I was a ballboy for the ABA Memphis PROS, TAMS, & SOUNDS. I only missed one home game in 4 yrs. Can you imagine the wonderful memories I have. I also got to work 2 Harlem Globetrotter and one pre-season Boston Celtic game.
@@jefferyroy2566For Wendell Ladner I enjoyed watching him play because he gave 110% every game. He was always either running or sliding out of bounds going after loose balls. He was also a very nice guy and liked to cut up in the locker room with the other guys. I was very saddened when I heard about his death. For Johnny Neumann, most everybody thought he had the potential to be another Pistol Pete, but he quit practicing to become the really great player he had in him. He was a very nice guy. I also went to the same high school he did in Memphis. He was signed while at Ole Miss by my brother Charles Cavagnaro. Who at the time was the general manager of the Memphis Pros. For Rick Mount, he was a good player but I really wasn't very nice and acted like a prima donna
@@George-wn4rz I think Rick Mount got bitter when the Pacers played his point guard from Purdue Billy Keller over Rick . I know different positions - But Keller was going 36 to 40 minutes a game and rick Mount was getting 10 to 16 minutes. Also Rick and "Slick Lenard" ( Pacers coach rally didin't get along at all). But in College Rick was All World and So great
THIS WAS WHEN DR.J WAS THE FACE OF BASKETBALL, AND THE SPECTACULAR MOVES AND DUNKS THAT WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. TO THE GREAT DR. JULIUS ERVING. THANKS FOR A WONDERFUL SHOW OF BASKETBALL TALENT AND SOME GREAT GAMES , THANK YOU.
Young man I congratulate you, well done. I was there watching Miami Floridians games in South Beach. There's never been anything like the ABA, it was fun, free, and flowing. The merger was a downer, and to this day the NBA continues to take itself much too seriously. Keep up the good work.
I remember the ABA well especially Dr. J. He's my all time favorite basketball player which means I was tickled pink when my Sixers ended up getting him in 1976. As for the league itself, I'm currently listening to an audio book Loose Balls about the ABA. I'm a fan of rebel leagues being a big fan of the ABA, WHA, and original USFL. The WFL wasn't around long enough to get attached to it. Oh, you mentioned the Nuggets using Bobby Jones to try to neutralize Doc, Dr. J and Bobby Jones would become very close friends and ended up winning a NBA title together for the Sixers in 1983.
Roger Brown is considered the greatest ABA player by a lot of his own piers. There is a documentary about Roger, from 2014 I believe. In that documentary, they show a still photo of the Pacer legends, and Darnell Hillman is holding an autographed game used ball, that belonged to my step-dad. My mom sold the ball recently, but I still have photo mentioned above. He was a huge ABA Pacer fan, and Darnell ended up working for him at a car dealership.
With all due respect to Roger, he had ZERO votes for MVP on the All ABA alltime team - which DID include some of his "peers". Dr. J dominated that vote, with Mel Daniels the ONLY other person to get more than one vote.
@@antoniotutt4894 To be fair, Roger WAS one of the 7 with unanimous votes to the alltime ABA team. Along with Dr. J, Artis Gillmore, Dan Issel, Louis Dampier, George Gervin, and Mel Daniels. So pretty elite company there. George McGinnes was the highest non-unanimous choice, at 44 of 50 possible votes.
I attended high school with "The Hawk." His exploits in those days are legendary. More to the point, he was not involved directly in the scandal because he-not knowing the actors in the scheme-merely introduced players to the gamblers. He was thoughtful, honest, and one to serve as an exemplary role model for youth. He was cheated out of his prime years in what proved to be a stellar career. "Foul," a book about his battle with the NBA is a must-read for ardent sports fans and those interested in social commentary of the 1960s.
True story: As a kid, I watched Hawk dunk over our Pacers Mel Daniels _from the top of the key_ in an Indiana Black Expo summer game. We loved Mel, an all-time Pacer great, but Hawk nearly blew the house down when he did that...sounded like a cannon went off when he hit that rim. Happened more than 50 years ago, remains nastiest dunk I've ever seen to this day. There is no second place lol "Foul" remains an all-time classic sports biography
Mel Daniels wasn't the shot blocker that Bill Russell was but Daniels was a better shooter. As far as other ABA greats go, there was Larry Kenon who was an outstanding NBA player after the merger, Nets guard Brian Taylor, Nets and Spurs center Billy Paultz, Spurs guard James Silas, Stars and Squires Willie Wise, Pacers, Sounds, and Stars guard Roger Brown, Pacers forward George McGinnis, and Nuggets and Colonels center Dan Issel. Dan Issel, Roger Brown, and George McGinnis in my opinion are the best of the rest of this list but of course there are other outstanding ABA players not mentioned by me. Mt favorite player you didn't mention is probably Rger Brown who was. NY city playground legend as well as a great pro player. Of course, Issel and McGinnis had excellent NBA careers as well.
I would add Charlie Scott to the list. He was a very good player. Swen Nater was tough. Donnie Freeman, James Jones, Ron Boone, Joe Caldwell, and Freddie Lewis were instrumental also !
In the final season of the ABA, Don Buse led the league in both assists AND steals. Care to guess who lead the NBA in the first season AFTER the merger?
@@bricefleckenstein9666It was Don Buse, right? Dude could deal dimes then "D" up the other guards till they were dead! He was the secret sauce coming over from the ABA to that tired old league, and the answer to that unusual bit of trivia.
Larry Kenon, Freddy Lewis, John Williamson. Brian Taylor, Moses Malone, Dan Issel, Maurice Lucas, George McGinnis, Marvvin Barns, and more. ABA played the NBA twice in All Star games. ABA led all time pre season match ups too. Vegas offered $1,000,000 winner take all for 74 Nets vs Celtics in a super series. ABA was a great league. 1st year of merger the Nuggets went to western conference finals vs Trailblazers and lost in 6. Trailblazers had 2 ABA greats that helped. Dave Twardic and Maurice Lucas. ABA players dominated the all star line ups for both east and west. Check out remembering the ABA
Dan Issel, w Kentucky Colonels + Denver was an icon of ABA. I remember the Jack Lambert- like photo of him w/o his top denture. As a Ct. native I was also haply that U Conn legends Wes Balisouklia(?) a3 pt. specialist + Toby Kimball got ABA contracts. Also "Super" John Williamson grom New Haven was essential player in Nets final Championship. Enjoyed the program. Good memories.
The ABA did NOT invent the 3 point shot. That innovation goes to the ABL. It was also used in the EPBL and NABL prior to adoption in the ABA. The ABA did introduce the red, white and blue ball.
@@trapezemusic right, but it's not their innovation like the slam dunk contest, the three-point shot was tested sporadically in college games, and then it was Abe Saperstein's idea to introduce the 3-point shot into a professional league
1:10 The NBA hated to admit that after the first 2-3 years, the ABA had reached parity with them - any by 4-5 years BEFORE the merger was the superior league overall.
That is true! The ABA especially in the last 3 years of it's existence was crushing the NBA in exhibition games and won the overall series ! The ABA had truly great players
@@stevenasser368 Also, the ABA champion won it's series with the NBA champion even before THAT - I don't think the ABA lost even ONE of those particular series. Some of the ABA-NBA exhibition games in each series were played under ABA rules, some under NBA rules (the only significant difference being the 3 point line).
I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and I was nine years old in 1975 when the Kentucky Colonels won the ABA Championship. Louie Dampier is my favorite basketball player of all time!
The Kentucky Colonels and the Indiana Pacers had perhaps the best rivalry in the ABA, extending into the playoffs. The Pacers announcer called it "the Battle of I-65."
Excellent look at the ABA! I grew up watching the Kentucky Colonels and the rest of the ABA. Louie Dampier was indeed the heart of the ABA, playing from day 1 to the final game, which was in the 1976 playoffs against the Denver Nuggets. When Louie would shoot that 3-pointer, the crowd would go into such a state of anticipation, watching that pinwheel-looking ball spin for 25 feet! It was like baseball fans following a long ball out to the fence with their eyes. And when he'd hit it, it was just like a home run. Since Louie Dampier proved how the 3-pointer could make the game fan-friendly and exciting, it is he who is responsible for the NBA and the college game adopting the 3. That makes him one of the most influential players ever.
Julius was the greatest ABA player ever. It's not even close. Loved Roger Brown, David Thompson, Billy Cunningham, Rick Barry, Larry Kenon, Dan Issel, and (most of all) Connie Hawkins. But Julius WAS the league. Spencer Haywood was the most important player (besides Doc). Because of him, the NBA started signing underclassmen. Hawkins was a very old 27 when he finally beat the NBA in court and get into the league. The ABA didn't have a lot of big men. The one truly big man who was a pure center (unlike Issel and Cunningham) was Artis Gilmore. Gilmore was the strongest man in the league (and second-strongest man ever to play in the NBA. Hold on, Barry didn't sit because of "a clause in his contract." He sat because of the dreaded Reserve Clause, which was in EVERY player's contract, not just Barry's. It's the same thing that kept Wilt from playing for San Diego. Also, the implication that "he shot them like this (Barry's free throws) makes it sound like it was a handicap. Barry was a great free throw shooter BECAUSE he mastered the underhand style. The CBA was NOT "semi-pro." It was a professional league, originally known as the Eastern League. Using Bill Russell as an archetype for Mel Daniels seems fair. Yes, Doc was the most exciting player ever. EVER. But what was really great about Julius was how much impact he'd have on a game without making spectacular plays. He'd pop a mid-range jumper off the glass late in the game and you'd suddenly realize he had 30-something--without you even noticing. Let's not get carried away with the totality of Gilmore's contract. Like many of the contracts given those days, it was based on the Dolgoff Plan--where a lot of the money was deferred. The up-front money was nowhere close to what was announced, but players (for the most part) saw that money eventually. But the time-value of money means those payments were worth a lot less. Go read "Loose Balls" by Terry Pluto for an oral history of the ABA. The best book ever written about the league.
@@JuanAlmonte-rf7xk Marvin "Bad News" Barns was an amazing talent, but he was coddled too much and prone to excesses--including drug abuse--since his days at Providence. Once, when playing for the Spirit of Saint Louis, the team was taking a 1-hour flight that crossed a time zone. Thus, it would land "earlier" than it took off. Marvin refused to board the aircraft. "I ain't getting into no time machine, man." He rented a car instead and drove to the next city. Barnes struggled in the NBA and was eventually cut from the Clippers after a middling NBA career. He kicked around San Diego, specializing in getting high and committing thefts to pay for it. He even did some jail time. Eventually, he straightened out, but then relapsed and died young. Barnes just might be the biggest self-inflicted waste of talent ever.
@@JuanAlmonte-rf7xk Bob was the team's announcer back then, his first professional job. To read more anecdotes like that from the ABA, I highly recommend "Loose Balls" by Terry Pluto. It is a first-person account of many aspects of the ABA, told by the people who lived it.
A league of unbelievably great players ! They need much more recognition for their accomplishments than they get. Many of them merged thankfully with the NBA.
After Barry got hurt, it was Warren Jabali , the 68-69 Rookie of the Year, that led the Oakland Oaks to to the title in the ABA's second season. Averaged 33 points per game in the finals vs. the Pacers. He was the MVP of the '73 All-Star Game. A ferocious dunker though he was only 6'2". Barry thought he was one of the best guards he ever played with or against.
My ABA best starting 5 would be: To begin with I'd have to say, any list that doesn't have him on it I couldn't even consider a serious list, the greatest ABA player of all-time, Julius 'Dr.J.' Erving, George McGuinness(who we just very recently sadly lost), David Thompson, Dan Issel, & The 'Iceman' George Gervin. My 6th man depending on what position I needed a 6th man in the most would be (guard)-Louis Dampier, the league's all-time leading scorer. (Forward)-Darnell Hillman, and (Center)-Artis Gilmore.
Great video, but Dan Issel has to be on the list of greatest players of the ABA. He was truly one of the best scorers and rebounders in the league. He even finished his career in fourth place all time in scoring (both ABA & NBA) behind only Kareem, Wilt and Dr. J. I'm just glad you started out with David Thompson and had Artist Gilmore on your list. Artist was my favorite player growing up (with David and Dan right behind him). I grew up in Denver and remember the great team we had. I was also a huge Kentucky fan, having been born there (but moved to Denver when I was a baby). Really though Denver would win that last championship. After all, in the final ABA all-star game it was the all-stars vs Denver Nuggets...and the Nuggets won.
Saw many of these games as a kid and loved every minute of the ABA games. Best player I ever saw in the ABA was Connie Hawkins (Pittsburgh Pipers). Great book on Connie 'Foul! The Connie Hawkins Story' by David Wolf - highly recommended...
Darnell Hillman had jumped over 7 feet high in track at San Jose. It was known that he could touch the top of the backboard, and his alfro could sometimes touch the rim when playing !
Pacers, thanks for mentioning they won the most ABA championships. Roger Brown, you should have mentioned also. In High school he out scored Connie Hawkins. Down Town Roger Brown! Freddie Lewis, Billy Keller, Bob Netelicky,
Dan Issel? this forward wasn't flashy, but think of him as similar to Rick Barry ABA/John Havlicek ABA champion (1975) NBA All-Star (1977) 6× ABA All-Star (1971-1976) ABA All-Star Game MVP (1972) All-ABA First Team (1972) 4× All-ABA Second Team (1971, 1973, 1974, 1976) ABA Rookie of the Year (1971) ABA scoring champion (1971) J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (1985) ABA All-Time Team No. 44 retired by Denver Nuggets 1 x NBA All-Star 76-77 (not sure why since he avg'd 20 ppg for years during his seven yrs in the NBA ) 15K points ABA and 25 ppg, 12K points NBA and 21 ppg, 27,482 total points, averaged 78 games per season but Dan is never talked about WFT!
Absolutely, Issel was a huge name and proved he was legit when he did more of the same thing in the NBA. If the NBA counted his ABA stats it wouldn’t be any argument that he was one of the best of all time
Issel was not remotely like, or as good as, Barry. But, yes, he is the ABA player who most deserved to be on this list but wasn't. Well...maybe Roger Brown, but I'd go with Issel.
Good video but you left out John 'Stepladder' Willamson, Larry Kenon (was only overshadowed by Erving), and Moses Malone (1st HS player drafted directly into the ABA). I played with that basketball as a kid because of that league style. I did not know that Mel Daniels had mentored Bird at ISU so thanks for that.
I saw all these players in the aba I lived about 20 minutes away from Nassau coliseum home of the nets and Islanders. Connie Hawkins was the best player I ever saw. Spencer heywood was a great player n a great guy he lives in my adopted hometown of Las Vegas n I see him around town sometimes also he has 4 joints in his fingers instead of 3
Kenny Walker, also had the monikor skywalker, but with a twist...due to his last name...Kenny Sky Walker..but DT was a true skywalker..his vertical was off the charts..rumor was he could brab a quarter from the top of the backboard...thx for the great content and GL with channel..
Dan Issel (#44) played for the Kentucky Colonels at the same time as Louis Dampier and Artis Gilmore. He was with the Denver Nuggets when the NBA and ABA merged. Dan has always been a fan favorite because he came from my hometown of Batavia, IL where I saw just how good he was in high school. Dan would go on to set records for the Kentucky Wildcats. UK basketball fans still tell me that Issel's stats still hold the record. All I had to do was mention the name of Dan Issel and they'd take the conversation from there! Issel's name was synonymous with the legendary Adolph Rupp, who built upon what Donovan Van Der Snick taught Dan at Batavia High School.
Super John Williamson (RIP) was a lot better than his stat sheet. When he was hot, he was nuclear! I lived in the NY area and could watch the ABA Nets. That was a great team. I tell youngsters that they only have seen half of Dr. J in Philly. Brian Taylor, Super John, Larry Kenon, and Dr. J. were a tough team.
My of my greatest sports regrets is that the Colonels did not move to the NBA. The only pro basketball game I have ever attended was at Freedom Hall in the mid-70s when the Nets came in to play the Colonels. Kentucky won, and Gilmore scored 28 points. Dr J had 23 points.
If not for Rick Barry, there would be no ABA to speak of. It would have folded after two or three seasons. By the start of its second season (1968), he and Wilt were arguably the two best players in the world. He gave the ABA the kind of legitimacy that it had never had to that point and salaries spiked as a result. A lot of basketball players owe him. Big time.
@@SuperbSportMedia The ABA was on its last legs even with Doc when it merged with the NBA. Only three of its teams survived -- Nets, Nuggets and Spurs.
I think you are wrong there sir Julius Dr.J Erving was the ABA he was the Jordan before Jordan had his signature show made a movie first to do commercials and everyone was Dr.J fans everyone wanted to see doc two times ABA Champ 3 time mvp unstoppable dunked on everyone ABA best player
@@Phillip-x4y Erving did not save the ABA. In fact, the ABA was on its death bed even with Doc in his athletic prime -- only three teams made the jump to the NBA. Because the ABA didn't have a network TV deal, he was a well-kept secret except in the few cities that had teams. I lived in Chicago, the No. 2 market in the country, and the 1976 Finals were the first and last ABA games ever televised there.
On the contrare, Barry's underhand free throw was/is technically more accurate than its overhand cousin. Shot on a true line. My HS coach taught us this style. His philosophy was that shooting free throws like this was more adaptable late in the game when arms tired. It didn't win any favors but we had to do it that way. Rick Barry's sons shot that way too.
The ABA and NBA did not merge. Rather, the NBA expanded -- it agreed to add four of seven ABA teams. (The ABA started its final season with nine teams, but two folded.) The other three were left to die. Consider that the ABA finished with fewer teams than it started with, and it was a failure. Other than a lot of Afros and a red, white and blue ball, the ABA didn't have a pot to piss in when all was said and done. (Fun Fact: 48 years later, the Pacers and Nets still haven't won an NBA championship. And it took the Nuggets 47 years to finally get one.)
The NBA has morphed into the streetball that the ABA popularized decades ago, which is why it's so unpopular these days. If the NBA had a red, white and blue ball, one wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Lots of dunks and 3-pointers but very little else.
I knew Dr. J not from basketball, although i definitely knew he was a pro hooper, this being because I wouldn't get into sports till the early 80s, but J transcended the sport and was just in the zeighest. For me, it was his image and cartoon likeness plastered in every ad section from mid to late 70s Marvel comics along with Rick Berry (and Evel Knievel). In the late 80s, we used to explain to kids even then who J and Berry were and like by saying they were the Jordan and Bird of their day.
Us old-time Pacer fans remind you that Roger Brown and George McGinnis need to be added to this list. Also: Willie Wise, Moses Malone, Billy Cunningham
Connie Hawkins was the baddest cat back then. Doc patterned palming the ball and laying it up with one hand like Hawkins. They tried to call Doc “Baby Hawk” but Connie liked the way Julius moved and “operated”, like a doctor. Thus Julius Ervin became DoctorJ; he was famous on the Polo Grounds for sure!!!!!!!!
I used to go to the LOS ANGELES STARS games in 1970 coach Bill Sharmon beat Spencer Haywood Mel Daniel but los too Indiana pacers in the ABA championship 11,000 attendance I seen Rick Barry ,Larry Brown,Mack Calvin, Doug Moe's I like the 3 pointers the beach basketball I always sand in the front roll the next season the stars move to Utah.
The ABA was on its last legs even with Doc when it merged with the NBA. Only three of its teams survived -- Nets, Nuggets and Spurs. And it took decades for any of them to win an NBA title. (The Nets still don't have one.)
@@brucescott4261 How could I forget the Pacers?! (Slap forehead here.) Answer: Probably because they haven't won squat since they left the ABA 49 years ago.
The Virginia squires. had Rick Barry George gervin and Julius erving. Can you imagine if they were able to keep all three players. That would have been your first super team
@@RayManzarekRocks How can you say the Pacers haven't won squat in the NBA? They've made the NBA Finals once and the Eastern Conference finals 9 times, including their surprising run this past season. Hall of Famer Reggie Miller and Friends played some great ball in the 1990s, including taking MJ's Bulls to Game 7 of the 1998 conference finals.
too bad we couldn't get Barry and Erving on the nets at the same time. later i read that Kareem was in talks about joining the NY nets, but nothing came of it. imagine that front line???.
Thanks for this. Love Dr J and the ABA. 🤗💜💫✨
Glad you enjoyed it!
I was a ballboy for the ABA Memphis PROS, TAMS, & SOUNDS. I only missed one home game in 4 yrs. Can you imagine the wonderful memories I have. I also got to work 2 Harlem Globetrotter and one pre-season Boston Celtic game.
Do you have any Wendell Ladner stories? Did Johnny Neumann underachieve in the pros, or was merely an OK player, kinda like Rick Mount?
@@jefferyroy2566For Wendell Ladner I enjoyed watching him play because he gave 110% every game. He was always either running or sliding out of bounds going after loose balls. He was also a very nice guy and liked to cut up in the locker room with the other guys. I was very saddened when I heard about his death. For Johnny Neumann, most everybody thought he had the potential to be another Pistol Pete, but he quit practicing to become the really great player he had in him. He was a very nice guy. I also went to the same high school he did in Memphis. He was signed while at Ole Miss by my brother Charles Cavagnaro. Who at the time was the general manager of the Memphis Pros. For Rick Mount, he was a good player but I really wasn't very nice and acted like a prima donna
Johnny neuman played for the Buffalo braves ater the merger but he did not play very eell
@@jefferyroy2566
@@George-wn4rz I think Rick Mount got bitter when the Pacers played his point guard from Purdue Billy Keller over Rick . I know different positions - But Keller was going 36 to 40 minutes a game and rick Mount was getting 10 to 16 minutes. Also Rick and "Slick Lenard" ( Pacers coach rally didin't get along at all). But in College Rick was All World and So great
Yes, loved the ABA.
Congrats to the producer of this film. You really captured the "feel" of the ABA, THANKS!
Dan Issel , Darnell Hillman , Louie Dampier , Zelmo Beatty and on and on and on and on ! Those were the days ! Yes they were !
Don't forget Charlie Scott
Indeed. And guys like Roger Brown, Marvin " Bad News " Barnes, Mel Daniels,, and the late George McGuiness.
Doc, Skywalker & Ice then let's go with Moses & The Hawk
Bobby Jones as 6th man... remember he had the highest FG % in ABA
A bunch of us used to drive 90 miles to Pittsburgh to watch the Hawk. Just incredible.
THIS WAS WHEN DR.J WAS THE FACE OF BASKETBALL, AND THE SPECTACULAR MOVES AND DUNKS THAT WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. TO THE GREAT DR. JULIUS ERVING. THANKS FOR A WONDERFUL SHOW OF BASKETBALL TALENT AND SOME GREAT GAMES , THANK YOU.
Well said Sir!
Young man I congratulate you, well done. I was there watching Miami Floridians games in South Beach. There's never been anything like the ABA, it was fun, free, and flowing. The merger was a downer, and to this day the NBA continues to take itself much too seriously. Keep up the good work.
Thank you, that means a lot to us!
I remember the ABA well especially Dr. J. He's my all time favorite basketball player which means I was tickled pink when my Sixers ended up getting him in 1976. As for the league itself, I'm currently listening to an audio book Loose Balls about the ABA. I'm a fan of rebel leagues being a big fan of the ABA, WHA, and original USFL. The WFL wasn't around long enough to get attached to it. Oh, you mentioned the Nuggets using Bobby Jones to try to neutralize Doc, Dr. J and Bobby Jones would become very close friends and ended up winning a NBA title together for the Sixers in 1983.
Thanks for this, paints a better picture of the era and what it was like to grow up around the game.
Roger Brown is considered the greatest ABA player by a lot of his own piers. There is a documentary about Roger, from 2014 I believe. In that documentary, they show a still photo of the Pacer legends, and Darnell Hillman is holding an autographed game used ball, that belonged to my step-dad. My mom sold the ball recently, but I still have photo mentioned above. He was a huge ABA Pacer fan, and Darnell ended up working for him at a car dealership.
Don't you mean peers. Pier is something you fish off of.
With all due respect to Roger, he had ZERO votes for MVP on the All ABA alltime team - which DID include some of his "peers".
Dr. J dominated that vote, with Mel Daniels the ONLY other person to get more than one vote.
No way be for real!
@@antoniotutt4894 To be fair, Roger WAS one of the 7 with unanimous votes to the alltime ABA team.
Along with Dr. J, Artis Gillmore, Dan Issel, Louis Dampier, George Gervin, and Mel Daniels.
So pretty elite company there.
George McGinnes was the highest non-unanimous choice, at 44 of 50 possible votes.
@@bricefleckenstein9666 It must have been a popularity contest if Barry didn't get more votes than that.
I attended high school with "The Hawk." His exploits in those days are legendary. More to the point, he was not involved directly in the scandal because he-not knowing the actors in the scheme-merely introduced players to the gamblers. He was thoughtful, honest, and one to serve as an exemplary role model for youth. He was cheated out of his prime years in what proved to be a stellar career. "Foul," a book about his battle with the NBA is a must-read for ardent sports fans and those interested in social commentary of the 1960s.
True story: As a kid, I watched Hawk dunk over our Pacers Mel Daniels _from the top of the key_ in an Indiana Black Expo summer game. We loved Mel, an all-time Pacer great, but Hawk nearly blew the house down when he did that...sounded like a cannon went off when he hit that rim. Happened more than 50 years ago, remains nastiest dunk I've ever seen to this day. There is no second place lol
"Foul" remains an all-time classic sports biography
Mel Daniels wasn't the shot blocker that Bill Russell was but Daniels was a better shooter. As far as other ABA greats go, there was Larry Kenon who was an outstanding NBA player after the merger, Nets guard Brian Taylor, Nets and Spurs center Billy Paultz, Spurs guard James Silas, Stars and Squires Willie Wise, Pacers, Sounds, and Stars guard Roger Brown, Pacers forward George McGinnis, and Nuggets and Colonels center Dan Issel. Dan Issel, Roger Brown, and George McGinnis in my opinion are the best of the rest of this list but of course there are other outstanding ABA players not mentioned by me. Mt favorite player you didn't mention is probably Rger Brown who was. NY city playground legend as well as a great pro player. Of course, Issel and McGinnis had excellent NBA careers as well.
Good names, Issel was huge for the ABA and proved he belonged right away. Thanks for contributing to this under-appreciated time period!
I would add Charlie Scott to the list. He was a very good player. Swen Nater was tough. Donnie Freeman, James Jones, Ron Boone, Joe Caldwell, and Freddie Lewis were instrumental also !
@@kevinswihart6867 Yeah, there were a number of ABA players that were good players. The players you mention were fine players.
In the final season of the ABA, Don Buse led the league in both assists AND steals.
Care to guess who lead the NBA in the first season AFTER the merger?
@@bricefleckenstein9666It was Don Buse, right? Dude could deal dimes then "D" up the other guards till they were dead! He was the secret sauce coming over from the ABA to that tired old league, and the answer to that unusual bit of trivia.
Great video! I love hearing about NBA history. Rick Barry was so good it's insane. I'd say he deserves to be top 30 to 20 all time.
Glad you enjoyed it, I tend to agree. Barry is criminally underrated
Easily, absolutely.
TOP TEN
RIP George McGinnis, former Indiana Pacer!❤
RIP!!
And Sixer.
When did George McGinnis pass away ???
@@stanleygay7579 December 14, 2023.
Larry Kenon, Freddy Lewis, John Williamson. Brian Taylor, Moses Malone, Dan Issel, Maurice Lucas, George McGinnis, Marvvin Barns, and more. ABA played the NBA twice in All Star games. ABA led all time pre season match ups too. Vegas offered $1,000,000 winner take all for 74 Nets vs Celtics in a super series. ABA was a great league. 1st year of merger the Nuggets went to western conference finals vs Trailblazers and lost in 6. Trailblazers had 2 ABA greats that helped. Dave Twardic and Maurice Lucas. ABA players dominated the all star line ups for both east and west. Check out remembering the ABA
Mel Daniels was a legitimate bad ass center
I got to see the spurs in PHX. Ice man special k..Walter Davis...Alvan adames
Spirits of St. Louis, Bad News Barnes.
@JamesMiller-e2f great talent and tough.
Louie Dampier's three point percentage was in the high thirties and averaging about 6 assists per game.
Very good & informative video I thoroughly enjoyed it I was born in the 1960s & grew up in the 70s remember & enjoy the history thank you .
Happy to be right by you, thanks!
Dan Issel, w Kentucky Colonels + Denver was an icon of ABA. I remember the Jack Lambert- like photo of him w/o his top denture. As a Ct. native I was also haply that U Conn legends Wes Balisouklia(?) a3 pt. specialist + Toby Kimball got ABA contracts. Also "Super" John Williamson grom New Haven was essential player in Nets final Championship. Enjoyed the program.
Good memories.
You forgot Roger Brown and George McGinnis
Good call on both
It is inexcusable that Roger Brown was not included.
The ABA did NOT invent the 3 point shot. That innovation goes to the ABL. It was also used in the EPBL and NABL prior to adoption in the ABA. The ABA did introduce the red, white and blue ball.
Thank you for that info, I appreciate that
True, but the ABA popularized the 3-point play.
Nobody cares about what you have to say. We only care about the ABA. We were the ones who watch those knickers play.
@@trapezemusic right, but it's not their innovation like the slam dunk contest,
the three-point shot was tested sporadically in college games, and then it was Abe Saperstein's idea to introduce the 3-point shot into a professional league
George Mikan came up with the red, white, and blue ball because he couldn't see the regular orange ball very well.
This is a fantastic video. Thanks for posting this......I was a huge fan of Billy Keller and John Roche
1:10
The NBA hated to admit that after the first 2-3 years, the ABA had reached parity with them - any by 4-5 years BEFORE the merger was the superior league overall.
That is true! The ABA especially in the last 3 years of it's existence was crushing the NBA in exhibition games and won the overall series ! The ABA had truly great players
@@stevenasser368 Also, the ABA champion won it's series with the NBA champion even before THAT - I don't think the ABA lost even ONE of those particular series.
Some of the ABA-NBA exhibition games in each series were played under ABA rules, some under NBA rules (the only significant difference being the 3 point line).
Very entertaining video. You did a great job.
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks
I love basketball history. This is well done. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Never be forgotten. Greatest league ever. Nothing about the spirit s of St. Louis. They were a big part of ABA history. Amazing story
Nice Job RED .................... Cool VIDEOS
I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and I was nine years old in 1975 when the Kentucky Colonels won the ABA Championship. Louie Dampier is my favorite basketball player of all time!
The Kentucky Colonels and the Indiana Pacers had perhaps the best rivalry in the ABA, extending into the playoffs. The Pacers announcer called it "the Battle of I-65."
Spencer Haywood and Connie Hawkubs were great. I lived through this time so I knew all these players
Excellent look at the ABA! I grew up watching the Kentucky Colonels and the rest of the ABA. Louie Dampier was indeed the heart of the ABA, playing from day 1 to the final game, which was in the 1976 playoffs against the Denver Nuggets. When Louie would shoot that 3-pointer, the crowd would go into such a state of anticipation, watching that pinwheel-looking ball spin for 25 feet! It was like baseball fans following a long ball out to the fence with their eyes. And when he'd hit it, it was just like a home run.
Since Louie Dampier proved how the 3-pointer could make the game fan-friendly and exciting, it is he who is responsible for the NBA and the college game adopting the 3. That makes him one of the most influential players ever.
Maurice Lucas.
Dan Issel. Moses Malone.
Julius was the greatest ABA player ever. It's not even close. Loved Roger Brown, David Thompson, Billy Cunningham, Rick Barry, Larry Kenon, Dan Issel, and (most of all) Connie Hawkins. But Julius WAS the league.
Spencer Haywood was the most important player (besides Doc). Because of him, the NBA started signing underclassmen.
Hawkins was a very old 27 when he finally beat the NBA in court and get into the league.
The ABA didn't have a lot of big men. The one truly big man who was a pure center (unlike Issel and Cunningham) was Artis Gilmore. Gilmore was the strongest man in the league (and second-strongest man ever to play in the NBA.
Hold on, Barry didn't sit because of "a clause in his contract." He sat because of the dreaded Reserve Clause, which was in EVERY player's contract, not just Barry's. It's the same thing that kept Wilt from playing for San Diego.
Also, the implication that "he shot them like this (Barry's free throws) makes it sound like it was a handicap. Barry was a great free throw shooter BECAUSE he mastered the underhand style.
The CBA was NOT "semi-pro." It was a professional league, originally known as the Eastern League.
Using Bill Russell as an archetype for Mel Daniels seems fair.
Yes, Doc was the most exciting player ever. EVER. But what was really great about Julius was how much impact he'd have on a game without making spectacular plays. He'd pop a mid-range jumper off the glass late in the game and you'd suddenly realize he had 30-something--without you even noticing.
Let's not get carried away with the totality of Gilmore's contract. Like many of the contracts given those days, it was based on the Dolgoff Plan--where a lot of the money was deferred. The up-front money was nowhere close to what was announced, but players (for the most part) saw that money eventually. But the time-value of money means those payments were worth a lot less.
Go read "Loose Balls" by Terry Pluto for an oral history of the ABA. The best book ever written about the league.
Thank you for this reply, you’ve taught me a couple of things I didn’t know!
Great job dude,how about the ultra talented but crazy Marvin Barnes
@@JuanAlmonte-rf7xk Marvin "Bad News" Barns was an amazing talent, but he was coddled too much and prone to excesses--including drug abuse--since his days at Providence.
Once, when playing for the Spirit of Saint Louis, the team was taking a 1-hour flight that crossed a time zone. Thus, it would land "earlier" than it took off. Marvin refused to board the aircraft. "I ain't getting into no time machine, man." He rented a car instead and drove to the next city.
Barnes struggled in the NBA and was eventually cut from the Clippers after a middling NBA career. He kicked around San Diego, specializing in getting high and committing thefts to pay for it. He even did some jail time. Eventually, he straightened out, but then relapsed and died young. Barnes just might be the biggest self-inflicted waste of talent ever.
@@richdouglas2311 :Yes the great Bob Costas tells that story😂😂
@@JuanAlmonte-rf7xk Bob was the team's announcer back then, his first professional job. To read more anecdotes like that from the ABA, I highly recommend "Loose Balls" by Terry Pluto. It is a first-person account of many aspects of the ABA, told by the people who lived it.
A league of unbelievably great players ! They need much more recognition for their accomplishments than they get. Many of them merged thankfully with the NBA.
Let’s see if the NBA follows suit with the MLB and includes the statistics from the ABA!
Awesome footage !_! Great narration ^_^
After Barry got hurt, it was Warren Jabali , the 68-69 Rookie of the Year, that led the Oakland Oaks to to the title in the ABA's second season. Averaged 33 points per game in the finals vs. the Pacers. He was the MVP of the '73 All-Star Game. A ferocious dunker though he was only 6'2". Barry thought he was one of the best guards he ever played with or against.
never heard of him.
Jabali was very talented but also a dirty player. He stomped on Jim Jarvis face and ended his career.
My ABA best starting 5 would be: To begin with I'd have to say, any list that doesn't have him on it I couldn't even consider a serious list, the greatest ABA player of all-time, Julius 'Dr.J.' Erving, George McGuinness(who we just very recently sadly lost), David Thompson, Dan Issel, & The 'Iceman' George Gervin. My 6th man depending on what position I needed a 6th man in the most would be (guard)-Louis Dampier, the league's all-time leading scorer. (Forward)-Darnell Hillman, and (Center)-Artis Gilmore.
can't really argue with that lineup!
@@SuperbSportMedia, I'd feel comfortable taking my 5 against anyone else's ABA 5.
@@SuperbSportMedia I can. For a start... it includes McGinnis but not Barry?????
Great video, but Dan Issel has to be on the list of greatest players of the ABA. He was truly one of the best scorers and rebounders in the league. He even finished his career in fourth place all time in scoring (both ABA & NBA) behind only Kareem, Wilt and Dr. J. I'm just glad you started out with David Thompson and had Artist Gilmore on your list. Artist was my favorite player growing up (with David and Dan right behind him). I grew up in Denver and remember the great team we had. I was also a huge Kentucky fan, having been born there (but moved to Denver when I was a baby). Really though Denver would win that last championship. After all, in the final ABA all-star game it was the all-stars vs Denver Nuggets...and the Nuggets won.
Artis not Artist.
Dan Issel was one of the first players I thought of when I started watching this video. I don't see how he omitted Issel either.
Saw many of these games as a kid and loved every minute of the ABA games. Best player I ever saw in the ABA was Connie Hawkins (Pittsburgh Pipers). Great book on Connie 'Foul! The Connie Hawkins Story' by David Wolf - highly recommended...
Thank you for the book recommendation, I will have to check it out
I read FOUL in 8th grade.
Yes more on ABA others not on list Beaty, Wise and Issel
What about Moses Malone!
This channel fr needs at least 100k subs for such good content. Keep it up 💪
I appreciate that!
Excellent and deep video thanks
Man Dr.J is still the man. And then M. J. HE HAD THE FRO. Man look at his hair and hands.
He was more than Iconic, he's on the Mt. Rushmore of Superstar basketball players. He's the reason the merger HAD to happen!
Dr. Dunk Darnell Hillman has the Fro. Just ask Dr. J!
Darnell Hillman had jumped over 7 feet high in track at San Jose. It was known that he could touch the top of the backboard, and his alfro could sometimes touch the rim when playing !
mike's hairline was going backwards and he shaved it all. It started the trend.
Was a Md Terps fan and use to hate when Thompson was not allowed to dunk the ally oop pass , NC State had a great team
George mgginnis was a big name in the aba. Also Dan issell.
Pacers, thanks for mentioning they won the most ABA championships. Roger Brown, you should have mentioned also. In High school he out scored Connie Hawkins. Down Town Roger Brown! Freddie Lewis, Billy Keller, Bob Netelicky,
How could he leave off Roger Brown? Inexcusable.
Thanks for the research. Taught me a lot!
Dan Issel? this forward wasn't flashy, but think of him as similar to Rick Barry ABA/John Havlicek ABA champion (1975)
NBA All-Star (1977)
6× ABA All-Star (1971-1976)
ABA All-Star Game MVP (1972)
All-ABA First Team (1972)
4× All-ABA Second Team (1971, 1973, 1974, 1976)
ABA Rookie of the Year (1971)
ABA scoring champion (1971)
J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award (1985)
ABA All-Time Team
No. 44 retired by Denver Nuggets
1 x NBA All-Star 76-77 (not sure why since he avg'd 20 ppg for years during his seven yrs in the NBA )
15K points ABA and 25 ppg, 12K points NBA and 21 ppg, 27,482 total points, averaged 78 games per season
but Dan is never talked about WFT!
Absolutely, Issel was a huge name and proved he was legit when he did more of the same thing in the NBA. If the NBA counted his ABA stats it wouldn’t be any argument that he was one of the best of all time
Issel was not remotely like, or as good as, Barry. But, yes, he is the ABA player who most deserved to be on this list but wasn't. Well...maybe Roger Brown, but I'd go with Issel.
The book Loose Balls is a must for all who are interested in the ABA!
Never forgotten. Legend’s
Roger Brown needs to be included in your list. Nice video though.
Thank you !
Rick Berry, by far, the most underrated player in professional sports history.
Barry and Elgin Baylor and Oscar Robertson are the three most underrated and underrespected.
Hey how about a video of high flyer David Thompson and Monte Towe?
I would love to, if there is enough footage out there to make a video
Who remembers marvin bad news barnes
Good video but you left out John 'Stepladder' Willamson, Larry Kenon (was only overshadowed by Erving), and Moses Malone (1st HS player drafted directly into the ABA). I played with that basketball as a kid because of that league style. I did not know that Mel Daniels had mentored Bird at ISU so thanks for that.
No wonder Larry Bird played with a chip on his shoulder, because that is how Mel Daniels played. And they both were fantastic.
I saw all these players in the aba I lived about 20 minutes away from Nassau coliseum home of the nets and Islanders. Connie Hawkins was the best player I ever saw. Spencer heywood was a great player n a great guy he lives in my adopted hometown of Las Vegas n I see him around town sometimes also he has 4 joints in his fingers instead of 3
Wow great stories. I can’t deny that I’m a little jelly! Knowing legends before they’re gone is special
You should of put in Willie wise,Ron Boone,and Zelmo beauty
I was there living in an ABA city and loved every minute.
Kenny Walker, also had the monikor skywalker, but with a twist...due to his last name...Kenny Sky Walker..but DT was a true skywalker..his vertical was off the charts..rumor was he could brab a quarter from the top of the backboard...thx for the great content and GL with channel..
John Brisker
Dan Issel (#44) played for the Kentucky Colonels at the same time as Louis Dampier and Artis Gilmore. He was with the Denver Nuggets when the NBA and ABA merged.
Dan has always been a fan favorite because he came from my hometown of Batavia, IL where I saw just how good he was in high school.
Dan would go on to set records for the Kentucky Wildcats. UK basketball fans still tell me that Issel's stats still hold the record. All I had to do was mention the name of Dan Issel and they'd take the conversation from there!
Issel's name was synonymous with the legendary Adolph Rupp, who built upon what Donovan Van Der Snick taught Dan at Batavia High School.
They absorbed the ABA because of one player . Doctor J❤❤❤
Excellent Video bro 😎 🏀 💯
Glad you enjoyed it!
The ABA was an interesting league eventhough I was a baby when the league existed in the 1970s.....
Mel Daniels and the Pacers were basically the ABA version of Bill Russell and the 1960s Celtics
Balanced scoring behind a big man who get boards and play D, yessir thats a good comparison
Super John Williamson (RIP) was a lot better than his stat sheet. When he was hot, he was nuclear! I lived in the NY area and could watch the ABA Nets. That was a great team. I tell youngsters that they only have seen half of Dr. J in Philly. Brian Taylor, Super John, Larry Kenon, and Dr. J. were a tough team.
I remember a great guard for The Kentucky Colonels with Artis Gilmore named Bird Avery.
My of my greatest sports regrets is that the Colonels did not move to the NBA. The only pro basketball game I have ever attended was at Freedom Hall in the mid-70s when the Nets came in to play the Colonels. Kentucky won, and Gilmore scored 28 points. Dr J had 23 points.
The A train was one of my heros!
Plan to play in this 🏀🙏🏾
If not for Rick Barry, there would be no ABA to speak of. It would have folded after two or three seasons. By the start of its second season (1968), he and Wilt were arguably the two best players in the world. He gave the ABA the kind of legitimacy that it had never had to that point and salaries spiked as a result. A lot of basketball players owe him. Big time.
Yep between him and Dr J there’s no telling how the ABA would’ve fared
@@SuperbSportMedia The ABA was on its last legs even with Doc when it merged with the NBA. Only three of its teams survived -- Nets, Nuggets and Spurs.
I think you are wrong there sir Julius Dr.J Erving was the ABA he was the Jordan before Jordan had his signature show made a movie first to do commercials and everyone was Dr.J fans everyone wanted to see doc two times ABA Champ 3 time mvp unstoppable dunked on everyone ABA best player
@@Phillip-x4y Erving did not save the ABA. In fact, the ABA was on its death bed even with Doc in his athletic prime -- only three teams made the jump to the NBA. Because the ABA didn't have a network TV deal, he was a well-kept secret except in the few cities that had teams. I lived in Chicago, the No. 2 market in the country, and the 1976 Finals were the first and last ABA games ever televised there.
@@RayManzarekRocksu forgot the pacers
Rick Barry's grandma shot at the free throw was iconic and hardly missed
On the contrare, Barry's underhand free throw was/is technically more accurate than its overhand cousin. Shot on a true line. My HS coach taught us this style. His philosophy was that shooting free throws like this was more adaptable late in the game when arms tired. It didn't win any favors but we had to do it that way. Rick Barry's sons shot that way too.
The ABA and NBA did not merge. Rather, the NBA expanded -- it agreed to add four of seven ABA teams. (The ABA started its final season with nine teams, but two folded.) The other three were left to die. Consider that the ABA finished with fewer teams than it started with, and it was a failure. Other than a lot of Afros and a red, white and blue ball, the ABA didn't have a pot to piss in when all was said and done. (Fun Fact: 48 years later, the Pacers and Nets still haven't won an NBA championship. And it took the Nuggets 47 years to finally get one.)
hey man, Charlie Scott!!
The Foctor was simply amazing fantastic incredible awesome
The NBA has morphed into the streetball that the ABA popularized decades ago, which is why it's so unpopular these days. If the NBA had a red, white and blue ball, one wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Lots of dunks and 3-pointers but very little else.
Moving Marvin Barnes Dr J said he was unguardable
You left out ABA greats and future NBA hall of famers Moses Malone, Dan Issel and, although you briefly mentioned him as defending Dr. J, Bobby Jones.
Check out our 2nd video on the ABA, more stars of the ABA, it covers some of your names
I knew Dr. J not from basketball, although i definitely knew he was a pro hooper, this being because I wouldn't get into sports till the early 80s, but J transcended the sport and was just in the zeighest. For me, it was his image and cartoon likeness plastered in every ad section from mid to late 70s Marvel comics along with Rick Berry (and Evel Knievel). In the late 80s, we used to explain to kids even then who J and Berry were and like by saying they were the Jordan and Bird of their day.
Can’t say I’m not a little jealous that you got to live thru the period as it happened
Who is this "Berry" person?
I remember the aba. I watched it a lot. Their stats should be added.
Billy Cunningham was a Great ABA Player - I know he only played a few years at most. but he was MVP ( I think )
The ABA was the most exciting league at the time, with players like Dr.J and David Thompson.
I heard a lot of great stories of Connie Hawkins in high school basketball....
A young David Thompson. Insane hops.
Us old-time Pacer fans remind you that Roger Brown and George McGinnis need to be added to this list. Also: Willie Wise, Moses Malone, Billy Cunningham
You forgot about Roger Brown, he was truly great.
Connie Hawkins was the baddest cat back then. Doc patterned palming the ball and laying it up with one hand like Hawkins. They tried to call Doc “Baby Hawk” but Connie liked the way Julius moved and “operated”, like a doctor. Thus Julius Ervin became DoctorJ; he was famous on the Polo Grounds for sure!!!!!!!!
Dr.J . The ABA legend
I am 65 years old I watch the Aba in it's prime and there was no one close to the Dr. His highwire act is undisputed he was the A.b.a.
David thompson.
Did you doze through the segment on him? Watch the vid again.
Mr assumption.
@@keavo5368 Mr. Oblivious.
. Oblivion
If we had cable back then, the story would have been different ❤❤❤❤
You should have at least given a shout out to Dan Issel of the Kentucky Colonels. Rookie of the Year in 1971 and a 6x all star.
From my memory it was Dr. J that brought the NBA and the ABA together
You missed Larry Jones, who played for the Denver Rockets. He was a guard who scored very well.
Didnt artis Gilmore also play for the spurs?
Dan Issel, George McGuiness, a lot more current NBA are the offspring of the ABA
I used to go to the LOS ANGELES STARS games in 1970 coach Bill Sharmon beat Spencer Haywood Mel Daniel but los too Indiana pacers in the ABA championship 11,000 attendance I seen Rick Barry ,Larry Brown,Mack Calvin, Doug Moe's I like the 3 pointers the beach basketball I always sand in the front roll the next season the stars move to Utah.
Thanks for sharing, I’m a bit jealous that you got to experience that!
The ABA was on its last legs even with Doc when it merged with the NBA. Only three of its teams survived -- Nets, Nuggets and Spurs. And it took decades for any of them to win an NBA title. (The Nets still don't have one.)
@RayManzarekRocks ...Indiana Pacers.
@@brucescott4261 How could I forget the Pacers?! (Slap forehead here.) Answer: Probably because they haven't won squat since they left the ABA 49 years ago.
The Virginia squires. had Rick Barry George gervin and Julius erving. Can you imagine if they were able to keep all three players. That would have been your first super team
@@RayManzarekRocks How can you say the Pacers haven't won squat in the NBA? They've made the NBA Finals once and the Eastern Conference finals 9 times, including their surprising run this past season. Hall of Famer Reggie Miller and Friends played some great ball in the 1990s, including taking MJ's Bulls to Game 7 of the 1998 conference finals.
too bad we couldn't get Barry and Erving on the nets at the same time. later i read that Kareem was in talks about joining the NY nets, but nothing came of it. imagine that front line???.
Dr J is the pioneer of the Slam dunk contest.