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00:04I see an America, on the move again, the 1975, a diverse and vital and tolerant nation, what
00:19you have here is the acid drive, everyone here is going to a whole new plateau, I have
00:28Muhammad Ali, he got too big for the big money in New York, he went into places like the
00:33Philippines, I say I don't want to knock him out, but I'm going to let him go, insanity
00:41must be brought back to basketball, I think the climate has changed, there's criticism
00:45there's need for change, and no one can drag a player onto the court and make him perform,
00:50this isn't a slavery, $250,000 a year, if that's slavery, I'd like to know where to sign
00:54on, the American Basketball Association played with a bright colored ball that made you want
01:05to salute, look at that move behind the back, wow, that's the way the game should be played,
01:15I feel that I wasn't being paid when I should have, he appealed his case to the United States
01:20Supreme Court, if they don't merge, a lot of these players are going to be out of a job,
01:28there's no tomorrow,
01:46In the summer of 1975, the ABA reached its pinnacle, the 75 ABA championship was the most well-attended
01:56in league history, the talent in the league showed 16 active players and coaches who were
02:02going to be pro basketball, Hall of Famers, and the ABA was consistently beating the NBA
02:08in head-to-head exhibition games, while thriving on the court, the ABA's ongoing financial distress
02:17had the league on life support, anytime that you win a championship, the worst thing you can do is
02:23stand pat, so you don't worry about that when we get to camp on September 24th, but we do kind
02:29of feel
02:29that it will be quite competitive, when we won the championship in 75, that next fall, all of a sudden
02:37things are crumbling and falling apart. The league was under such pressure now, because there was only so much money.
02:46National television, NBA, ABA, local television, we needed the money, because certain teams are falling.
02:56Now you talk about tense. There's a tense time now. Last month, the New York Nets and the Denver Nuggets
03:04of the
03:04American Basketball Association applied for admission to the NBA without notifying the rest of their league.
03:10The other clubs sat down to discuss that disloyalty. The reason they gave is a good one. A lot of
03:15them are going broke.
03:17Carl Shear and my dad knew that the league was in trouble. You know, they always looked out for the
03:22other owners, but you know,
03:23did some of the other owners have the capacity to do it? They weren't quite sure. So did they make
03:27inquiries on their own? Probably.
03:29The Denver Nuggets and the New York Nets, two of the most successful franchises in the ABA, petitioned the NBA
03:35to be able to be
03:36brought into the NBA at that time, and basically would have abandoned their ABA brethren. And my understanding is that
03:43a lot of the players
03:44were not aware of this at all, that this was done at the behest of the ownership.
03:49I thought they should have notified us. I was kind of disappointed. You know, two players that the NBA really
03:58wanted was David Thompson and Jews Irving.
04:03Even though there were still some great players in the league, I don't think that was fair to a lot
04:07of players.
04:10You know, it comes across like mutiny on the bounty. Two franchises are going to go for themselves. That's not
04:16being team-like.
04:19New York and Denver are member franchises of the American Basketball Association. No franchise may withdraw from our league
04:27without first assigning all basketball-related property to the league and without obtaining the consent of the other trustees. This
04:34has not been done.
04:35What happens if the NBA does decide to act favorably upon these applications?
04:41I don't feel that they'll be approved.
04:44This overture was ultimately not successful.
04:47But nonetheless, that sort of morale that they all had, like, hey, we're the underdog.
04:51We're facing incredible odds, but we're doing it together.
04:54This must have been a body blow to them to sort of see two of their teams try to jump
04:58ship.
04:58It was total chaos, trying to keep the ship going.
05:03We lost some cohesiveness and some friendliness among the franchises.
05:08It sort of became like a shark-infested water, every man for himself.
05:13The whole league was like that, going into 76.
05:17It was clear that it was going to be a major struggle to have another season in the ABA.
05:26The process of the ABA was deteriorating.
05:35We would go to various cities, and the hotel would not allow us to stay there because the previous payments
05:45were not paid.
05:47My paychecks were bouncing, my daughter's school tuition at a private school was bouncing, car payments bouncing, house note bouncing.
05:56It just became very embarrassing.
05:58There were franchises that had just been hanging on, and owners that were ready to bail.
06:04And they bailed because they're just losing too much money.
06:07You could go to a city, and it could be your last time going to that city.
06:13You know, franchises start dropping like flies.
06:15I think we started with 10 teams, and then Utah folded.
06:20The ill-fated Baltimore Claws lasted a couple of months.
06:24They said, Baltimore Claws, and fold it up.
06:28I said, what? Folding up?
06:31San Diego's sales folded.
06:33So, ultimately, you were left with only seven viable ABA teams at the time.
06:38Down to seven teams, and you got to get in then 84 games.
06:42What do you do? You keep playing the same teams.
06:45And, believe me, you get to know them.
06:48There were more fights going on with them because you were seeing players, you know, every week.
06:55And things that you would let go, you weren't letting go.
06:59You know, it kind of just took your spirit, you know.
07:03It kind of just took your confidence, man.
07:06You're like, do I still want to put up with this?
07:10At that point, most people knew that the days of the ABA were numbered.
07:16So, we had an uphill battle to fight, but we weren't going to stop.
07:21We knew we had as much talent in the ABA as they had in the NBA.
07:26I remember the Nets were in town to play, and Julius Irving walked from the Hilton Hotel
07:32over to Angelo Drosa's office and sat down unannounced and said,
07:38Angelo, what can I do to save this league?
07:42That was the spirit.
07:44The rebellious nature of the ABA, when faced with his own termination, didn't shrink.
07:50It grew.
07:51The ABA, having in 1969 broken the NBA's long-established rule by drafting college underclassmen,
08:01now decided to take it a step further.
08:11Nineteen-year-old Moses Malone signed a five-year, $1.5 million contract to forego college,
08:17but he's a fast learner.
08:18When Moses finds he can't do things against the pros he got away with in high school,
08:23he's quick to adjust.
08:25Moses Malone was LeBron before LeBron.
08:29In fact, Moses and LeBron are the only 18-year-olds to come into the league and start from day
08:36one.
08:37He was a force to be reckoned with.
08:40Oh, Moses Malone? Shit, he could boil it, man.
08:43You talking about a dude who could go up?
08:45When you go down, the other guy's just coming.
08:47He's back up again.
08:49My theory of rebounding, do you want the damn ball or don't you?
08:53You've got to want the ball.
08:54It's got to be an obsession to want the ball.
08:57Moses, he wanted that ball.
09:01That's all I can hear him say, man, I'm going to the rack, man.
09:03I'm going to the rack.
09:04He did.
09:06He went to the rack as hard and aggressively as anyone has ever done it.
09:13The ABA's aggressive pursuit of survival led them to seek out new basketball fans in cities the NBA had not
09:21yet considered.
09:22When the Dallas Chaparral struggled, the ABA moved them to San Antonio and renamed them the Spurs.
09:38People in San Antonio didn't know a lot about pro basketball, but they did understand a fiesta atmosphere, a party
09:45atmosphere, 10-cent beer a night.
09:48You could smoke in the arena.
09:55What we wanted to do is make it as San Antonio and as Texas as we could, and that's what
10:00the city liked.
10:01They had a rabid fan base, and they had their star in George Girvin, the Iceman, an all-time Hall
10:08of Fame legend.
10:15George Girvin, this real slim guy, real thin.
10:19You think, how's he going to play pro basketball?
10:20But he wafted in the air, and he had this touch, and he had these shots.
10:266'8", 170-something pounds.
10:29But he wasn't missing.
10:31He was dropping dimes, man.
10:34I think the fans here give up more for us than a lot of arenas in the league.
10:40With that kind of support, we can't do no but win down here.
10:44They was in love with they San Antonio Spurs, so we brought that excitement, man.
10:50And you had talent.
10:52We were gunning.
10:53We were getting 115, 120, running up and down.
10:57I mean, you know, we built up the fan base.
11:00You know, Baseline Bombs was our sixth man on the court.
11:03You know, people came in here and they thought about the Baseline Bombs, not just the San Antonio Spurs.
11:09I remember one time Larry Brown said he didn't like nothing about San Antonio but his guacamole soup.
11:15So Larry Brown went in the locker room and the Baseline Bombs was right on top of their locker room,
11:20and they pulled guacamole soup all on his sweater.
11:24It was wild, man.
11:27San Antonio is one of the great basketball cities of all time.
11:31And a lot of that started with the ABA Spurs.
11:38The Spurs were a very good team.
11:41And even while other teams may have been struggling toward the end of the ABA's existence, the Spurs and the
11:47Nuggets, they were an anomaly in the ABA.
11:49They sold out every night.
11:54The Denver Nuggets, this is a team that is absolutely loaded.
11:59And they had a crowd.
12:00They had a new arena.
12:01They packed it.
12:02They were crazy for it because it was the new game in town.
12:05So they loved their Nuggets.
12:07And Larry Brown was their coach.
12:09And his assistant was his longtime pal going back to college, Doug Moe.
12:16We were a deep team, a talented team.
12:19We had Bobby Jones.
12:22Bobby Jones!
12:23How many nights have we seen him do that?
12:26We had Dan Issel.
12:27Dan Issel lays it in.
12:28That was Issel's great move.
12:30He's got 17 points, leads all scorers in the game.
12:33We had Ralph Simpson.
12:34Young man with me right now is Ralph Simpson.
12:37His coach has said he has the potential to become one of the greatest basketball players at guard.
12:41And we had, you know, one of the greatest young players ever in David Thompson.
12:50David Thompson, the Skywalker.
12:53When he was in college at North Carolina State, they were in the final four against UCLA.
12:58And this is the UCLA team that never lost for like 12 years.
13:01And they played one of the greatest games of all time, triple overtime.
13:05And David was the guy.
13:08So, for him to go into the ABA, it was a big deal for the ABA to get him.
13:12As great as MJ is, as much respect as people have for MJ, David Thompson was Michael before Michael.
13:21The talent was unbelievable.
13:22We always talked about what we're going to see tonight.
13:28His explosiveness was unbelievable.
13:35I heard this whistle come past me.
13:38I turned around.
13:40The teams were doing like a 360 dunk.
13:45That's it.
13:46That's what I call him Skywalker.
13:51The thing that made him hard to stop was that you try to cut him off in the lane and
13:55he would just float it up over you.
13:57He had a great touch.
13:58He was a skilled player.
14:00He had the complete package.
14:02I mean, he was an excellent jump shooter.
14:04But if he got close to the rim, he was going to throw one down.
14:07There was nothing that he couldn't do when he first came to Denver.
14:13I mean, nothing.
14:14He was just a super superstar.
14:21Midway through the 1976 season, while the ABA found themselves mired in their greatest period of financial struggle, they never
14:30stopped pursuing new ways to entertain.
14:33At the 76 All-Star Game, when faced with having not enough funds to pay for a halftime musical performance,
14:41the ABA decided to create some entertainment of their own.
14:53About to bear witness to one of the most spectacular events in professional basketball.
15:10The idea of thrilling people with thrilling dunks and high wire acts, that wasn't happening over in the NBA.
15:19NBA, come on, man.
15:21I brought white paint dry.
15:24You know, so, you know, for me, it was like, we've been ready to show y'all, man, what y
15:28'all was missing.
15:30I was the very first individual to go in that contest.
15:33And I was like, what am I supposed to do now, you know?
15:38The first one, they had artists, they had Larry Keenan, Gervin, David, Julius.
15:48That was such a special night.
15:50You know, because we knew the ability of some of these guys and the freaky things they did in the
15:56game.
15:57But to see that, you know, for the first time, a first dunk contest blew us all away.
16:05William Garbink of the New York Tats.
16:07Oh, my goodness.
16:08Those guys are so good, man.
16:10Goddamn.
16:11Ice.
16:12Oh, man, he could fly.
16:22Oh, man.
16:24He comes back strongly with that one.
16:27You know, David comes out and does 360, you know, which at that time was not being done.
16:37God, what is that?
16:39I've never seen anything like that.
16:41David Thompson.
16:45David Thompson, he was actually the favorite.
16:55I was sitting on the sideline, waiting for David.
16:59But we knew the doc would show off.
17:03David Thompson finishing it.
17:05And now the doctor goes to work.
17:07You know, David Thompson was the high flyer, throwing it down.
17:13And I would applaud it because I was like, here we are.
17:17We've taken it back to the playground.
17:28He has a few ducks, but then his last dunk, everybody started to wonder, well, what is he doing?
17:34Because he went from the free throw line and he went all the way back to the other free throw
17:39line.
17:42Turn around, David.
17:44I said, Doc going to take off from the free throw line, watch.
17:47He said, Ralph, stop being nervous.
17:50And the fans are all stirring and cheering, or what in the world is going on?
17:54When Julius started stepping off the paces to the other end of the floor, I think we all had a
18:00pretty good idea of what he was going to do.
18:09Those of us that had played against Julius had no doubt that he could pull that off.
18:15Sure enough, that big airflow flying back, far way up in the air.
18:33I said, oh my goodness, I was like, God dang, I've never seen anything like this.
18:40You know, whoa, that was a wow moment, whoa.
18:43We look at each other, you know, did he really do that?
18:51This is the very first time people had seen anything like that.
18:56It was pretty obvious Julius was going to win this slam dunk contest.
19:01The doctor thinks that this is just incredible.
19:05It was just natural for him.
19:06And I think God gave him something that he didn't give the rest of us.
19:14I think the story of the last year has to be Dr. J, just because of the amount of pressure
19:20on him, both on the court and off, being the face of the league, taking it as seriously as he
19:25did, and then having to face a superior team on paper in the finals, knowing this was the end, and
19:33rise to the occasion.
19:36Amid speculation that a merger was near, the two most appealing teams to the NBA owners advanced to the finals
19:42in the ABA playoffs.
19:44Would this be the last hurrah for the red, white, and blue basketball?
19:48If so, it would be farewell and a blaze of glory as the New York Nets and the Denver Nuggets
19:53stage a fantastic finale.
19:56That first game in Denver, I was ready.
20:00It was like, man, I had so much energy.
20:03And here's a steal by the doctor.
20:05Julius with one man back. Look out!
20:09Julius was being guarded by one of the best defensive guys ever to play the game, and that was Bobby
20:14Jones.
20:15I learned how to play defense in college, but playing against a guy like Julius was just a different level,
20:20so it was quite a school for me.
20:23I knew how good Bobby Jones was. I love Bobby Jones, but on the court, it could be your mother.
20:30It don't matter.
20:33You gotta go at him.
20:37I thought we had the better team, but he showed us his greatness.
20:43Oh, it's blocked by Dr. J.
20:46Any time you played against Julius, you knew you had to bring your A game, because single-handedly, he can
20:53figure out a way to beat you.
20:55The doctor.
20:57The doctor.
20:58He had 18 points in the fourth quarter.
21:02Julius just took over that game at the end.
21:05There's Julius again.
21:07The doctor.
21:07Flinging the ball.
21:08Almost went in.
21:09That is on rebound and scored.
21:11Boy, is that something.
21:12I just kept coming, kept coming.
21:16The doctor.
21:17The doctor.
21:18Oh, what a shot.
21:20Ten seconds on the shot clock.
21:23Repelled there by Simpson.
21:24Recapped it by Julius.
21:25Julius scores!
21:28And I remember at the end of the game, hitting a jump shot on the baseline to win the game.
21:34He gets it over to the doctor.
21:36Time all game.
21:37Here's the shot.
21:38Julius.
21:38He scores!
21:40He scores!
21:41At the buzzer.
21:42And the Nets win.
21:43120 to 118.
21:45Julius serving.
21:46Finishes up with 45 points.
21:48And this arena is simply stunt.
21:51Bobby Jones right in his face as you saw that time.
21:54And I was all over him.
21:56And he swished it.
21:57And I remember thinking to myself, hey, I did all I could.
22:01Bobby Jones, when he went to block the shot, told me he busted a blister.
22:06And it kept him from getting out there.
22:08I don't know if it would have mattered, but...
22:10He did have a blister.
22:12I believed him.
22:14But that was his blister, not my blister.
22:18The 1976 ABA Finals was a fitting finale for one of the most colorful and innovative entities the sports world
22:29has ever produced.
22:47Following a game five Denver victory, the New York Nets held a 3-2 series lead.
22:55The team is headed to New York for game six.
23:00game six was in new york and uh what i remember about that game is this was the last chance
23:10great atmosphere at the nassau coliseum here this evening the nets lead three games to two
23:15in the quest for the championship of the american basketball association needless to say the nets
23:20do not want to go back to denver and play a seventh game we shall see along with everybody
23:24else what develops thompson lets it go oh is he quick webster oh my goodness leaping david thompson
23:34with 13 points forget about doc there wasn't anybody in the aba that could guard david when
23:39his game was was really on oh they are really on fire this team oh we got off to a
23:47big lead
23:48i was sitting on the bench and i was convinced we were beating simpson fires it up we had a
23:57lead
23:5824 point lead i believe and again they got the ball in jewish's hands every time down the court
24:11and that momentum changed in that fourth period
24:16this is game six in new york and i said okay we cannot go back to denver we cannot go
24:23back
24:30he has that talent and he imposes his will like he did i mean you do all you can but
24:36i'm just i'm just i'm survived
24:41dr jay bobby jones doing just about everything a human can do
24:48they just started beating us up
24:55john williamson
25:03john williamson he just wasn't going back to denver
25:0726 for williamson 22 in the second half
25:11williamson
25:12the nets lead
25:16just came back and beat us nothing you can do about it
25:30you know in jewish being in new york you know the popularity
25:36it was probably meant to be
25:48the talent this was most vegetable
25:56christian
25:56green
25:56the
25:56the
25:56i
26:08I think, you know, basketball has always been an escape from the real world.
26:19So I think sitting in the shower, sitting in the shower and the floor,
26:22and it was like the preparation for going back to reality.
26:28You know, and knowing this is the swan song of the ABA,
26:35you know, it was like, it was like just looming over you.
26:42You know, with all the joy and the excitement of playing basketball
26:47and winning trophies and all that, there's this flip side.
26:53The sadness associated with the ABA being done.
27:12Do you see a need for the leagues to merger?
27:14I see a need for basketball and all sports in this country to progress.
27:19And I see a need to ensure that progression.
27:24Before he became a ABA commissioner, he was an absolute big-time political player in the 60s into the early
27:3270s.
27:33Actually, his office was burgled as part of Watergate, which I think is a fascinating little factoid.
27:39So that was a big friggin' deal to get Larry O'Brien to head this league that really was rinky
27:47-dink.
27:48I mean, it was the third option for the American sports viewing public.
27:53Larry O'Brien was used to hardball.
27:55He was essentially being brought in to sort of wrap up its costly battle with the ABA.
28:01Knock some heads a little bit and push for a merger.
28:04The discussions that were going on in terms of the merger of leagues, being involved with the Players Association,
28:13I don't think decisions had already been made.
28:15But I think, you know, the ABA was certainly not going to be the beneficiary because a lot of guys
28:23were going to lose their jobs.
28:38The National Basketball Association announced today that it is taking in four teams from the American Basketball Association.
28:45Each ABA team will pay more than $3 million to join the NBA.
28:49And the ABA, the rival league whose competition for players made pro-basketball players on the average the highest-paid
28:55athletes in sports, will cease to exist.
29:00It was the off-season.
29:02I was president of the ABA Players Association.
29:07I got a call from the Players Association attorney.
29:12He says, I'm up in Massachusetts here at the owners' meeting, and they're talking about merging.
29:21And I said, OK, I'll be on a plane tomorrow.
29:27And he said, no, don't.
29:30It'll be done by the time you get there.
29:35The last and final meeting of the ABA in Hanna Sport, I was there.
29:41I represented a lot of athletes at that time, ABA and NBA.
29:47Everybody put all their cards on the table.
29:50And all the ABA owners had financial difficulty.
29:55So it was not good.
29:57And the NBA, they weren't going to take any more than four teams in the league.
30:03And it aggravated a lot of people because it was a merger that should have taken place properly.
30:10And it wasn't being orchestrated properly.
30:15Primarily because the NBA told these four teams that were getting in,
30:20either you get in or we're cutting all the ABA out.
30:25So, I mean, the owners, they almost had no choice.
30:38Where were you when you found out the merger was happening?
30:41I think I was in Chicago.
30:45I was out in Oakland visiting my sister.
30:48I was in Mexico City playing on ABA All-Star Team.
30:51We were back at the hotel and the merger came through.
30:54I thought the players should have had a vote.
30:59The last thing we heard was there was a merger now.
31:03You know, and we had to go where they wanted us to go.
31:07I didn't want to see the merger come down like that, you know,
31:09but because that's the end of it for me.
31:13I didn't, you know, really try to do anything else.
31:15I was really sad that we would lose the camaraderie that we had in the ABA.
31:19We just liked it one another.
31:23I just want to stay with my guys.
31:24I was not pleased with the fact that maybe 70, 80, 90 players were not,
31:32did not have jobs, were not included, didn't have an opportunity,
31:36not even to try out with NBA teams after the merger.
31:41In the summer of 1976, when the NBA-ABA merger took place,
31:48the merger agreement stated in writing that the ABA players would receive a pension from the ABA after retirement.
31:56But as time went on, those pension payments never materialized.
32:09The NBA was very clear that this was not a merger.
32:12They viewed that they were going to bring on, quote-unquote, expansion teams.
32:17Seven teams ultimately finished the season, but immediately afterwards, the Virginia Squires folded.
32:22Only four of the ABA teams actually came into the league.
32:26Denver, San Antonio, Indiana, New York.
32:29Two of the ABA teams, St. Louis and Kentucky, were forced to go away.
32:34Kentucky Colonels' attendance was outdoing anybody in the NBA,
32:38and then Kentucky was one of the teams that was excluded from the NBA.
32:45To me, that's BS.
32:47The Chicago Bulls probably had more to do with us not getting in than anybody.
32:51Chicago Bulls didn't want us in because they had the first draft choice of ABA players,
32:56and that happened to be Artis Gilmore.
32:59Artis was the key person.
33:02Because the other key players were already with teams.
33:05Dr. J is already with the Nets.
33:07That's why they wanted the Nets.
33:08They had George Girvin at San Antonio.
33:11They had Issel and David Thompson in Denver.
33:15And the Pacers, of course, were always strong in the league.
33:21So, in my opinion, Chicago, because they had their number one choice,
33:25they're the ones that really forced the NBA to leave us out so they could get Artis.
33:31And it's very, very sad.
33:33We didn't want to get rid of anybody.
33:35It's just like, you know, what's happening here?
33:39And it was very disappointing.
33:43And we loved the players.
33:47And I was sad we just didn't go any further.
33:53The ABA teams that were brought into the league as expansion teams came in under very, very difficult conditions.
34:00They had to pay John Y. Brown approximately $3 million to buy him out for his Kentucky franchise.
34:05Well, you have to remember now, John Y. Brown and Ellie Brown, they've had incredible success by turning Kentucky Fried
34:14Chicken into a worldwide company.
34:17Supposedly, John Y. Brown didn't want to pay the amount of money that was being asked for these four slots
34:25to come into the league versus getting $3 million for stepping out.
34:32I don't even know if that's true.
34:34That's something you just read in the paper.
34:37But nobody has the real reasons.
34:40John, I'm sure, would do things differently today.
34:44But in the time, John made the right decision.
34:46He decided to take the money.
34:48He bought the Buffalo Braves and then traded, if you can believe this, the Buffalo Braves for the Boston Celtics.
34:56I'm guessing Mr. Auerbach was probably a little upset.
35:01Red Auerbach was indeed the ultimate symbol of old-line establishmentarianism in the NBA.
35:08And the idea that the magnet of Kentucky Fried Chicken would become his boss totally infuriated Red.
35:15While one of the franchises, not allowed into the NBA via the merger, was able to maneuver their way in
35:23through a side door,
35:25the other was locked out and left, initially only with the feeling of bitterness.
35:33A basketball league is a league of everybody doing the same thing, trying to get to the same goal.
35:39Everybody expected that the merger would take place or hoped that the merger would take place.
35:47But the way it occurred, I use the word betrayal.
35:50I was betrayed by my partners because the NBA was a partnership.
35:55You could not have the league dissolved without the agreement of all the partners.
36:02And when only four teams got in, my brother came up with the thought that the teams that got admitted
36:09should give one-seventh of their TV revenue that they would get by being in the NBA
36:16as compensation for not being admitted to the league.
36:19So we stuck to our guns.
36:22If we were going to be excluded, we wanted that compensation for us.
36:29The Seilners would get what they were asking for, one-seventh of the television revenue
36:35of each of the four ABA teams merging with the NBA.
36:39At the time, with the NBA's small TV contract, the amount seemed inconsequential.
36:45But the term of the deal was in perpetuity, meaning as the league grew,
36:50NBA owners would have to pay the Seilners forever.
36:56Oh, my God.
36:59Easily one of the best deals in the history of deals.
37:03To go from where they were with the spirit of St. Louis to negotiate that TV deal.
37:11Those meetings were not fun.
37:14Everybody was like, what the?
37:15You know, we can't get out of this?
37:17There's not.
37:17Nope.
37:18Couldn't get out of it.
37:19Just one of the best deals ever.
37:21Unfortunately, it cost me a lot of money and my peers a lot of money, but.
37:29In 1974, the Seilners had purchased their ABA franchise for an estimated $3 million.
37:37By the time the NBA finally bought them out of their deal in 2014, they had made $800 million.
37:47We made a very good deal, but it still did not satisfy the reason we got into basketball in the
37:55first place.
37:56We got into basketball for the love of the game, and the ultimate success in that game is to win
38:02a championship.
38:04And we did not get that opportunity.
38:09The irony was that the ABA was starved for television money, and they were looking forward to coming in, these
38:15teams to the league, and enjoying the television money.
38:17But under the terms of the expansion agreements, they were not to receive any television money for the first four
38:23years that they were in the NBA.
38:25The NBA, Denver, San Antonio, Indiana, and the New York Nets, they each had to pay approximately $3.2 million
38:31to the NBA.
38:33The New York Nets came in for a particular difficult time, and they had to pay approximately $4.8 million
38:39toward the New York Knicks for having intruded on their turf.
38:43So it was sort of an indemnity payment to the New York Knicks.
38:48Yeah, it's exciting. The Nets are going to be in the NBA, but it's an expensive ticket to get in.
38:53Roy Bowe, you know, he got raked over the coals once he went into the New York market.
38:59He's a guy who meant well, and he just kind of ran out of money.
39:07Julius wanted to renegotiate.
39:09You know, with those staggering fees to join the NBA, my father, you know, he had a choice to make.
39:19And my father said, no, I'm not going to renegotiate.
39:25The deal was done.
39:27In a $6 million business transaction, the New York Nets have sold their star basketball performer, Julius Irving, Dr. J,
39:36to the Philadelphia 76ers.
39:41Well, I have mixed emotions about leaving.
39:44You know, I feel very, very sorry for the position that my teammates, my ex-teammates are in.
39:51And I don't think that, you know, they'll be there when the team finishes rebuilding.
40:09The 1976-77 season were marked the first after the merger.
40:15While some in the NBA held a grudge against their former adversaries, the ABA players entered the NBA with something
40:24to prove.
40:25The reality was, you know, I think there was a strong prejudice against the ABA.
40:31I remember, you know, there was jealousy, there was animosity.
40:35I was probably, you know, the best player on the team, head and shoulders.
40:40And, you know, you're being asked to tone it down.
40:44What does tone it down mean?
40:46And it's one of the things Gerber and I laugh about right now.
40:48I mean, we want to go out there and entertain the fans.
40:50You know, this is what our priority was.
40:53They weren't ready for us, man.
40:56Some of them NBA guys be saying, who's down there in San Antonio that can play?
40:59And then say, ah, nobody.
41:00And then they come down there and Gerber got 30 at half.
41:04You know, I mean, if you, boy, I tell you, man, they were stagnated in 76.
41:10And when we merged, everything went up.
41:14Look at 77.
41:16Ten guys was in the All-Star team in front of the ABA.
41:22Gerber, Julius Ervin, George McGinnis, Dan Hessel, David Thompson, Bobby Jones.
41:28They get Hall of Famers.
41:30Because the ABA merges with the NBA.
41:34Basketball players that for the nine years in the ABA was criticized as a bullshit league.
41:42That's not true.
41:44And then we proved that.
41:46Taken away by David Thompson.
41:48It's three on one.
41:49And Thompson flies to the back.
41:53George Gerber to San Antonio.
41:55Here's Dr. J of Philadelphia.
41:57Oh, things are going good on the NBA.
42:02In Denver, after we went to the NBA, the first two years, we won the Midwest division.
42:07So that's how good the teams and the players were.
42:10Larry Brown of the Denver Nuggets goes into that huddle to talk to his team.
42:16We were all trying to make everybody understand.
42:20We're just not this funny league that plays with a crazy-looking ball and a three-point shot.
42:26We're quality players and quality coaches.
42:28Because we can compete at the highest level.
42:31The most valuable player of this All-Star game, Julian Serving, come on over here.
42:37Come on here by winning this award.
42:40At this 27th All-Star game, the merger has brought the stability that this league has been elusively seeking for
42:48over 30 years.
42:49The NBA, it would appear, has decided not to be the Peter Pan of professional sports.
43:00It is Philadelphia against Portland.
43:03Portland leads this series three games to two.
43:07First year after the merger, Dr. J and the Sixers go to the final.
43:11Here comes the doctor.
43:13House call.
43:14Oh, my goodness.
43:17The doctor, magnificent as usual, has scored 40 points in this game.
43:25Now, Philadelphia, they got beaten in the finals.
43:27But as time went on in the NBA, you know, the great revelation, if anyone needed a revelation, was the
43:3377 season.
43:35That would tell you all you need to know about the level of high talent that the ABA came into
43:40the league with.
43:41It was only after the best ABA players began to really make an impact that a lot of people woke
43:48up and said,
43:49Hey, this was a hidden treasure.
43:51There are so many names in the ABA that people have forgotten or never knew to begin with.
43:58Some unbelievable players.
44:00It would be nice if more people knew who Matt Calvin was or Ron Boone or James Jones.
44:07There's such a rich history and there's such a great legion of players.
44:10Now, you can talk about some of these guys, man, like McGinnis.
44:14George dominated the ABA.
44:15Come on, man, Louie, Zampia, man, Larry Tina, James Salern, Rob Simpson.
44:26And you can just keep naming them, man.
44:29That's how good we was.
44:31Now, ain't me talking.
44:33You do your own research.
44:38Oh, yeah, look at the pictures.
44:40Here we got the pictures.
44:41There's a mark, really.
44:43Wow.
44:43Slicks picture.
44:44Who's that, Neto?
44:45Is that me?
44:46Yeah, that's Neto.
44:47There's Roger.
44:49Number 35.
44:55The ABA greats of the past serve as some of the last living legends in American sports.
45:04The roots of what they accomplished still reach out to connect us today.
45:09I know, because my dad played in the ABA.
45:14This picture right here of my father in the Denver Rockets, he had that one in his house.
45:20Man, I was proud of it.
45:21It's funny, because I look and I'm like, man, I guess I do look somewhat like my dad.
45:26My name is Hudson Mays, and I'm the grandson of Roger Brown.
45:29Roger Brown, the first pacer ever signed.
45:39Here's your grandpa.
45:41See it?
45:41Were we ever that young?
45:43That's Mel.
45:43Hearing stories and what went on back in those days, it's something that brings me a lot of
45:48joy and happiness.
45:50Who's 24?
45:51That's Rick Barry.
45:52I'm sorry.
45:53Yeah.
45:53Yeah, that's Rick Barry.
45:55God, he ate him up.
45:56Oh, God, he ate him up.
46:00I never got to see an ABA game, per se, like, while it was being played.
46:05Oh, okay.
46:07Yo, I ain't no caster's doing that.
46:10Like, because, you know, sometimes when you see a lot of old footage, you don't see the
46:13athleticism that I'm seeing right now.
46:16Like, how they hooping.
46:24Goose, you've had a lot of time back in Louisville now.
46:27You've been out for a couple of weeks with the torn Achilles, and you're sitting around
46:31thinking about a lot of things.
46:32What are some of those things that are going through your mind?
46:34Well, for one thing, I'm hoping that my injury would be, you know, feel like it'll be all
46:40right when I come back next season.
46:42And another thing, I'm thinking about the future.
46:44What's going to happen to me if it don't heal back right, you know?
46:48And, like I said, since I didn't go to college, I didn't really have anything, nothing to fall
46:52back on.
46:53That's all things that should have been taken care of at the merger.
46:58We were told that we were going to get credit for our ABA years, for our NBA pensions.
47:05And I understand it wasn't the NBA's responsibility to now to make good on those things.
47:12That's why I so love the Dropping Dimes Foundation that the people in Indianapolis have put together
47:20to help some of these former ABA players.
47:25I grew up in Indianapolis, and all these amazing Pacers who were my heroes when I was a kid.
47:31So, next thing you know, I'm sitting there talking to George McGinnis and Darnell Helm
47:36and Mel Daniels.
47:38And Mel's getting pissed, by the way.
47:40As he's talking to me, I can see that fire.
47:43As he's talking about the lack of respect the NBA had for the ABA.
47:47And then he got most passionate about ABA players who were not part of the pension plan
47:55for the NBA.
47:56They weren't part of any kind of health care benefits.
47:59And he was really, really serious about it.
48:03You know, as an attorney, I did some research.
48:05And then I saw that this language was put into the settlement agreement that said that the
48:11ABA defendants would provide pension benefits to the players.
48:17But the ABA as a league dissolved about a year after the so-called merger.
48:23And what little bit of money was in the actual real ABA pension fund, ended up, it was mismanaged,
48:31sort of disappeared.
48:32The ABA went out of existence.
48:35And so that's when we took the formal step of forming the Dropping Dimes Foundation to
48:40help these guys.
48:41Back and track down by Kentucky.
48:44Averitt with a penetration dump off.
48:48Burt Averitt was as quick with the basketball as anybody I've ever seen.
48:53And then I saw him, you know, in his later years, really having a tough time getting around.
48:58Couldn't afford to pay the electricity bill and, you know, didn't have anything.
49:04One of the saddest ones was George Carter.
49:07He basically, you know, was a limo driver with throat cancer and had no family, no friends, nothing.
49:14Still no pension from the NBA.
49:17And so when he died, they were going to give him a pauper's funeral where basically you're
49:23buried with no recognition because they couldn't find any next of kin.
49:27And it was just amazing to me that that could be possible.
49:33Those players who did not make it over into the NBA should have been taken care of.
49:38You know, they're just out there.
49:39They didn't have any money.
49:41And Sam Smith was one of them.
49:44He was my father's supervisor at the Ford Motor Plant after he finished playing in the
49:49ABA.
49:49And again, like so many of these guys are, he was so humble that my father didn't even
49:54know after working with him for 20 years that he played professional basketball.
49:58You know, he had some health issues and he had spent some time in a Medicaid nursing home.
50:04And I was visiting Sam.
50:06I said, you know, Sam, if I'm so angry, if I could take a picture of you right now and
50:13send it to New York and get somebody's attention, I would do it.
50:18And he said, you think that would really help?
50:21And I said, yeah, I think it would.
50:23And he said, well, take the picture.
50:24Because he was a friend.
50:26And I said, you don't look that great right now.
50:27I said, you know, this is not going to be a super flattering picture.
50:29So I was just kind of saying that facetiously because I'm kind of pissed off.
50:36And he grabbed my gown and pulled me closer to him and said, take the picture in a very
50:42serious tone of voice.
50:45And I just kept staring at him for a second.
50:47And he said, I would do anything to help these guys.
50:53And I took the picture.
51:05The photo of Sam Smith laying there with an ABA basketball, red and white basketball,
51:10about to die, that caught the attention, I think, of the world.
51:19There's like a million people reading that story all at once.
51:22And I'm like, what in the world?
51:24It was the photo.
51:28That is the image that sent the NBA over the edge.
51:31Because shortly after that, the NBA said, we're going to figure out something to do for
51:37these guys.
51:42I think it's really important to note that here we are, nearly 50 years post-merger.
51:48And a lot can be said about the battles between the NBA and the ABA.
51:52But in the end, the NBA and the NBA Players Association did step up and do something they
51:57had absolutely no legal obligation to do.
52:06Last week, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced they would create
52:12a fund to support ABA veterans.
52:14These are guys that I rooted for when I was a kid.
52:17So it's been a very humbling experience.
52:20Let's hear it for Scott Tarter.
52:22Scott Tarter.
52:24Now I did what we did.
52:25It's a good story.
52:28I'm celebratory.
52:29I just felt good that maybe this can give them a few more years of good life and celebration
52:37of basketball.
52:38I'm 81 years old.
52:40A lot of the guys are gone.
52:43But, hey, it's great.
52:44And I appreciate that they think enough that they want to give us something.
52:49I think it's good for all of us, but it's especially phenomenal for the guys that are hurting.
52:57That will allow some dignity and will allow, when they pass on, to say the NBA did the right thing
53:06for a league that did so much to make the game better today.
53:11I hope and I think it should be a beginning of respect for the ABA.
53:20The legacy that the ABA players have left is that when you look at today's game, it looks a whole
53:29lot like the way we used to play in the ABA.
53:32The dunk contest, the three-point shot, we brought that in.
53:38The three-point shot coming from the ABA dramatically changed what's happened in the NBA.
53:43Because you're not winning an NBA championship nowadays if you can't shoot the three-point shot.
53:48Rick Barry, let's fly with a three-point bomb.
53:51Bang!
53:52Curry gets a look, fires away.
53:54Bang!
53:55As a shooter, I've loved the ABA.
53:59I think it's had a huge impact on the game of basketball.
54:03To me, what the NBA has turned into at this point in time is the great balance of the ABA
54:11mixed with the NBA.
54:12Now you have the modern NBA, which is the fastest-growing sport in the world.
54:17It's a global phenomenon.
54:19Look at Wimpy, step back three.
54:21Oh, yeah!
54:22I do think the evolution came directly from the ABA.
54:28ABA was so freelance.
54:31And you could do and play like you did in the parks.
54:35Dribbling, passing, shooting, scoring, the fun of the game.
54:42That's what I see today.
54:44The NBA playing exactly the way the ABA was playing back in the day.
54:51The thing that's really, I think, that's ironic about the ABA is the first thing most people remember about the
54:58ABA is the slam dunk contest.
55:00That ABA slam dunk contest is one of the most iconic basketball treasures we've ever had.
55:10I honestly think that's why the NBA started their slam dunk contests.
55:17Oh, my God!
55:19If you go back and look at the ABA story, we owe a great deal of gratitude to the ABA.
55:27Because when those guys came to the NBA and they were all great players, it really was the turning point
55:34in the history of basketball.
55:36And I'll always be thankful for that.
55:41History will show that in a nine-year fight between the ABA and the NBA, in this David versus Goliath
55:51battle, Goliath won.
55:53But in this story, in order for Goliath to defeat David, he had to become him.
56:02A small band of brothers, known as the American Basketball Association, would change the game forever.
56:14We had a real camaraderie in the ABA.
56:17I don't know if it was because we knew we were the underdogs or because we played each other so
56:24more often than the NBA teams played each other.
56:28But I was surprised.
56:30That never happened once we got to the NBA.
56:35I kind of room with so many guys, especially the one I really loved rooming with was Louis Dampier.
56:41Because to him, the man of him has been friendly since he's been with the organization, the current organization.
56:46And to me, he's like a brother, you know.
56:49It was just a bond there that maybe because of, you know, where we are, up against the Giants, so
56:56to speak, we all felt like we were all in it together.
57:00And it's just a lot of good friendships that developed over the years, even though we were opponents for all
57:07that time.
57:08Man, we got brotherhood.
57:10I mean, come on, man.
57:11You know what a brotherhood is, man?
57:13You know, we was in a league, man, that wasn't really well respected by marketing or corporate America.
57:22There really was a brotherhood.
57:24It wasn't just talk.
57:25It wasn't just hot air.
57:27We really liked one another.
57:33I get kind of emotional about that because these were my brothers.
57:43I love those guys, and they love me.
57:48The essence of it is really what it's all about, because the essence is about how you feel about something.
57:54During that time, you know, people really feel passionate about, you know, what that experience was about, and it was
58:04a one-for-all and all-for-one mentality.
58:11That has continued throughout my lifetime.
58:16Time has marched on, but the memories are forever.
58:24That was the soul of the ABA.
58:28The ABA.
58:54It was over before it even began.
59:01Since the day I saw her walking around.
59:09I know you never meant to hurt me.
59:17You're the only one who knows why I'm gone.
59:35You're the only one who knows why I'm lost.
59:35And if you want to go along.
59:35You're the only one who knows why I'm gone.
59:39You
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