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.
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 2022. He is one of only four players to be a part of a championship team in both leagues.
The Baltimore Claws were an American basketball team which was supposed to appear in the 1975–76 season in the American Basketball Association. The team collapsed before the season started, playing only three exhibition games, all losses, in its brief history.
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.
The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976.
Douglas Edwin Moe is an American former professional basketball player and coach. As a head coach with the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 1988.
The Oakland Oaks were a charter member of the original American Basketball Association and the first West Coast basketball team to win a major professional championship. Formed in February 1967, the team played in the ABA during the 1967–68 and 1968–69 seasons at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. The team colors were green and gold.
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.
Charles Thomas Scott, also known as Shaheed Abdul-Aleem, is an American former professional basketball player. He played two seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Scott was an Olympic Gold Medalist and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. Scott is the leader in most points per game with 24.8 in Suns franchise history.
Warren Jabali was an American basketball player. He played professionally in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1968 to 1975.
Willard Leon Sojourner was an American collegiate and professional basketball player and international coach. He played collegiately at Weber State University and went on to a professional career, winning a championship with the New York Nets and playing overseas.
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.
George T. Tinsley is a retired American basketball player.
John Joseph Vanak was a referee in the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association.
Joseph J. Gushue was a highly respected referee in the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association (NBA).
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.
The 1972–73 ABA season was the sixth season of the American Basketball Association. The Pittsburgh Condors and Miami Floridians had folded, leaving the league with nine teams. However, the ABA decided to award an expansion franchise to Dr. Leonard Bloom for $1 million to play in San Diego, California, named the San Diego Conquistadors. Subsequently, this meant that the Memphis Tams would move to the Eastern Division. Once again, the best regular season team did not win the ABA Finals, with the Indiana Pacers, led by playoff MVP George McGinnis, winning the ABA championship, 4 games to 3 over the Kentucky Colonels.
William G. Schaeffer is a former American basketball small forward in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for the New York Nets and Virginia Squires. He also was a member of the Allentown Jets in the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League. He played college basketball at St. John's University.
The 1970–71 Virginia Squires season was the first season of the Virginia Squires in the American Basketball Association. After one season each in Oakland and Washington, owner Earl Foreman was convinced by the league to move his team to Virginia. Like the Carolina Cougars and The Floridians, the Squires played as a regional franchise, primarily playing games in Norfolk, Hampton and Richmond, with Salem and Roanoke having occasional games. The Squires started play on October 17, 1970, in Norfolk, winning 133–116 over the Pittsburgh Condors. They proceeded to win their next five games, while having a 30–12 first half of the season, highlighted by a seven-game winning streak. They went 25–17 in the second half, though they never lost more than two games in a row. They finished 1st in points scored at 123.3 per game, but 7th in points allowed at 119.7 per game. In the playoffs, they beat the Kentucky Colonels in six games to advance to the Division Finals, but they were beaten in six games themselves by the New York Nets.
