In sports, great battles for athletic supremacy often come in the form of struggles between opposing leagues for dominance. Think World Hockey Association vs. the National Hockey League in the 1970s, and the United States Football League vs. the National Football League in the 1980s. But back in the late 1960s, the upstart American Basketball Association tried to cut into the National Basketball Association. Some of the team owners eyed an eventual merger, but others thought they’d be legitimate threat. By 1976, instead of cutting into their competition, they would actually make the NBA bigger. Here are five major changes that the ABA brought to the NBA.
5. The Red, White, and Blue Ball
As part of establishing their own identity (and a hat-tip to the “American” part of their name), the ABA used a red, white, and blue basketball as opposed to the traditional orange rock. Though the red, white, and blue ball vanished from games when the two leagues merged, its legacy remains: It’s the “moneyball” that delivers extra points during the All-Star Weekend’s Three-Point Shootout competition.
4. The Spencer Haywood Hardship Rule
The NBA once had rules regarding eligibility for players, mandating that they complete their four years of college eligibility before being qualified to enter the league. The ABA allowed Spencer Haywood to enter earlier, citing circumstances like the need to support family as one reason that a player could start younger. Eventually, the NBA would waive the required four years, allowing prodigies like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant to enter the league right out of high school. The first two players to join the NBA in this manner were both drafted in 1975: Darryl Dawkins (drafted at #5 and owner of one the greatest of all basketball nicknames, Chocolate Thunder) and Bill Willoughby (drafted at #19 and bearer of the less cool nickname, Poodle).
3. 3 Pointers
The first NBA 3-Point Contest (Uploaded to YouTube by NBA)
The original commissioner of the ABA was NBA legend George Mikan. He was a big fan of the 3-point basket, an innovation that originally came from the American Basketball League (an entity that barely lasted 18 months). Mikan thought that the shot added extra excitement to the game, and he was right. Though ABA and NBA merged in 1976, it would take years for the Three to move to the forefront of the game. Steph Curry dropped a staggering 402 in the 2015-2016 season, one of eight times he’s led the NBA in that category.
2. The Slam Dunk Contest
The original ABA Slam Dunk Contest (Uploaded to YouTube by Pro Hoops Daily)
The ABA favored a faster-paced style of play, and nothing was more indicative of that than the slam dunk. The high-flying move (which the NBA had even banned at times) was a crowd favorite, drawing huge reactions when executed by the likes of Julius Erving, aka Dr. J. At the final ABA All-Star game, the league held a slam dunk contest. This event would eventually get rolled into the NBA’s All-Star Weekend, becoming a permanent fixture in 1984.
1. Four New Teams
The ABA launched with 11 teams, but by its final year, it was down to six. Four went on to merge with the NBA: the Indiana Pacers, the New York Nets, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Denver Nuggets. Prior to the 1977-1978 season, the Nets relocated to New Jersey; today, they reside in Brooklyn. The Denver Nuggets won the NBA Championship in 2023. The most successful post-merger team, the Spurs have won five titles in the NBA and most recently went down in the Finals again the New York Knicks.
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