Several former American Basketball Association players see similarities between their league and today's NBA.
Today the business model first adopted by the ABA has largely become the standard operating procedure for the world's biggest basketball league.
"When the merger happened, we knew the NBA was going to have a strong foundation," Basketball Hall of Famer George Gervin said Saturday in Indianapolis to The Associated Press. "People talk about how Magic [Johnson] and [Larry] Bird saved the NBA. I think it's ludicrous because we gave the NBA an infusion of excitement that made the league fun again."
Aside from the league's trademark red, white and blue basketball that served as a center piece for the dinner, just about everything else the league innovated with has eventually made its way to its rival league.
Most ABA teams lacked the size or the star power of the more established NBA, so they relied on tempo, showmanship and pizazz to attract fans. Gervin earned the nickname "Iceman" in San Antonio. Julius Erving became better known as "Dr. J."
Playoff series got nicknames, too, and there were times the backstories seemed as every bit as wild as the social culture of the 1960s and 1970s.
Numerous former ABA stars including Erving, Rick Barry, Moses Malone have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
With highlight reels playing over and over, many old players donning their shiny championship rings and the Pacers bringing out one of their three championship trophies, the talk inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse was more about satisfaction that the league had accomplished something many doubted it could.
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Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee said that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is convinced that esports is the next big thing in sports.
So, Silver has helped create a new esports league called the NBA 2K League.
"Adam Silver is seriously playing games. No, seriously. The smooth-as-silk, tech savvy NBA commissioner, who has long envisioned his league expanding into places such as Mexico City and India, is adding another destination to the mix: The lounge chair," Voisin wrote.
"NBA. WNBA. G League. Make room on the couch for the NBA 2K League, a "fourth" partner that features Kings Guard Gaming, 16 other NBA-operated teams, 102 players -- or gamers, if you prefer -- and opens its first four-month season in May.
"The format follows the pro sports model, with the teams competing during a regular season and a postseason. Games take place in two central studios. Players have to be 18 years old and are listed as guards, forwards and centers. The league pays first-round picks $35,000 and all other players $32,000, with housing provided by their respective franchises.
"Kings minority owner Shaquille O'Neal, serving as general manager of Kings Guard Gaming, selected Mitchell Franklin of Yorktown, Va., with the No. 4 overall pick. The only readily available scouting report on Franklin consists of his age (24), position (power forward), and handle (Mootyy).
"For those who think this all seems a little strange, who believe video gamers speak in tongues, want their kids shooting hoops in the driveway instead of working out on a screen, or prefer they stay in their rooms and read a book -- novel concept though that is these days -- then the first official esports league operated by a U.S. pro sports league is not for you.
"But for a rapidly growing audience, primarily those in the 18-35 age group, this is very much for them."
SPORTS QUIZ
How many ABA teams were absorbed into the NBA in 1976?
ANSWER
Four teams: The Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets (now Brooklyn Nets) and San Antonio Spurs
Sports on 04/09/2018