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1972 NBA vs ABA All Star game

1970s1970s Posts: 3,093 ✭✭✭✭✭
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There was a lot of interleague play with these two opposing leagues, but only in ABA cities. The NBA did not want their fans to see the quality of the ABA players, even though the merger was going to happen eventually. WIlt Chamberlain, Artis Gilmore, Dr. J, Rick Barry, and the others

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    SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 11,734 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The ABA did have some very good players.

    I remember all of the back and forth, for or against, pro v. con discussion in the print and broadcast media over the issue of whether the two leagues should merge.

    The reality was that the ABA was not economically viable and would have gone out of business anyway. The NBA was not as financially viable as it is today and it saw a merger with the ABA as a way to grow and expand.

    The general public liked the idea of the star players of the ABA [primarily Dr. J; and secondarily others players like David Thompson, George Gervin, Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel, etc.] join the NBA.

    The SI pro basketball cover for the start of the 1976-77 NBA, post merger, season had Dr. J and Dave Cowens on the cover touting Dr. J's joining of the NBA.

    The merger of the ABA and the NBA resulted in 4 ABA teams (Nuggets, Spurs, Pacers and Nets) joining the NBA and expanding the number of teams in the league; resulted in numerous very good ABA players (i.e. Moses Malone) on ABA teams that folded and did not join the NBA being acquired by NBA teams through a supplemental disbursal draft; resulted in the owners of the St. Louis Spirits ABA franchise that folded getting a favorable contract term [that was obscure and deemed insignificant at the time] that turned out to give them a river of money in perpetuity [the contract provision gave the owners of the Spirits a right to forever receive a percentage of the TV revenue earned by the NBA and allocated to the Nuggets, Spurs, Pacers and Nets], and helped the NBA survive financially until it blossomed and thrived as a result of Magic and Bird coming into the league in the 1979-80 season and as a result of MJ coming into the league in the 1984-85 season.

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