38] | ||
New Orleans | Bruce Miller and Lynn Cole | WDSU 6 | ||
New York | ||||
Pittsburgh | ||||
Washington | WDCA 20 | John Sterling |
WGBS broadcast the Miami Floridians of the American Basketball Association for three of their four seasons of existence, taking over from WOCN (1450 AM) in 1969. [39]
During the New York Nets' ABA years, announcers included Marty Glickman, [40] Marv Albert's brothers Al Albert and Steve Albert, baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson, Bob Goldsholl, as well as John Sterling and Mike DiTomasso. The latter two joined the club's move into the NBA.
WDCA 20 continued to promote itself as a sports station, airing 10 games of the Washington Caps of the American Basketball Association in the 1969–70 season [41] and serving as the originating station for Baltimore Bullets basketball even though the team had not yet moved to Washington. [42]
Team | Radio station | Radio announcers | Television station | Television announcers |
Carolina | WSOC | WSJS 12 | Bill Currie [43] and Bob Lamey | |
Denver | KOA | Bob Martin, Dick Carlson, and Bob Rubin | ||
Floridians | WGBS | WAJA 23 | Bob Martin | |
Indiana | WIRE | Jerry Baker | ||
Kentucky | WHAS | Cawood Ledford and Van Vance [44] | WLKY | Larry Goodridge |
Memphis | ||||
New York | ||||
Pittsburgh | ||||
Texas | KRLD | Terry Stembridge | ||
Utah | KUTV 2 | Bill Howard [45] | ||
Virginia | WTAR | WAVY | Marty Brennaman [46] |
WHAS was the original radio home to locally produced coverage of American Basketball Association games involving the Kentucky Colonels during that league's 1967–1976 existence. [47] [48] [49]
Van Vance appeared on WHAS radio as the announcer for the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association, often with Cawood Ledford. After the Colonels folded as part of the ABA-NBA merger in June 1976, Vance was best known for broadcasting University of Louisville basketball games (including the 1986 NCAA National Championship Team) on the same station. Vance worked on the air for WHAS from 1957 through 1999.
Team | Radio station | Radio announcers | Television station | Television announcers |
Carolina | WSOC | Bob Lamey and Bones McKinney | WSJS 12 | Gene Overby |
Dallas | WRR | Terry Stembridge | KDTV 39 | Terry Stembridge and Brad Sham |
Denver | KOA [50] | Bob Martin, Bob Rubin and Larry Zimmer | KOA 4 | Bob Rubin |
Floridians | WGBS | WCIX 6 | Sammy Smith | |
Indiana | WIRE | Jerry Baker | WLWI 13 | Don Hein [51] |
Kentucky | WHAS | Van Vance | WLKY 32 | Howard Hoffman, Alex Groza and Bud Olsen |
Memphis | WREC | Dick Palmer | WMC 5 | Terry Lee |
New York | WHN | Al Albert | WPIX 11 [52] | Marty Glickman and Bob Gibson [53] |
Pittsburgh | WEEP | Dick Overdorf | ||
Utah | KALL | Bill Howard | KUTV 2 | Bill Marcroft [54] |
Virginia | WTAR | Marty Brennaman | WAVY 10 | Bud Kaatz |
Marty Glickman joined the radio station WHN in 1939 and was its sports director by 1943. Glickman was also the first announcer for the New York Nets before the ABA-NBA merger, when they played in their first home, the Island Garden in Nassau County. Many feel he became the voice of the New York Nets as a favor to Lou Carnesecca, who left a successful stint as the basketball coach of St. John's University to be the first coach of the New York Nets.
Team | Radio station | Radio announcers | Television station | Television announcers |
Carolina | WSOC | Bob Lamey | WSJS 12 | Gene Overby and Bob Lamey |
Dallas | WRR | Terry Stembridge | KDTV 39 | Terry Stembridge and Verne Lundquist |
Denver | KOA | Larry Zimmer | ||
Indiana | WIBC | Joe McConnell [55] | WLWI 13 | Don Hein |
Kentucky | WHAS | Van Vance and Cawood Ledford | WLKY 32 | Howard Hoffman |
Memphis | WREC | Dick Palmer | ||
New York | WHN | WOR 9 | Al Albert | |
San Diego | ||||
Utah | KALL | Bill Howard | KUTV 2 | Bill Marcroft |
Virginia | WTAR | WTAR 3 | Marty Brennaman |
Team | Radio station | Radio announcers | Television station | Television announcers |
Denver | KHOW | Mike Wolfe | ||
Indiana | WIBC | Joe McConnell | WTTV 4 | Jerry Baker |
Kentucky | WHAS | WHAS 32 | Van Vance | |
Memphis | WLOK | Dick Palmer | ||
New York | WMCA | Dom Valentino [56] and Mike DiTomasso | WOR 9 | Al Albert and Bob Goldsholl |
St. Louis | KMOX | Bob Costas [57] and Bill Wilkinson (home games) | KPLR 11 | |
San Antonio | KKYX | Terry Stembridge and Gary DeLaune | WOAI 4 | Terry Stembridge and Steve Grad |
San Diego | KOGO | Frank Sims | ||
Utah | KALL | Bill Howard | ||
Virginia | WTAR | Warner Fusselle [58] | WAVY 10 | Dave Sullivan and Bobi Boecker |
WTTV served as the television flagship for the Indiana Pacers from the team's days in the original American Basketball Association (except in 1984–85, when those rights were held by present-day sister station WXIN due to Pacers owner Melvin Simon's part-ownership of the station) to 2006. WTTV lost the rights to the Pacers telecasts after the 2005–06 season, [59] when the NBA team moved their local game telecasts to Fox Sports Indiana.
After leaving school in 1974, Bob Costas joined KMOX radio in St. Louis. He covered games of the American Basketball Association (ABA). [60] Costas would call Missouri Tigers basketball and co-host KMOX's Open Line call-in program.
Team | Radio station | Radio announcers | Television station | Television announcers |
Denver | KOA | Al Albert [61] and Bob Martin | KWGN 2 | Al Albert and Tom Jorgensen [62] |
Indiana | WIBC | Joe McConnell | WTTV 4 | |
Kentucky | WHAS | WHAS 11 | Van Vance [63] | |
New York | WMCA | John Sterling [64] and Mike DiTomasso | WOR 9 | Steve Albert [65] [66] and Bob Goldsholl [67] |
St. Louis | WIL | Bob Costas | KPLR 11 | Bob Costas and Arlene Wellman |
San Antonio | WOAI | Terry Stembridge and Gary DeLaune | KMOL 4 | Terry Stembridge and Steve Grad |
San Diego | KSDO | Ralph Lawler [68] | ||
Utah | KALL [69] | Jack Briggs [70] | KSL 5 | Jack Briggs |
During the mid-1970s, HBO [71] aired several basketball games from the National Basketball Association and the American Basketball Association (notably, the last ABA Finals game [72] in 1976, prior to the latter league's merger with the NBA, between the New York Nets and the Denver Nuggets).
In 1976, CBS sought to establish a postseason playoff between the ABA and NBA, and to win the rights to broadcast those games. [73]
In June 1976, the remaining ABA owners agreed to a merger with the National Basketball Association, in return for the Spirits of St. Louis folding, to pay the St. Louis owners $2.2 million in cash up front in addition to a 1/7 share of the four remaining teams' television revenues in perpetuity. As the NBA's popularity exploded in the 1980s and 1990s, the league's television rights were sold to CBS and then NBC, and additional deals were struck with the TNT and TBS cable networks; league television revenue soared into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Ozzie and Daniel Silna continued to receive millions of dollars in television revenue from the NBA until reaching a revised agreement in April 2014, which included a $500 million payment to the Silnas from the four former ABA teams. [74] [75]
The NBA imposed one of the following terms on the four ABA refugees—the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets and San Antonio Spurs:
During the 1976–77 season, the NBA's first after the ABA–NBA merger brought the American Basketball Association into the league, CBS held a slam dunk contest that ran during halftime of the Game of the Week telecasts. Don Criqui was the host of this particular competition. The final, which pitted Larry McNeill of the Golden State Warriors against eventual winner Darnell "Dr. Dunk" Hillman of the Indiana Pacers, took place during Game 6 of the 1977 NBA Finals. At the time of the final, Hillman's rights had been traded to the New York Nets, but he had not yet signed a contract. Since he was not officially a member of any NBA team, instead of wearing a jersey, he competed in a plain white tank top. Then for the post-competition interview, Hillman donned a shirt with the words "Bottle Shoppe" – the name of an Indianapolis liquor store, which is still in existence, and was the sponsor of a city parks softball league team for which Hillman played left field (and the only team he was a member of at the time). [76] Other players to compete in the slam dunk tournament included Julius Erving, George Gervin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Moses Malone. CBS, anxious for star power, also gave David Thompson the opportunity to be eliminated three times. [77] [78]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Robert Netolicky is a retired American basketball player. A 6'9" power forward/center, he played professionally in the now–defunct American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1967 to 1976. Netolicky was a four–time ABA All–Star and two–time ABA Champion.
The 1976 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association's 1975–76 season. The tournament concluded with the New York Nets defeating the Denver Nuggets four games to two in the ABA Finals.
The 1975 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association's 1974–75 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion Kentucky Colonels defeating the Western Division champion Indiana Pacers, four games to one in the ABA Finals.
The 1974 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association's 1973-1974 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Division champion New York Nets defeating the Western Division champion Utah Stars, four games to one in the ABA Finals.
The 1972 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association's 1971–1972 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Division champion Indiana Pacers defeating the Eastern Division champion New York Nets, four games to two in the 1972 ABA Finals.
Carl John Neumann, nicknamed "Johnny Reb", was an American professional basketball player and coach. At 6'6" and 200 pounds, he played at the shooting guard and small forward positions.
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 1974–75 American Basketball Association season saw the Kentucky Colonels, led by Dan Issel, Artis Gilmore, Louie Dampier and coach Hubie Brown, win the 1975 ABA Championship.
The 1976 ABA All Star Game was the ninth and final American Basketball Association All-Star Game, played at McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, on January 27, 1976. This time, the league abandoned the usual East vs. West format it used from the 1967–68 season onward and instead had the league's first-place team at the All Star break face off against a team of ABA All Stars. The change was decided given the league's reduction from ten to seven teams and from two divisions to only one. At the All-Star break, the Denver Nuggets were in first place, which was convenient as the Nuggets had also been selected to host the game in McNichols Arena. Kevin Loughery of the New York Nets coached the All-Stars while Larry Brown led the Denver Nuggets. This was the second year in a row that Loughery and Brown coached against each other in the ABA All-Star Game.
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 1975–76 American Basketball Association season saw the defending champion Kentucky Colonels finish in fourth place in the ABA, defeat the Indiana Pacers 2 games to 1 in the first round of the 1976 ABA Playoffs, and lose to the regular season champion Denver Nuggets 4 games to 3 in the ABA Semifinals. The 1975–76 season was the Colonels' ninth and last, as Kentucky was one of two ABA teams left out of the 1976 ABA-NBA merger.
The 1975–76 American Basketball Association season saw the Virginia Squires finish in last place in the league, tying the record they set the year before for the worst record in ABA history. The Squires' financial troubles led to their dissolution just after the end of the regular season. As a result, the Squires were not part of the ABA-NBA merger that occurred at the conclusion of the season.
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.
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