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Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association - Season 1 - Episode 02: Growing Pains
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00:00We're here by the thousands, by the hundreds of thousands.
00:07And now we're looking at the golden ball.
00:11Five, four, three, two seconds.
00:14Happy New Year!
00:17Goodbye to the 16s and welcome to the giant mystery that is the 1970s.
00:23Come on and get your love.
00:25In 1970, the American Basketball Association entered its third season in its fight to force a merger with the NBA.
00:35Their latest attack on the old league to develop star players before the NBA would allow them into their professional
00:43ranks.
00:44The ABA were going to drive college underclassmen.
00:50The young man they are selected to be the first would change the rules of who is allowed to become
00:56a pro basketball player forever.
01:00But the fight to be the first would nearly destroy them.
01:10The American Basketball Association played with a bright-colored ball that made you want to salute.
01:18Look at that move behind the back.
01:21Wow.
01:22That's the way the game should be played.
01:26I felt that I wasn't being paid when I should have.
01:29He appealed his case to the United States Supreme Court.
01:33If they don't merge, a lot of these players are going to be out of a job.
01:38There's no tomorrow.
02:0019-year-old Spencer Haywood of Trinidad Junior College, the youngest lad ever to make an American Olympic basketball team,
02:07is the star of this one.
02:10Spencer Haywood was our star center, without whom we do not win.
02:13The Americans take home the gold medals.
02:15They win all of their games.
02:18He goes to one year at the University of Detroit, where he's spectacular.
02:23Spencer Haywood of the University of Detroit got a world reputation before he ever played in college.
02:28The top scorer and rebounder of the 1968 U.S. Olympic team, he's headed for even greater college heights.
02:35Until Spencer Haywood came along, you're not eligible to be drafted until your original college class had graduated.
02:41The NBA would have not allowed him in, period.
02:43But the ABA didn't give a damn about the NBA's rules.
02:55When Spencer Haywood arrived in the ABA, the common held belief was that an underclassman could make little impact against
03:04professional competition.
03:06As a basic philosophy, I'm against undergraduate drafting.
03:11There's nothing morally wrong.
03:13I think that there are very few players as undergraduates who are ready physically or mentally to play professional basketball.
03:20The ABA was wondering, if we take this young man as our first player to come in, could he average
03:30seven points, maybe five rebounds?
03:51Spencer Haywood was a dominant force and could do it all.
03:56Spencer Haywood gave 110%.
03:5920-year-old rookie started living up to his advanced billing.
04:02Give me this ball, man.
04:03Yes, sir.
04:04Just work, son.
04:06Oh, what a play.
04:08Excellent move.
04:09Oh, man, please.
04:11What am I going to do here?
04:12Give it.
04:13Oh, God.
04:14You can't block that.
04:18Spencer Haywood flying to the basket.
04:22Spencer Haywood.
04:23Honors and achievements were numerous.
04:25The single-game scoring record of 59-point statistical championships in scoring and rebounding with 30-point and 19.5
04:35-rebound averages.
04:38To top it off, Haywood became the first player in professional basketball history to be named Rookie of the Year
04:44and Most Valuable Player.
04:46Work hard till I get to the top.
04:52I was an accidental revolutionary because my basic instinct and my basic thought was always just to get my mother
05:05out of the cotton field.
05:10Being from a cotton field in Mississippi and my family, we were never to deny who we are and what
05:18we did.
05:19We were considered sharecroppers, but we were always working off a debt that you never had.
05:26That is slavery.
05:30When I was born, it was totally segregated.
05:34We couldn't go to any white hospitals or anything, so you're born by a midwife.
05:38The guy who owned the big house, the farmer, was sitting in a chair with a Bud Sweet cigar and
05:44drinking a mint julep.
05:46I said, that boy there is going to be the best cotton picker because I got the big hands.
05:52They didn't know these hands were built for basketball.
05:57When I was in college, I went to visit my mom and my mother was still picking cotton.
06:05Her back went out, so she was on her knees picking cotton because she couldn't straighten up in her back.
06:15All of a sudden, I just started crying like, my God, there was my mother crawling on the ground like
06:23an animal.
06:26And I said, I don't care what it takes, I'm going to get my mother out of this cotton field.
06:32And that's why I took the challenge to go to the ABA to get my family out of poverty.
06:40The Denver Rockets executive, J.W. Bill Ringsby, outlined immediate goals.
06:45Build an organization and sign the best ballplayers available.
06:49Rockets president and general manager Don Ringsby contacted ABA lead president James Gardner for permission to sign Haywood under an
06:56ABA ruling dealing with hardship cases.
06:58Ringsby learned that Spencer was the sole support of his widowed mother and nine brothers and sisters.
07:03My dad died a month before I was born.
07:07So the Ringsbys, when I signed with Denver, they were preaching to me, we are family.
07:15This is your home.
07:16You are like my son.
07:19J.W. Bill Ringsby, chairman of the Rockets board of directors, presented Spencer with a new six-year contract worth
07:26approximately $1,900,000.
07:32The Ringsby family had basically signed Haywood to this very misleading contract that purported to pay him $1.9 million,
07:38when in fact only $400,000 of it was guaranteed money.
07:42They threw a caveat in the back end of the contract that says, I could receive this money from age
07:4950 to age 70, only if I was employed by the Ringsby truck line.
07:54So it was basically a total fraudulent contract.
07:59The way the contract is situated now at $47,000, and I suppose it would be one of the better
08:04ballplayers, and there's about 22 other guys that are getting over $100,000.
08:08I don't see how it would be, you know, a good contract.
08:13We think he was a man when he signed it, and a man lives up to his contract, and we
08:17expect him to do that.
08:20Haywood brought in Al Ross. Al Ross was a lawyer and happened to be fairly sophisticated in contract law. Ross
08:26looked at this contract, realized that Haywood was someone who was underage, basically was not given adequate representation.
08:34He says, Ringsby is going to do the right thing. It's going to be great.
08:38So we walk into Mr. Ringsby's office, and so Al was like, well, you know, we're going to make sure
08:45that you honor your contract, but you've got to honor it with integrity.
08:50And when he said that integrity word to J.W. Ringsby, he said, who the hell are you?
08:57And that's when the Mississippi white racism started jumping out again that I had seen so many years, and he
09:06said, let me tell you something.
09:09You take your nigga ass out of here and take that Jew ass lawyer with you, and don't you ever
09:16come in my office asking for anything.
09:23And I was like, wow, from family love and all of the other shit you've been talking about, now I'm
09:33this enemy of the state.
09:37And that's when we said, enough is enough. I'm going to leave the ABA.
09:45Once the meeting was over, that was it. And Spencer said, you know, we're moving on, and went to Seattle.
09:52Was it a little bit of a principle, or it was money, or perhaps maybe both involved in your situation?
09:58Just that I was taken for a ride, you know, in the ABA, and I'm in a situation where I
10:03wanted to get out of it.
10:05When he decided to come to the NBA, Spencer caused quite a furor. All hell broke loose in the NBA.
10:12The bylaws of the NBA said you had to comply with the four-year rule, and you cannot bring in
10:17this player, Spencer Haywood,
10:18who has not yet reached that four-year threshold with his graduating class.
10:22When I signed with Seattle, I felt some joy, but I wasn't really joyful because I had went through extreme,
10:34brutal things they did to me
10:37during that period all the way through the courts.
10:41The NBA served me with a 10-game injunction, so I had to sit and wait.
10:47And then when I went on the floor, they said, ladies and gentlemen, we have an illegal player on the
10:52floor.
10:53And that illegal player, Spencer Haywood, this game is under protest.
10:59So they would come in with the security guards and throw me out of the arena.
11:03I can still remember one night in Boston, the Celtics announced that they were protesting the game
11:08because of the use of this ineligible player, you know. I'll never forget the look on his face.
11:14And then we get to Cincinnati. Later on in the case, they decided this injunction tonight
11:21is to put him out on the outer edge of the arena in the snow.
11:28So I was a young man standing out in the snow, freezing and going through just hell.
11:34That was some deep shit, man.
11:38Do you think this is going to set a precedence, perhaps, maybe you and the NBA
11:42playing before your college class is graduating?
11:45Well, as I was trying to point out to them, and like the antitrust law that I brought against the
11:50NBA,
11:51is that I'm not trying to knock the college eligibility or the college rule or anything.
11:55I'm just saying that I cannot go back to college.
11:58And they didn't by any chance make me a professional.
12:00The ABA made me a professional.
12:02So therefore, I am a professional. I should be considered a free agent.
12:08So I sued the NBA all the way to the Supreme Court.
12:16And ultimately, the court concluded that the four-year rule was a violation of antitrust laws.
12:21So in many regards, the Seattle Supersonics could essentially violate one of the bylaws of the NBA to sign Haywood.
12:36I never thought I would have to go through all of that just to play basketball.
12:44Even as a player in the NBA, I had so much stress on me to play well, to do good,
12:51and to be a great citizen because I was paving the way for players and their rights.
12:57I had to fight, I had to will, but I paid a heavy price for it.
13:04This was the generation of players who were models of fighting back against a system that told them to just
13:13shut up and play.
13:19The ABA really lost a lot of key opportunities that they had had.
13:24They had lost Spencer Haywood, whom they only had for one season.
13:27They had bungled the signing of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
13:31They had lost Connie Hawkins after two seasons.
13:34So there was tremendous pressure on the ABA to secure a major contract with sort of a lightning bolt for
13:40the league.
13:41The ABA knew that they had to get a transcendent player that was going to galvanize their league.
14:03This is your second year at the University of Massachusetts.
14:06What prompted you to go there?
14:08When I was a senior, I was 6'3", 165 pounds.
14:11A lot of the schools that I heard from that were real big-time schools, you know, there was some
14:17question as to whether I would grow any more.
14:22I was unfamiliar with him in high school.
14:24He was not a big, vitally-known name outside of Long Island.
14:28The idea that you mass-successfully recruited him tells you all you need to know at the time that he
14:32obviously wasn't a valued national commodity, period.
14:36So I didn't, you know, just want to go there and just get lost in the shuffle.
14:39I wasn't like, oh, you're one of the best players in the world, you know, you're the best players in
14:44the United States, one of the best players in New York.
14:47Guys my age were a lot better.
14:49You know, guys, some of them were like men playing against boys, and I was one of the boys.
14:56So I didn't have time to ego trip.
15:01It was interesting because he's always had this humility, but also confidence.
15:08I think his family, his mom, and his dad, I think they had a big impact.
15:13I was one of the few in my family who go to college, you know, so I'm there, I'm getting
15:19a degree.
15:21He came there, and he totally changed everything.
15:25And you'll understand, he grew three inches when he got to UMass.
15:29I mean, I'm 6'3 and a half.
15:31You're right, I grew to 6'4.
15:34And then my sophomore year, now I'm 6'6.
15:37And now I'm on the radar.
15:40His first velocity game, he had 32 points and 28 rebounds.
15:45People started lining up for a 7'30 game at like 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
15:51I grew up on Long Island.
15:52He went to Roosevelt High School.
15:54I went to Long Beach.
15:55And, you know, when he graduated Roosevelt, he was like 6'2, 6'3.
16:01And then all of a sudden, I got to see him when he was at UMass.
16:05He played against Carolina in the NIT.
16:08Oh, my God.
16:09You can't believe how good he was.
16:12I actually saw Dr. J play a college game for UMass against Syracuse, where I was a student.
16:19If you didn't know anything about basketball, if you landed from Mars, your eyes would have gone to him.
16:24He was clearly the best and most compelling player on the court.
16:28I first get to see him at Roberts Center at Boston College.
16:32And he has an OK game, I thought.
16:35Then I see the stat sheet after the game.
16:3726 and 18.
16:38Really?
16:39Really?
16:39He had done it in such an efficient manner.
16:41I hadn't been blown away by what I saw.
16:43He just got it done.
16:45We didn't get to see him when he was up there in Massachusetts.
16:49All we heard was, baby, he could play.
16:54Charlie Scott played in one of the summer leagues in New York.
16:57He told the Virginia Squire ownership, there's a youngster up there at Massachusetts U and said, he's better than anybody
17:06in the NBA or ABA.
17:08You guys need to sign him.
17:09By the spring of 1971, word was spreading around pro basketball about the phenomenal young player at UMass.
17:19Because, because in the NBA, the Spencer Hayward rule had not yet taken effect, Julius Irvin, as a junior in
17:27college, was not yet draft eligible in the NBA.
17:31The ABA knew they had to get Irvin into their league immediately before the NBA could.
17:42Get called to a meeting in Philadelphia, spring 1971, in a hotel.
17:51The tone was set that this would be an exploratory meeting just to see what the possibilities were.
17:59And at the meeting, there was an agent involved, a guy named Steve Arnold, two of my coaches, and then
18:05two guys from the Virginia Squires.
18:08So, I'm listening, and the guys from the Virginia Squires say, we've gotten authorization to offer you a contract.
18:18You know, I mean, I don't know who these guys are.
18:21So, what's the contract?
18:23They said, we'll give you like $125,000 a year.
18:27My stepfather works for the sanitation department, and my mother has a hair salon.
18:32Their combined income is $15,000, if that.
18:36So, I went, I called my mom.
18:38I said, something's going on here.
18:42So, just in terms of the financial status of my family, it was time.
18:49Before reporting to the Virginia Squires for his first pro season,
18:53Julius Ervin sensed there may be more to his game that he had not yet unlocked.
19:00So, in the summer of 71, Dr. J took his game into the lab.
19:16In the Rutgers, he played against all of the best of the best when they went back to the city
19:20in the summer.
19:21It was an opportunity for him to really impress himself and to push the envelope to see how well he
19:27could do.
19:29In college, I couldn't dunk the ball.
19:32Because of Lou Alcindor, they took the dunk out of college basketball my freshman year.
19:38So, when I started playing the Rutger, to me, was like the chains being taken off.
19:53You go in the Rutger, I mean, you got to come with it.
19:56You have to be tough, and there's a certain mental toughness.
19:58It was like the Wild West.
20:00It was an openness to self-expression.
20:03The ABA was that same spirit.
20:06That played into Julius' creativity because he was more like an artist.
20:11When it comes to basketball, he just had this ability to do things that were amazing.
20:17He was made for the ABA.
20:21I feel that I'm ready to start playing.
20:25I'm ready to go.
20:28With all due respect to other great ABA players,
20:32Dr. J is what gave the league credibility outside league cities and outside the core of ABA fans.
20:41Because even the franchises that did consistently well
20:45operated outside the notice of most American sports fans.
20:51So, a lot of it took place, relatively speaking, in the shadows.
20:58By 1971, the ABA knew what the American sports viewing public did not.
21:05They had now acquired talent on par with the NBA.
21:10The ABA players were now seeking a form in which to prove it.
21:17In 1971, this first ever ABA vs. NBA All-Star Game
21:24was not organized by the leagues, but rather by the players themselves.
21:31The 1971 All-Star Game was a watershed moment.
21:35The players exerted power and demonstrated power in a way that neither league anticipated.
21:43To have the NBA players to agree to play us,
21:47that was pretty amazing.
21:48Because I can't imagine the pressure they might have been under
21:51to not have that game take place.
21:56Conventional wisdom at the time
21:58was that the NBA was the vastly superior league.
22:02On May 28, 1971,
22:05fans fouled into the Houston Astrodome,
22:09anticipating a blowout.
22:15I'm sure the average NBA fan
22:17figured they're going to win by 40.
22:18That's right, they're all here.
22:20Robertson, Kavlicek,
22:21you'll be seeing them play momentarily.
22:24We didn't respect them because in the NBA, man,
22:27we played defense, tenacious D.
22:29So, we were like,
22:30hey, man, these guys don't play basketball.
22:31They don't guard anybody.
22:33And then we started to play them.
22:38I was selected,
22:39so I had first-hand experience.
22:41We had James Jones,
22:42we had Donnie Freeman,
22:44we had Rick Barry.
22:46In the NBA,
22:48all the star players were playing.
22:52Obviously, they had more incentive than we did
22:55because they were trying to prove something.
22:59This is the game against the NBA.
23:01I've never seen this footage.
23:04It was extremely competitive.
23:06Close game.
23:07Everyone would say,
23:08ah, it's exhibition.
23:09The players from the NBA weren't playing that hard.
23:12That's BS.
23:13You're going to go out there
23:14and have somebody give somebody a chance to beat you
23:17without playing your best?
23:19Ah.
23:20Yeah, so they didn't play hard.
23:22So how's that hustle?
23:23Dave Bing just busted his pump
23:24to get down there to try to stop.
23:26This is an easy basket,
23:27and he hustled down to get to court,
23:29but they didn't play hard.
23:30So that tells you how bullshit that statement is.
23:33These guys were very seasoned ballplayers.
23:35They came out to try to destroy us,
23:37so the competition was very fierce.
23:40They were playing.
23:41They were playing.
23:42They didn't want to get embarrassed.
23:44He's got to.
23:46You know, I see parity.
23:48You know, I see equal athleticism.
23:49That opened my eyes
23:51to how good the NBA players, you know, were.
23:54They ended up beating us by five points.
23:56It was close.
23:57Well, he is just tremendous.
23:59And so I think we gained a lot of respect.
24:01That's it.
24:02The final score, 125 to 120.
24:06They had some good players.
24:08We started to gain some respect for them.
24:10It showed everyone that ABA talent
24:13was comparable to the NBA talent.
24:19One of the unforeseen results
24:22of this All-Star game
24:25was now the cat is out the bag.
24:27This inferior league
24:28that the ABA supposedly had
24:31only lost by five points
24:33to the superior NBA team.
24:36Now, that got the attention of the fans,
24:38but it also got the attention
24:39of the NBA owners
24:40who said,
24:42oh, we need to get what they got.
24:45We are going to start trying
24:47to grab those players from the ABA.
24:56If I'm a coach or a GM
24:58or a president of an NBA team
25:00and I see the quality of play
25:02that's going on in the ABA,
25:06I'm going to do everything I can.
25:07One, I'm going to hurt that league.
25:09And two, I'm going to help my team.
25:11You want the best players.
25:14And it led sort of to a pipeline
25:16of players over to the NBA.
25:25Is this scary at all?
25:27There are rumors that even more players
25:28may be changing allegiance
25:30and going to the NBA.
25:31Really, we have a good league
25:32if we don't keep losing
25:33all the good men that we have
25:35to the NBA.
25:38While some players
25:40were exiting the league,
25:41one player
25:42who had entered the ABA
25:45was making an immediate impact.
25:51There is Julius Herbie.
25:52Look at that move behind the back.
25:55Oh!
25:57And there, my friends,
25:59is the very dramatic brand
26:00of basketball
26:01which can be enjoyed
26:02only in the ABA.
26:06The things that I saw Julius do
26:08when he was a rookie
26:10in the ABA,
26:12just incredible.
26:14I don't think Julius
26:16would have been as successful
26:17his first two years
26:19if he would have been in the NBA
26:20because they would have
26:22harnessed his natural skills.
26:25His strength was his ability
26:26to get up and down the court
26:27in the fast pace of the ABA.
26:30He was a wild, untamed colt.
26:35Dr. J really took the league
26:37by storm.
26:38And what was so interesting
26:39is his first year in Virginia,
26:41they already had a star
26:43named Charlie Scott.
26:45Doc, he and Charlie
26:46had played together
26:47in the Rucker
26:49in the summer.
26:50And they're both New Yorkers,
26:51so they had something
26:52going already.
26:53And Charlie was the guy.
26:56With Charlie on the team,
26:57and Charlie as a guard
26:58and me as a forward,
26:59we make a pretty
27:00quick combination.
27:05Charlie would shoot
27:06first pass second.
27:09Charlie's shooting
27:10every bout.
27:10He's like 19 for 40.
27:13Dr. J, he got 30.
27:16He ain't put up
27:16with 15 shots.
27:18Charlie's leading scorer
27:19on the team.
27:20And we just got to talk.
27:21And I say, hey, man,
27:23how can you have a guy
27:24like Julius
27:25and you don't pass it to him?
27:27Well, I'm supposed to
27:28give him the ball
27:28all the time?
27:29I said, sometimes.
27:32He missed a lot of shots
27:33and I was a good rebounder.
27:36He averaged 33 points a game.
27:38I averaged 28 points a game.
27:40And we were a playoff team,
27:42but by the end of that season,
27:45Charlie disappeared.
27:50Charlie Scott goes to the NBA
27:51and apparently didn't
27:53really tell anybody.
27:54He just up and left.
27:55He's the star of the team.
27:56And they're going
27:57to the playoffs.
27:58With this comes
27:59the added pressure.
28:00Should the people expect you
28:01in your rookie year
28:02to have a great game
28:03each game you play
28:04or would that be
28:05expecting too much?
28:06Any pressure that I have
28:07is going to be pressure
28:08that I place upon myself.
28:14Miami was a fun team.
28:15They were a high-scoring team.
28:17They did have Matt Calvin,
28:18who averaged about 25 a game,
28:20and Warren Jabali,
28:22who had to guard Dr. J
28:23that series.
28:25You knew Warren
28:26was going to take
28:27the best offensive player
28:29and that he would
28:30knock guys on their butt.
28:32I had respect for Jabali.
28:34You know, he's a little bit
28:35of a rebel,
28:36but, you know,
28:38I mean, I was a ball player.
28:39I wanted to strut my stuff.
28:44I'm on, on, on, on, on, on, on.
28:47Give him an on, on, on, on, on.
28:49I froze, froze, froze, froze.
28:50But I'm on, I'm here.
28:52So I'm gone, gone, gone, gone.
28:54God knows, knows, knows, knows.
28:56God knows.
28:56I'm a pro, whoa, whoa, whoa.
28:58Go.
28:59Dr. J, it was his first postseason,
29:02and he seized it.
29:05We got swept for nothing.
29:08It was Julius at his best.
29:10I mean, he was, I think he averaged
29:11about 30-something points
29:12a game that series.
29:15He dominated Jabali.
29:17And as Warren joked afterwards,
29:19there wasn't much I could do.
29:21Dr. J, it was really
29:23his coming-out party.
29:28The next stop
29:29in the Dr. J coming-out party
29:32would be New York,
29:35where Irving would face off
29:36with Rick Barry in the Nets.
29:38The winner going on
29:40to the ABA Finals.
29:44Rick Barry's ABA experience
29:46had not yet yielded
29:48the string of championships
29:49many had predicted
29:51when he first arrived
29:52in the upstart league.
29:54In 1971,
29:56Barry had managed
29:57to get himself traded
29:58to New York,
29:59the nation's largest media market.
30:02The move
30:03did not come without contention.
30:07I had signed a contract
30:08for the Oakland Oaks,
30:09and I was told
30:11that I don't have to leave
30:12if the team was getting sold.
30:14My attorneys told me
30:15I should have put it in writing.
30:16I didn't do that.
30:17That team was then moved
30:18to Washington, D.C.,
30:20and I wasn't really, you know,
30:22super happy about that at all.
30:25The owners did not live up
30:27to their word,
30:28and then they moved the team
30:29from there to Virginia,
30:31and I said,
30:31okay, this is getting ridiculous,
30:32and so that's why I did
30:34the Sports Illustrated cover.
30:37I used this to go and said,
30:39okay, fine,
30:39you guys don't want to honor
30:40what you told me
30:41you're going to do.
30:42You told me that
30:43if you moved the team
30:44that I wouldn't have to leave,
30:45and so I used the media
30:47to try to help me.
30:49I made a statement
30:50about my kids growing up
30:51and having to have
30:52a Southern accent.
30:53I don't have anything
30:54against Southern people.
30:55I don't have anything
30:55against Southern accents,
30:57but boy, it worked really well.
30:58All the Southern people
30:59really responded
31:00that it enforced Earl Farmer
31:01to have to trade me
31:02to the Nets,
31:03which is a good thing for me.
31:06In the 1972
31:08Eastern Conference Finals,
31:10Rick Barry and his New York Nets
31:12would face off
31:13with the franchise
31:14that he had insulted,
31:16the Virginia Squires
31:18and their new
31:19budding superstar.
31:21It was the Nets
31:23and the Virginia Squires,
31:24and me and Rick Barry,
31:25that could be that series.
31:27This is absolutely perfect
31:28of the way I used
31:29to guard Dr. J.
31:29I would always overplay him,
31:31force him out
31:31the three-point line
31:32and then get off of him
31:33and take away his right hand
31:35and say,
31:36if you're going to beat me
31:36shooting three-point shots,
31:37you can do that,
31:38and I could live with that.
31:42I think it's telling
31:44that Julius was 21
31:45at the time
31:47and went against Rick Barry,
31:49who's supposed to be
31:51the best player in the league,
31:52and he goes nuts.
31:53And this is
31:54in the Eastern Conference Finals.
32:06I like testing myself
32:08against great talents,
32:10so I'm scoring 30,
32:1140, 50 points a game.
32:13Virginia won
32:14the first two games easily,
32:16and Dr. J was doing his thing
32:19against Rick Barry.
32:20Dr. J.
32:22The first two games,
32:23I mean,
32:23I was like,
32:23you've got to be shitting me.
32:25He was insane,
32:26and I knew I was going
32:28to have to play
32:28because he was just
32:29totally committed.
32:30It was a battle.
32:32My style was
32:33full speed ahead,
32:36and what happened
32:37with the Nets was
32:38these guys were coaches
32:39on the floor,
32:40and they knew
32:41when to turn it loose
32:43or when to draw it back.
32:46Barry knew that their chance
32:47to beat Julius
32:48and the Squires
32:49was grinded out,
32:50kind of NBA-style game.
32:52Rick Barry leads this team.
32:54He can score,
32:55rebound,
32:55shoot the three-pointer.
32:56You have to outscore Barry
32:58because you really can't stop him.
33:00You know,
33:01Barry,
33:01you know,
33:02he's like a machine.
33:03There's a precision
33:05associated with it,
33:06and even though
33:07it's predictable,
33:09ultimately,
33:10he's going to score.
33:12He delivered every night.
33:14I think every game
33:15he was over 30 points,
33:17you know.
33:17He was a
33:18bona fide superstar.
33:23The Nets came back,
33:27and it went to a game seven,
33:29and he stepped up
33:31and drove them
33:32to the finals.
33:35The Nets
33:37is just a better team.
33:40Rick Barry
33:41really tried to
33:43take the team
33:44on his back.
33:44The thought was
33:45that he's going to lead
33:46and that's the championship.
33:50That's what I played for,
33:51to win championships.
33:53I already had a fire burning
33:55inside me
33:55because
33:56when I was playing
33:57in Oakland,
33:58they were able
33:59to win the championship.
34:00But if my teammates
34:00were the ones
34:01that got it done,
34:02I got hurt
34:02and wasn't able
34:03to play in the finals,
34:04which was a
34:05big disappointment,
34:06obviously.
34:07I mean,
34:08so it was nice
34:08to be a member
34:09of that team,
34:09but I don't feel
34:11as though I was there
34:12and got it done
34:13for them,
34:13and that's one
34:13of the reasons
34:14why I don't wear
34:14that championship ring
34:16because I don't feel
34:17I was an integral part
34:18of the team
34:19because I didn't play
34:19in the playoffs
34:20to help win
34:21that championship.
34:23Rick Barry,
34:24when he showed up
34:25in the ABA,
34:26he was hyped
34:27beyond belief
34:28and he was supposed
34:28to take the ABA
34:30by storm.
34:31Difference in the ability
34:33from Rick
34:34to the next best player
34:35in the league.
34:36Now to go from that
34:38area of mediocrity
34:40to some super gifted
34:41player like Rick,
34:43it seems such
34:44an incongruous thing.
34:45I don't know
34:46if the Oakland team
34:47will lose a game
34:48all season.
34:50And now it's 1972
34:52and Barry
34:54hasn't won anything
34:55in the ABA yet
34:56that he's earned.
34:58When you go for
34:59three years
35:00and fail
35:01when you're supposed
35:02to be that good,
35:04this was like,
35:05is this going to be
35:05the year?
35:06And there's a lot
35:07of pressure
35:07when that happens,
35:08when it builds up.
35:11It's the ABA
35:12championship series
35:13as the New York Nets
35:14and Indiana Pacers
35:15hook up in the final round
35:17at the Nassau Coliseum.
35:19The Pacers,
35:20that was a very good
35:20basketball team.
35:21That team would have
35:22competed really well
35:23playing in the NBA.
35:24They had a lot
35:25of quality players
35:26on that team.
35:26Roger Brown being
35:27one of the guys
35:28that was outstanding,
35:29a terrific small forward.
35:31Another Hall of Famer,
35:32you know,
35:32Mel Daniels,
35:33he was a terrific
35:34center for them.
35:35You know,
35:35not a seven-footer,
35:37but a really good player
35:38on both ends
35:39of the court.
35:39And then they had
35:40some guys
35:40who could shoot
35:41the ball,
35:41you know,
35:42Freddie Lewis,
35:43outstanding player.
35:44Bob Medellicki,
35:45a guy who could play
35:46in the post,
35:46shoot the ball.
35:47You talk about
35:47a Kevin McHale,
35:48he was like Kevin McHale
35:50before Kevin McHale.
35:51Big George McGinnis,
35:53and the Nets must find
35:53a way to neutralize
35:54his muscle.
35:56George was just
35:57an explosive guy.
35:59I mean,
35:59jump and strong,
36:00powerful.
36:01He was really tough.
36:04Darnell Hillman,
36:05his nickname was
36:06Dr. Dunk
36:07because he could
36:07jump out of the gym.
36:09Billy Keller,
36:10lights-out shooter.
36:13Indiana Pacers,
36:14they're the class
36:14of the ABA.
36:15I don't care
36:16what anyone says,
36:17Indiana Pacers up here.
36:18They struck fear
36:19in the heart
36:19of every ABA team.
36:22Bobby Leonard,
36:24their coach,
36:24there was real character
36:25to the Indiana Pacers.
36:27They had the culture
36:29and the mentality
36:30of a championship team.
36:341972 marked
36:35the third time
36:36the Indiana Pacers
36:37had made the finals
36:38in the league's
36:39first five seasons.
36:42They had won
36:42the championship
36:43in 1970.
36:46And in 72,
36:47were attempting
36:48to become the first
36:49ABA team
36:50to win it twice.
36:55Come on,
36:56handle it.
36:56Run good.
36:57We're out of here.
36:57Ball handling.
36:58Let's go.
37:00Come on,
37:01let's go.
37:01Let's really move it.
37:02Come on,
37:02let's go.
37:05Three lines.
37:06Let's go.
37:06Now,
37:06let's see it.
37:06Let's go.
37:07Let's make sure
37:07you break a sweat
37:08and we're out of here.
37:09Let's go.
37:12Indiana had that core,
37:14right?
37:14They had those four
37:14or five guys.
37:15They were loaded.
37:16A few more.
37:18Woo!
37:20Come on.
37:22Hey,
37:22there's not many more
37:23practices left this season.
37:24Let's go.
37:25And that era
37:26of the ABA,
37:27the number of players
37:28were let go,
37:29traded,
37:30jumped to the NBA.
37:31But Indiana,
37:32they stayed close.
37:33They kept most
37:34of the guys together.
37:36They were so closely knit.
37:39You know,
37:39when we go to play them,
37:40you just could always sense
37:43that that was a family.
37:45You know,
37:45a lot of the ABA teams
37:46changed personnel
37:47year to year.
37:49That team,
37:50they kept that nucleus
37:51together.
37:52And because the relationship
37:54they had with one another,
37:56they developed
37:57an unbelievable bond.
38:07The off season,
38:08we hung together.
38:09I mean,
38:09you could come to my bar
38:10at night and you'd see
38:12Darnell,
38:12George,
38:13me,
38:13Mel,
38:13Roger,
38:14all together
38:15having a great time.
38:16Billy.
38:17And I think we started
38:18all of that.
38:19And as you can see,
38:20we're still like family.
38:23You know,
38:23all the years that we played,
38:25we never had any
38:27black-white problems
38:28at all amongst us
38:30as players.
38:31And I think that's
38:31what we did on the floor
38:33is we not only talked it,
38:35but we showed it.
38:36And I think that really
38:38helped our community.
38:45I grew up on the east side
38:46of Indianapolis
38:47and went to Indianapolis
38:48public schools.
38:49And at that period of time,
38:51you got white kids
38:52being moved from the area
38:53where their house is
38:54to be moved into
38:55a black neighborhood
38:56so that they can be part
38:58of a racial balancing
38:58and vice versa.
39:00And so Indianapolis
39:01in particular
39:01was pretty divided
39:03white and black.
39:05My kids are being beat up.
39:07Go down to that school board office
39:08and pick it like hell.
39:10I want that kid
39:11to get an education.
39:13I was a little girl
39:15in Indiana.
39:17The north side
39:18where I grew up
39:18was very white community.
39:22And then we'd get in the car
39:23and go down Meridian Street.
39:25And by the time
39:26I was at the fairground,
39:28for a person
39:29that was just living
39:30a normal Midwestern life,
39:32it was like
39:32this magical spectacle
39:35of diversity.
39:37and the Pacers did that.
39:39Who do you like
39:40on the Pacers?
39:41I like Darnell Hillman.
39:43I like Billy Keller
39:44because he's short
39:44and he has to try hard.
39:45Don Freeman
39:46and George McGinnis.
39:47Billy Keller
39:48and Don Boozy.
39:49Freddie Lewis.
39:50Billy Keller,
39:51George McGinnis,
39:52Gus Johnson,
39:54Don Boozy.
39:55They're all
39:55a really favorite of mine.
39:57We saw black guys
39:58and white guys
39:59playing together
40:00and loving each other.
40:01I think it was
40:02a powerful thing.
40:05The Pacers
40:06in many ways
40:07unite the community.
40:09It was the only thing
40:10in town
40:11where black people
40:11and white people
40:12both would go to
40:13and mix together.
40:17Playoff action
40:18for the ABA championship
40:19between our Indiana Pacers
40:20and the New York Mets.
40:26The Pacers were just,
40:28they were always
40:29sort of the class
40:30of the ABA.
40:31We knew that
40:32there would be
40:33a tough opponent
40:34but you know
40:34we thought with Rick
40:35that he could take us
40:36to the championship.
40:37The defensive job
40:39on Rick Barry
40:39falls in the hands
40:40of veteran Roger Brown.
40:43It was a very close series.
40:45Roger Brown,
40:46one of the top performers
40:47in the ABA
40:47is Indiana's key
40:48to victory.
40:51It was back and forth,
40:52back and forth.
40:55Rick Barry,
40:56let's fly with a
40:56three-point bomb.
40:57Bang!
41:00I was never worried
41:01about a guy
41:02shutting me down
41:02but I knew I was
41:03going to have to
41:03work harder
41:03against certain teams.
41:04The Pacers
41:05were certainly
41:05one of them.
41:09Not to be outdone,
41:10the Pacers come right back
41:11on the Nets' home court.
41:13Rick Barry,
41:14his performance
41:15throughout the playoffs
41:16has been great.
41:17He proved why he is
41:18an ABA superstar.
41:21And that supports the Pacers
41:23to a Game 5
41:24in the Coliseum.
41:29It gets to a Game 5
41:31in Indiana,
41:31which is pretty tough,
41:33right?
41:33Home crowd,
41:34crazy atmosphere.
41:36And it was a pivotal
41:38moment because
41:39one or two plays
41:41could really change
41:41the series.
41:47This is the game,
41:48this is the killer game
41:49right here.
41:50Wow.
41:52It'll be interesting
41:52to see if they got
41:53the last part
41:54of this game on here.
41:56The game
41:57was Game 5
41:58in Indiana.
42:00The crucial swing game
42:02saw Barry
42:03and Roger Brown
42:04engage
42:04in an epic
42:05head-to-head contest.
42:08Rick Barry
42:09drives to the baseline.
42:10He hits the short jump shot.
42:12Brown moves in.
42:13Face goes up.
42:14Good!
42:15The action is as even
42:16as it can be
42:17and the teams
42:18keep matching matches.
42:19The game
42:20would come down
42:20to the final seconds.
42:23The Pacers
42:24with the one-point lead.
42:26The Nets,
42:27one final possession.
42:30We're down by one
42:31at the time,
42:31but we're still
42:32going to have the ball,
42:33right?
42:33And have an opportunity
42:33to still win the game.
42:35In their huddle,
42:36Coach Luke Karnaseki
42:37explains to his team
42:38the next move.
42:39Give the ball
42:40to superstar Rick Barry
42:41and let him go
42:41for a sure two-point.
42:43It could give the Nets
42:43the edge in the series
42:44three to two.
42:45That was exactly
42:46what it was talking about.
42:47It was a play
42:47to get the ball
42:48past inbounds to me.
42:54The ball gets by Barry
42:56and out of bounds.
42:57Did Rick drop the ball
42:58or is it a bad pass?
42:59You know,
43:00I'd have to see it
43:01all over again,
43:02but I'm going to go,
43:02I'm going to side
43:03and say it's a bad pass.
43:04That doesn't surprise me,
43:05but that's not how
43:06it was reported
43:07at the time,
43:07I can tell you that.
43:08I'll tell you this,
43:09it was described
43:10in the newspapers
43:11as going right
43:11through Rick Barry's hands.
43:14Here I come off,
43:15right there,
43:16see?
43:17I was open.
43:19Rick says it's a bad pass,
43:21right?
43:22But we don't say
43:24it's a bad pass.
43:25The ball is out over here
43:26and I try to get it
43:27and don't get my hand on it.
43:29He had his hands on it,
43:30but I think he took
43:31his eye off of it
43:32and it went right
43:32between his legs.
43:34The pressure will
43:34bust a pipe.
43:38Ball gets by,
43:39Barry and out of bounds.
43:40It's Pacer Ball
43:41with only a few sticks
43:42on the clock.
43:43The fans cannot be controlled
43:45and pandemonium breaks
43:46in the Coliseum.
43:54Barry did not come through.
43:56The Pacers won the game
43:57and went on to win
43:59the series
43:59in the next game.
44:02The Indiana Pacers
44:03capture the ABA Championship
44:05four games to two
44:06over the New York Nets,
44:08clinching it
44:08with a dramatic
44:09108-105 win.
44:15It's like the Pacer fans
44:17were a huge,
44:18giant family
44:18and we were
44:19kind of their kids.
44:21The Pacers
44:22brought the city
44:24together in a way
44:25that I don't think
44:25anybody could have.
44:29The Indiana Pacers
44:31are no question
44:32the flagship franchise
44:34of the ABA.
44:36In one city
44:37the entire time,
44:39one name.
44:41They won three
44:43of the nine
44:43ABA championships.
44:48They're the premier
44:49franchise in our league
44:51that probably
44:52was way ahead
44:53of its time
44:54in terms of
44:55the relationship
44:56between players.
45:00I wish our world
45:02was like
45:02a Pacers locker room.
45:04It's all about
45:05can you play
45:06and are you
45:07a decent human being?
45:09Do you care
45:10about the people
45:10that sit next to you
45:12on both sides?
45:13That's the only thing
45:14that matters.
45:24For Rick Barry,
45:25the final game
45:26against the Pacers
45:27in 1972
45:28would be his last
45:30in the ABA.
45:31The NBA,
45:33seeing Barry's success
45:34in New York,
45:35the home of the NBA's
45:36league officers,
45:38wanted Rick Barry back.
45:39The NBA
45:40and the Golden State Warriors,
45:42Barry's former team,
45:44found a loophole
45:45in Barry's
45:46ABA contract
45:47with the New York Nets.
45:49They found that
45:50if his contract
45:50were to ever expire,
45:52a clause
45:53in his old
45:54Warriors contract
45:55would mandate
45:56he return
45:57to their team.
45:58A judge ruled
45:59on this feud
46:00in favor
46:01of the NBA.
46:04And I said,
46:05oh man,
46:06this is like crazy
46:06because I was back
46:07in New York
46:08doing broadcasting work.
46:09Things were going right.
46:10Roy Bowe,
46:10the owner,
46:11said,
46:11hey,
46:11they'll sit out.
46:12We'll pay you to stay here.
46:13I said,
46:13I already sat out
46:14one year of my career.
46:15I'm not about to do that again.
46:16And I just told the Warriors,
46:18I said,
46:18look,
46:18fine,
46:19I'm going to honor
46:19your contract.
46:20I said,
46:20but I don't want to come back
46:21just for one year.
46:22I said,
46:23so let's do it.
46:23And I signed
46:24a longer term contract
46:25with the Warriors
46:25and played for them.
46:27I was portrayed
46:28to be this horrible,
46:29money hungry,
46:30no sense of values
46:31person and all,
46:32but I was a trailblazer
46:34for the ABA.
46:35I didn't get anything
46:37extra for it.
46:38The leagues were rivals,
46:39so signing a marquee player,
46:42whether it be Rick Berry
46:44or Julius Erving,
46:46that was the key to success
46:48and that's how the owners saw it.
46:52When you talk about your war
46:54with the NBA,
46:55is this,
46:56to put it quite bluntly,
46:57the poor cousins
46:58trying to get the rich cousins
47:00to share the family well?
47:01We frankly have such solid,
47:05well-heeled ownership
47:07that we're not the poor cousins,
47:09but it's suicidal
47:09to go on this way.
47:11Even though the NBA
47:12and the ABA
47:13were involved
47:13in a vicious
47:15and very heated battle
47:17over supremacy
47:19at professional basketball,
47:20there still was enough
47:22shared and mutual interest
47:23between the ownership
47:24of both the ABA
47:25and the NBA
47:25to realize
47:26we're both paying out
47:27way more in salaries
47:29than we want to.
47:31The players started
47:32to understand
47:33and got smart.
47:34We could play them
47:35against each other
47:36and that started
47:37driving the salaries up.
47:39You think about
47:40you had a monopoly
47:41and you could pay
47:42somebody $10,000.
47:44Now you got another suitor
47:45and now the salaries
47:46are jumping up
47:47to like $80,000,
47:48$90,000,
47:49$100,000.
47:50That's a big gap
47:51when you start
47:51multiplying that
47:52by all the players
47:53in the league.
47:54That really forced
47:56the hand of the NBA
47:57to say,
47:58hey, look,
47:58if we merge with them
48:01then maybe we can
48:02control these salaries
48:04that have started
48:04getting out of hand.
48:06While the NBA
48:07now wanted a merger,
48:08the ABA
48:10absolutely needed one.
48:12There is no internet
48:13or YouTube then.
48:15ESPN doesn't exist at all.
48:17Not that many local
48:18ABA games
48:19are on television.
48:20They didn't have
48:21a network television contract.
48:23In the early 70s
48:24when the two leagues
48:25were still competing
48:25against one another,
48:26the NBA
48:27did have a contract
48:29for national television rights.
48:30This was a problem
48:31for the ABA.
48:33Periodically,
48:33there would be
48:34some network coverage
48:35of their games,
48:36but they did not have
48:36a national television contract.
48:38The ABA,
48:40they didn't have enough money
48:42to sustain on their own.
48:43So they had to get
48:45this merger to happen
48:47and they did it.
48:54There was going to be
48:55a merger.
48:56The ABA really established
48:58an identity
48:59as a high-flying,
49:01free-flowing,
49:02exciting brand
49:03of basketball
49:04that you are not seeing
49:05in the NBA.
49:08All of us
49:09that were fortunate enough
49:10to play in the ABA,
49:11the ultimate goal,
49:12I think,
49:13right from the beginning
49:13was all these guys
49:15all wanted to be
49:16in the NBA.
49:19This is a great thing
49:21for the ABA
49:23because a lot of owners
49:25bought into it
49:25as an investment,
49:26like, hey,
49:26we're going to merge
49:27with the NBA
49:27and I'll reap
49:28the benefits of that.
49:30All of a sudden,
49:32those franchises
49:33that they paid
49:34$100,000 for
49:35would be worth
49:36several million.
49:39So the ABA owners,
49:41they proved that,
49:42yeah,
49:42they were right
49:42the whole time
49:43and they did
49:44get the job done.
49:47Well,
49:48the ABA got hit
49:49with a little something
49:50they wasn't expecting.
49:54It's a fascinating
49:56situation
49:57because
49:57the owners
49:59in both leagues
50:00were very much
50:01in favor of a merger.
50:03But
50:04the NBA players
50:05were absolutely
50:06against a merger.
50:11There were two leagues.
50:12The players were able
50:13to negotiate
50:14in both leagues
50:15and players'
50:16salaries skyrocketed
50:18as a result
50:19of the existence
50:19of the ABA.
50:21And so the players
50:22in 1970
50:24absolutely wanted
50:24to keep it that way.
50:26Oscar Robertson,
50:27who was the president
50:28of the NBA
50:28Players Association,
50:31they recognized
50:32that a merger agreement
50:33was not going
50:34to reflect
50:35the interests
50:35of the players
50:36so much as
50:36the interests
50:37of the owners.
50:40The merger itself
50:41is right now
50:42it's in an illegal form.
50:44We actually have
50:45an injunction
50:45against the merger talks
50:46which doesn't have been
50:47going on anyway.
50:49So when we felt
50:50that we could get together
50:51and we'll show people
50:52clearly that a merger
50:53is not necessary.
50:55The Players Association
50:56brought a lawsuit
50:57that was called
50:58Robertson vs. the NBA.
51:00saying that this merger
51:02is going to represent
51:03a violation
51:04of the antitrust laws
51:05because it is going
51:06to restrict the freedom
51:07of workers
51:08to basically pursue
51:09the best deal
51:10for themselves.
51:11An injunction
51:12was entered by a judge
51:13and so that injunction
51:15didn't mean
51:16that the Robertson lawsuit
51:18was successful
51:18but it did mean
51:19they showed the judge
51:20enough that the judge
51:22said yeah,
51:22we're not going to merge
51:23until we can have a trial.
51:25So it stopped a merger.
51:3025 of 28
51:31pro basketball teams
51:32lost money last year.
51:34Pro basketball
51:35was a victim
51:35of a sports world
51:36that's grown bigger,
51:37more expensive
51:38and more complex
51:39than the American sports public
51:41is capable of supporting.
51:42What will die next?
51:44Well, a good bet
51:45would be
51:45the American Basketball Association.
51:50With no merger in sight,
51:52all-out war
51:53recommenced
51:54between the two leagues.
51:55The most valuable resource
51:57to fight for,
51:59superstar players.
52:01With their former stars,
52:03Spencer Haywood
52:04and Rick Barry
52:05already in NBA possession,
52:08the ABA knew
52:09it was imperative
52:10to keep their one
52:12remaining bankable headliner
52:14in the league.
52:17If you talk about
52:18the NBA,
52:19you want to kill
52:20the ABA,
52:21you go after Doc.
52:31Dr. J
52:32was the face
52:33of the league.
52:35There was this element of,
52:36hey,
52:37when is that gunslinger
52:38coming to town?
52:39When do we get
52:40to see him firsthand?
52:44Stay loose as a goose
52:45because I will be
52:46down there.
52:49Shooter.
52:50There was tremendous
52:51pressure on the ABA
52:52to sort of keep him
52:54on board.
52:54Had they lost him,
52:55they would have lost
52:56their largest draw
52:57and they may not have
52:58made it to the finish line
52:59ultimately with respect
52:59to the NBA.
53:00So, you know,
53:02the pressure was immense
53:03on the league
53:03to keep him in the league
53:05just because he was
53:06the meal ticket
53:07for not only
53:08the franchise
53:09but for the other
53:09teams as well
53:10and they recognized that.
53:16Julius Irving was
53:17a superstar
53:19after one year
53:21and the NBA
53:22wanted him
53:24and actually
53:25while he was
53:26going crazy
53:27in the ABA playoffs
53:28he was negotiating
53:30with the NBA.
53:33We felt very confident
53:35that we would be able
53:35to keep Julius
53:36in the league.
53:37However,
53:38we lost him.
53:47Most people
53:47don't know
53:48I played
53:48for the Atlanta Hawks.
53:50It's a great move
53:51for me
53:51and a great opportunity.
53:53This was the business
53:54side
53:55of basketball.
53:58Having women
53:59in positions
54:00to make decisions
54:01is not a bad thing.
54:03I had the confidence
54:04that I could
54:05build a house
54:06and win a championship.
54:08The spirits
54:09shock the basketball world.
54:11I was 22 years old.
54:13This is a dream job
54:14and it's done
54:15after two games.
54:16Back at the station
54:17they lied
54:18and said we're having
54:18technical difficulties.
54:20which they were
54:21because technically
54:21I was a 22 year old idiot.
54:49Which they were
55:19going to do
55:19going to be
55:19at the station
55:19and said you
55:19That's why
55:19a big company
55:20and it's
55:20and they were
55:20And they said I was
55:24You
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