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American Basketball Association
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| American Basketball Association | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Sport | Basketball |
| Founded | 1967 |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Country(ies) |  United States |
| Ceased | 1977 |
| Last champion(s) | New York Nets |
- For the league that began in 1999, see American Basketball Association (2000-).
The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a professional basketball league founded in 1967, and eventually merged, in part, with the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Contents |
The original ABA was founded in 1967, competing with the well-established National Basketball Association, until reaching an agreement of merger in 1976. Ultimately, four ABA teams were absorbed into the older league: the New York Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs. Two other clubs, the Kentucky Colonels and the Spirits of St. Louis were disbanded upon the merger. A third, the Virginia Squires, had folded less than a month earlier, missing out on the opportunities that a merger might have provided.
The ABA distinguished itself from its older counterpart with a more wide-open, flashy style of offensive play, as well as differences in rules (a 30-second shot clock–as opposed to the NBA's 24-second clock–and use of a three-point field goal arc). Also, the ABA used a colorful red, white and blue ball, instead of the traditional orange ball. The freewheeling style of the ABA eventually caught on with fans, but the lack of a national television contract and protracted financial losses would spell doom for the ABA as an independent circuit. In its last year of existence, (1976), the ABA pioneered the now-popular slam dunk contest at its all-star game in Denver.
NBA great George Mikan was the first commissioner of the ABA, where he introduced both the 3-point line and the league's trademark red, white and blue basketball.