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{{short description|Merger of American basketball leagues}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=
[[File:NBAABAmerger.png|thumb|right|upright=1.8|Cities that hosted NBA and ABA teams at the time of the merger in 1976. Pre-existing NBA cities are marked in black. ABA franchises that were accepted into the NBA are marked in red. New York, marked in blue, hosted both leagues. The remaining ABA teams, marked in orange, folded.]]
The '''
==Early attempts at merger==
From the very beginning, the ABA hoped to force a merger with the NBA, thus repeating the [[American Football League]] (AFL)'s successful effort to [[AFL–NFL merger|force a merger]] with the [[National Football League]] (NFL). According to ''The NBA Encyclopedia'', ABA officials told prospective owners that they could get an ABA team for half of what it cost to get an NBA expansion team at the time. The upstart league's officials confidently predicted that if and when a merger occurred, any surviving owners would see their investment more than double.
In contrast to both the earlier AFL and the later [[World Hockey Association]] (which both endured significant hostility from their established competitors for many years) the ABA found the NBA owners to be reasonably amenable to a merger relatively early on.
==''Robertson v. NBA'' antitrust lawsuit==
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==Interleague competition in anticipation of merger==
In the summer before the 1971–72 season, the
Interest in ABA vs. NBA play extended beyond the two leagues' management. In 1976, [[CBS]] sought to establish a postseason playoff between the ABA and NBA, and to win the rights to broadcast those games.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=D-QCAAAAMBAJ
==ABA's final season (1975–76)==
===Two teams attempt to depart===
Before the 1975–76 season, the [[Denver Nuggets]] and [[New York Nets]] applied to join the NBA. The owners of the Nets and Nuggets had approached [[John Y. Brown, Jr.]] in an attempt to get his Kentucky Colonels to join their attempted leap to the NBA, but Brown refused, saying he was staying loyal to the ABA.<ref>Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, p.425</ref> Ultimately, the Nets and Nuggets were forced to play a lame-duck season in the ABA by court order. The Nuggets' and Nets' attempted move to the NBA created a great deal of ill will within the ABA, and brought attention to the emerging financial weakness of some of the league's lesser teams.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web |url=http://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAArticles/PattisonArticleDracula.html |title=Count Dracula Has Struck (by Dan Pattison) |publisher=Remember the ABA |access-date=May 13, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717085350/http://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAArticles/PattisonArticleDracula.html |archive-date=July 17, 2015}}</ref><ref>Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, pp.373, 402, 405–406</ref>
===Four teams collapse===
Meanwhile, the ABA saw three of its teams (Memphis, San Diego, and Utah) disappear before the end of 1975, with a fourth team (Virginia) limping through the season before folding in
On November 12, 1975—three weeks into the season—the [[San Diego Sails]] folded. The Sails had been plagued by wretched attendance, and their owner had learned the team would most likely be excluded from any upcoming ABA–NBA merger because [[Los Angeles Lakers]] owner [[Jack Kent Cooke]] did not want competition in Southern California for either his team or their television coverage on the [[cable television]] system he owned. The Sails' players were put into a special dispersal draft.<ref name="ReferenceA" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.remembertheaba.com/San-Diego-Sails.html |title=San Diego Sails |publisher=Remember the ABA |access-date=May 13, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222080515/http://www.remembertheaba.com/San-Diego-Sails.html |archive-date=December 22, 2008}}</ref><ref>[http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/SanDiegoMaterial/ConquistadorsSailsYearly.html RememberTheABA.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225005001/http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/SanDiegoMaterial/ConquistadorsSailsYearly.html |date=December 25, 2008 }}</ref>
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Another ABA team, the [[Virginia Squires]], struggled considerably in its final two years. The Squires had sold fan favorites such as [[Julius Erving]], [[Rick Barry]], [[George Gervin]], [[Warren Armstrong]], [[Billy Paultz]] and [[Swen Nater]] because of constant financial problems.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web |url=http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/VirginiaMaterial/OaksCapsSquiresYearly.html |title=Oakland Oaks/Washington Caps/Virginia Squires Year-to-Year Franchise Notes |publisher=Remember the ABA |access-date=May 13, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514135629/http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/VirginiaMaterial/OaksCapsSquiresYearly.html |archive-date=May 14, 2011}}</ref><ref>Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, pp.298–301, 402</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.remembertheaba.com/Virginia-Squires.html |title=Virginia Squires |publisher=Remember the ABA |access-date=May 13, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927223331/http://www.remembertheaba.com/Virginia-Squires.html |archive-date=September 27, 2007}}</ref> In the 1974–75 season, the once-successful Squires posted a league's-worst record of 15–69.<ref name="ReferenceB" /> In the 1975–76 season the Squires tied their own record, posting the identical league's-worst won-loss record. Moreover, due to dwindling attendance, the Squires were fighting just to survive until the end of the season. On several occasions, the Squires barely made payroll.<ref>Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, pp.403–417</ref>
By the end of the 1975–76 season, the Squires were at the end of their tether. They were folded by the league on May 11, 1976, after failing to pay a $75,000 league assessment.<ref>[http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/VirginiaMateria/OaksCapsSquiresYearly.html
==Final six==
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During the merger negotiations in June 1976, the NBA made it clear that it would accept only four ABA teams, not five. The Nuggets and Nets, clearly the ABA's two strongest teams, were obvious choices. The Spurs had posted impressive attendance numbers since moving from Dallas, and were thus a very attractive choice. On paper, the Colonels were the logical choice for the fourth and final team, and likely would have joined the NBA if not for the intervention of the [[Chicago Bulls]].
After the Colonels, the Indiana Pacers were the next most viable choice.<ref name="Pluto, Terry 1990 pp.428-433" /><ref name="ReferenceC">{{cite web |url=http://www.remembertheaba.com/Kentucky-Colonels.html |title=Kentucky Colonels |publisher=Remember the ABA |access-date=May 13, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150522142515/http://www.remembertheaba.com/Kentucky-Colonels.html |archive-date=May 22, 2015}}</ref> While the Bulls realized an NBA team in Indianapolis would significantly encroach on their own fanbase and television market, they nevertheless had a number of strong incentives to support Indiana's entry into the NBA over Kentucky's. First, the Bulls were themselves a relatively young franchise, only pre-dating the ABA and the Pacers by one year, and thus had never been able to develop much of following in Indiana to begin with. The Bulls knew if they were to be seen as having a hand in the Pacers' demise, they could never expect to be forgiven let alone supported by Indiana basketball fans. Moreover, Indianapolis also had what was (at the time) a relatively strong [[World Hockey Association]] team, the [[Indianapolis Racers]]. Whereas Kentucky was never a part of the WHA, the Racers were still then seen to be likely to be included in any [[
Brown saw the writing on the wall and decided that it was better to fold the Colonels for cash, instead of continuing to fight.<ref name="Pluto, Terry 1990 pp.428-433" /><ref name="ReferenceC" /> On June 17, 1976, the Colonels reached a financial agreement with the remaining teams in the ABA and agreed to fold in exchange for $3 million.<ref name="Pluto, Terry 1990 pp.428-433" /><ref name="remembertheaba1">{{cite web |url=http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/KentuckyMaterial/ColonelsYearly.html |title=Kentucky Colonels Year-to-Year Notes |publisher=Remember the ABA |access-date=May 13, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121123136/http://www.remembertheaba.com/TeamMaterial/KentuckyMaterial/ColonelsYearly.html |archive-date=January 21, 2016}}</ref> According to the terms of the ABA–NBA merger the Kentucky Colonels players were placed into a dispersal draft (along with the players from the Spirits of St. Louis). The Chicago Bulls took Gilmore for $1.1 million. The Portland Trail Blazers took [[Maurice Lucas]] for $300,000, the Buffalo Braves took [[Bird Averitt]] for $125,000, the Indiana Pacers took [[Wil Jones (basketball)|Wil Jones]] for $50,000, the New York Nets took [[Jan van Breda Kolff]] for $60,000, and the San Antonio Spurs took [[Louie Dampier]] for $20,000. With the funds he received from the agreement with the other ABA teams and Colonels players sold in the dispersal draft, Brown promptly turned around and bought the NBA's [[Buffalo Braves]] for $1.5 million, and parlayed the Braves into ownership of the Boston Celtics.<ref name="remembertheaba1"/><ref name="Pluto, Terry 1990 p.435">Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, p.435</ref>
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Brothers [[Ozzie and Daniel Silna]] had made a fortune as pioneers in the manufacture of polyester, and they wanted to own an NBA team. After an attempt to purchase the [[Detroit Pistons]] fell short, the Silnas purchased the ABA's [[Carolina Cougars]] franchise with the expectation of moving it into the NBA with the impending merger of the two leagues. The Silna brothers moved the Cougars to [[St. Louis]], because it was then the largest city in the United States without a professional basketball team, and they thought this would make their team more likely to join the NBA. In 1974, the Cougars, roster and all, were overhauled and became the ABA's [[Spirits of St. Louis]] from 1974 through 1976.<ref>Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, pp.349–351</ref> The 1974–75 Spirits had upset the reigning ABA champion New York Nets in the [[1975 ABA Playoffs|1975 Eastern Division Finals]] before losing to the eventual champion Kentucky Colonels, but in the 1975–76 season the Spirits' play was uneven and their attendance waned.<ref name="remembertheaba2">{{cite web |url=http://www.remembertheaba.com/Spirits-of-St-Louis.html |title=Spirits of St. Louis |publisher=Remember the ABA |access-date=May 13, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509062256/http://www.remembertheaba.com/Spirits-of-St-Louis.html |archive-date=May 9, 2013}}</ref><ref>Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, pp.387–388</ref>
The 1975–76 season had not turned out so well in terms of either attendance or wins on the court.<ref name="remembertheaba2"/><ref>Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, pp.372–390, 427, 429</ref> In May 1976, due to attendance problems in St. Louis, the Spirits announced that they were going to move to [[Salt Lake City]], [[Utah]], to play as the [[Utah Rockies]] when a lease agreement for the [[Salt Palace (arena)|Salt Palace]] was arranged.<ref name="remembertheaba2"/> This followed an attempted merger of the Spirits and the Utah Stars franchise during the 1975–76 season, a merger that, had it occurred, contemplated the team leaving St. Louis for Utah.<ref name="remembertheaba2"/><ref name="Pluto, Terry 1990 pp.386-387">Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, pp.386–387</ref> But the Stars folded before the merger could occur and instead, the Spirits bought the rights to some of the Stars' best players, including Moses Malone.<ref name="remembertheaba2"/><ref name="Pluto, Terry 1990 pp.386-387" /> In an effort to be included in the ABA–NBA merger, the Spirits' owners
In June 1976, the remaining ABA owners agreed, in return for the Spirits folding, to pay the St. Louis owners $2.2 million in cash up front in addition to a 1/7 share of the four remaining teams' television revenues
{{
The terms of the ABA–NBA merger included the Spirits of St. Louis players being put into a special dispersal draft along with the Kentucky Colonels players. [[Marvin Barnes]] went to the Detroit Pistons for $500,000, [[Moses Malone]] went to the Portland Trail Blazers for $300,000, [[Ron Boone]] went to the [[Kansas City Kings]] for $250,000, [[Randy Denton]] went to the New York Knicks for $50,000 and [[Mike Barr (basketball)|Mike Barr]] went to the Kansas City Kings for $15,000.<ref name="Pluto, Terry 1990 p.435" /><ref name="remembertheaba3"/>
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* The four ABA teams would receive no votes related to the distribution of gate receipts or the alignment of NBA divisions for two years.
* The remaining players from the Kentucky Colonels and the Spirits of St. Louis would be made available to NBA teams through a dispersal draft, with superstars such as Artis Gilmore and Moses Malone going to teams other than the four ABA teams.<ref>Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, p.432</ref>
* The four ABA teams as new NBA franchises would not be allowed to participate in the [[1976 NBA
Compared to the other mergers of the 1970s, the terms of the merger in basketball are generally seen as falling between the [[AFL-NFL merger|earlier merger in football]] and the [[NHL-WHA merger|later merger in hockey]]. The indemnities and other penalties were at least as draconian as the penalties that the AFL teams in existing NFL markets faced as a consequence of the [[AFL–NFL merger]] in 1970, however among the notable concessions from the NFL were that no AFL teams were forced to fold and AFL records were fully integrated into the older league's history.<ref>Gruver, Ed
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Of the 84 players in the ABA at the time of the merger, 63 played in the NBA during the 1976–77 season.<ref name="Pluto, Terry 1990 pp.435-436" /> In that first post-merger season, four of the NBA's top ten scorers had come over from the ABA ([[Billy Knight]], [[David Thompson (basketball)|David Thompson]], [[Dan Issel]] and [[George Gervin]]).<ref name="Pluto, Terry 1990 pp.435-436" />
In 1976-1977 NBA MVP standings, 7 out of 12 best players came from ABA: Julius Erving, Moses Malone, David Thompson, Maurice Lucas, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin e George McGinnis,<ref>{{cite web|title=1976-77 NBA Awards Voting|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_1977.html|access-date=February 23, 2023|website=www.basketball-reference.com|language=en}}</ref> and in the next Season 5 out of 10.<ref>{{cite web|title=1977-78 NBA Awards Voting|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_1978.html#all_mvp|access-date=February 23, 2023|website=www.basketball-reference.com|language=en}}</ref>
[[Don Buse]], who joined the NBA with the Pacers, led the NBA in both steals and assists during that first post-merger season.<ref name="Pluto, Terry 1990 pp.435-436" /> The Spirits of St. Louis' [[Moses Malone]] finished third in rebounding; the Kentucky Colonels' Artis Gilmore was fourth. Gilmore and his former Colonels teammate Caldwell Jones were both among the top five in the NBA in blocked shots.<ref name="Pluto, Terry 1990 pp.435-436" />
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In 1974, Denver changed its name from the Denver Rockets to the Denver Nuggets in anticipation of the ABA–NBA merger, because the NBA already had a team called the [[Houston Rockets]].<ref name="Pluto, Terry 1990 pp.395">Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, pp. 395</ref>
In their first NBA season, the Nuggets—a team that had never won an ABA championship—finished with the league's second-best record, 50–32, and won the Midwest Division.<ref name="Pluto, Terry 1990 pp.395" /> In their second NBA season, the Nuggets repeated as Midwest Division champions, and in their third season the Nuggets missed a third consecutive division title by a single game. Although the financial and draft penalties caused the team to slip a little bit after coach [[Larry Brown (basketball)|Larry Brown]]'s departure, the Nuggets would remain an NBA power throughout the 1980s. After a period of mediocre play through most of the 1990s and early 2000s, the Nuggets recovered and made the playoffs ten years in a row from 2004 to 2013
===San Antonio Spurs===
The Spurs, who could never get past the first round of the ABA playoffs before the merger, won NBA division titles in five of their first six NBA seasons, largely on the strength of superstar guard [[George Gervin]].<ref>Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, p.312, 314</ref> This was in spite of the financial and draft penalties imposed on the team. The Spurs then went through a period of decline in the late 1980s, but rebounded in the 1990s, and in 1999 became the first former ABA team to both reach and win the NBA Finals;
===Indiana Pacers===
After years of being the ABA's strongest team on the court and at the box office, the merger caught the Pacers at an awkward moment financially. As mentioned above, they were included in the merger more or less as an afterthought after the Bulls effectively vetoed the inclusion of the Colonels, who were on far stronger footing financially. The team had started unloading their stars during the last ABA season. After their first NBA season, the Pacers resorted to broadcasting a successful telethon in order to survive financially into their second NBA season.<ref name="www2.indystar.com">[http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/sports/basketball/indiana_pacers/stories/2002_0702.html ''The Indianapolis Star'': Telethon kept team, saved city's image: Pacers, city officials sprung into action 25 years ago as debts mounted, by Sekou Smith, July 2, 2002] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211013940/http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/sports/basketball/indiana_pacers/stories/2002_0702.html |date=February 11, 2009 }}</ref> In part thanks to the telethon, led by Nancy Leonard (wife of Hall of Fame coach [[Bobby Leonard]]), the Pacers' average attendance jumped from 7,615 during the 1976–77 season, their first in the NBA, to 10,982 during the 1977–78 season.<ref name="www2.indystar.com" />
The Pacers finished their inaugural NBA season with a record of 36–46. Pacers [[Billy Knight]] and [[Don Buse]] represented Indiana in the [[NBA All-Star Game]]. However, this was one of the few bright spots of the Pacers' first 13 years in the NBA. During this time, they had only two non-losing seasons and only two playoff appearances. Finally overcoming the draft and financial penalties imposed in the merger, the Pacers won NBA Central Division championships in 1995, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2013 and 2014. They reached the [[NBA Finals]] in 2000, and reached the Eastern Conference finals in the previous two years and again in 2004, 2013, 2014, and
===New York Nets===
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===3-point field goal===
The [[three-point field goal]] was used in the ABA; the NBA originally disparaged it, but eventually adopted it in the
[[Angelo Drossos]], owner of the San Antonio Spurs: "When the leagues merged, the NBA moguls didn't want the 3-point shot. [[Red Auerbach]] hated it and said the [[Boston Celtics|Celtics]] would never go along with it. He had everybody up in arms against the play. Of course, a few years later Red drafted [[Larry Bird]] and suddenly he was all for it. And suddenly one of the bigger attractions at the All-Star Game is the 3-point shootout".<ref>Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, pp.75</ref>
===Slam Dunk Contest===
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Prior to the ABA, the NBA did not allow college underclassmen to enter the league. In 1969 the ABA's Denver Rockets signed [[Spencer Haywood]], a sophomore star at the [[University of Detroit]] who had played on the [[1968 United States men's Olympic basketball team]]. The NCAA sued, but Haywood and the ABA prevailed. Julius Erving and George Gervin also joined the ABA's [[Virginia Squires]] as underclassmen, as did [[Jim Chones]] going from [[Marquette University]] to the New York Nets, [[George McGinnis]] from [[Indiana University]] to the Indiana Pacers and [[Ralph Simpson]] from [[Michigan State University|Michigan State]] to the Denver Rockets. [[Moses Malone]] joined the ABA's [[Utah Stars]] straight out of high school.<ref>Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, pp.171, 181, 323–328</ref> Eventually after the merger the NBA followed suit. Although the practice has never been without its share of critics, the drafting of college underclassmen has become common in the NBA<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/29/sports/pro-basketball-underclassmen-rule-atop-nba-draft-board.html Mike Wise, ''Underclassmen Rule Atop N.B.A. Draft Board'', ''The New York Times'', June 29, 1995]</ref> and high school players were also selected in subsequent NBA drafts.<ref>[http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/Draft/highschool.htm Shawn Siegel, ''NBA Draft History: High School Draft Picks'', CollegeHoops.net, May 30, 2006] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412031142/http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/Draft/highschool.htm |date=April 12, 2009 }}</ref>
==
Shootaround, an informal pre-game practice session, was introduced by [[Bill Sharman]]. It has previously been briefly used during 39 games in the [[American Basketball League (1961–1962)|American Basketball League]] (ABL) when Sharman coached the [[Los Angeles Jets]], and was then used in the ABA when he coached the [[Los Angeles Stars]] and [[Utah Stars]]. The practice would later be used by every basketball team, including the NBA.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bill Sharman, Two-Time Basketball Hall of Famer, Dies at 87 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/26/sports/basketball/bill-sharman-nba-hall-of-famer-dies-at-87.html?_r=0}}<!-- auto-translated from Italian by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>
When the ABA finally dissolved, so did its [[pension fund]].<ref name=Pension>{{cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32132936/the-push-secure-pensions-american-basketball-association-pioneers-nba-left-behind|title=The Push to Secure Pensions for American Basketball Association pioneers the NBA left behind|work=ESPN|date=14 September 2021|first=Tonya|last=Simpson}}</ref> Players who had played for the ABA prior to the merger had expected to eventually draw on those pensions, only to find the money was gone.<ref name=Pension/> In 2014, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of 204 former ABA players claiming that the NBA, when it absorbed the ABA, failed to follow the [[Employee Retirement Income Security Act]] (ERISA). The suit was settled for a total of $800,000 (less than $4,000 per claimant), but the players, organized into a group called Dropping Dimes, have continued to fight for an equitable share of the NBA profits.<ref name=Pension/>▼
===Statistics===
In the 1967–68 season, its inaugural, the ABA introduced new statistical categories that would be counted during the games – blocked shots, steals, individual turnovers, separated rebounds to defensive and offensive. Three-points made, three-points attempted and team rebounds counted only in NCAA.<ref>Pluto, Terry, ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, pp.65–66</ref>
NBA will replicate the same things only from season 1973-1974 for defensive rebounds, offensive rebounds, steals and blocks, after the merger from 1977-1978 with turnovers, and from 1979-1980 with 3 points made and attempted.
==Pension fund==
▲When the ABA finally dissolved, so did its [[pension fund]].<ref name=Pension>{{cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32132936/the-push-secure-pensions-american-basketball-association-pioneers-nba-left-behind|title=The Push to Secure Pensions for American Basketball Association pioneers the NBA left behind|work=ESPN|date=
==Legacy==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aba-nba Merger}}
[[Category:1976–77 NBA season]]
[[Category:
[[Category:American Basketball Association]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Nets]]
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