ABA logo Tee

The history of the American Basketball Association is almost as colorful as the iconic red, white and blue ball which represents it. The original ABA was formed in 1967 and lasted 10 seasons prior to merging four of its teams into the NBA. They were the Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets and San Antonio Spurs. The lead attorney for the ABA during the merger was one of the Indiana Pacers co-founders and Commissioner of the ABA, Dick Tinkham, an Indianapolis attorney. Opposing counsel was David Stern, who was later to become the NBA Commissioner. The original ABA did not have national television, national radio and today’s digital media. What it did have was the mystique of the ABA- featuring it’s red, white and blue ball, 3 point shots, wide open style of play including slam dunks (and the introduction of the first Slam Dunk Competition), and a remarkable group of players. The ABA produced some of the greatest players of the 20th century- Dr J, George Gervin, Spencer Haywood, Connie Hawkins, Dan Issel, Roger Brown, David Thompson, Mel Daniels, Moses Malone, Marvin Barnes and many others. In fact, 50% of the NBA All Star team in the first year of the merger were ABA players.