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Remember the ABA

  • Most of you on here are too young to know anything about the ABA.
    I caught a glimpse as a kid and it was incredible.
    here is a great website:
    http://www.remembertheaba.com

    This was a great era and in my opinion the ABA and NBA players of this era were the pioneers.
    basketball athleticism and creativity took a huge hyperjump.
    The player everbody has heard of is Julius "Doctor J" Erving who came in the league from New York City and UMass to the VA Squires, By the time Doctor J made to NBA his knees were on decline.
    Roger Brown,(R.I.P.) of the Inidana Pacers is possibly the greatest unknown player in basketball.

    One of greatest ABA teams ever assemebled was the 1975 Kentucky Colonels who had Artis Gilmore & Dan Issell and many other great players, Louie Dampier,etc.

    During this era music was incredible, you had Motown,, The Funk era, hard rock, everything. The African American players had the huge Afros and many had other players had long hair and or sideburns.

    but basketball was unreal.

    A friend of mine I know wrote a book about the kentucky Colonels.
    Pinky Gardner was the Trainer and had many other duties for the Colonels.
    He is great, great person and reamins close to everybody including Artis Gimore, Hubie Brown.
    Pinky's book is off the charts.
    I am not doing this for him, he is well off, just a great read and website for the people here.
    I collect jerseys and my Mitchell and Ness ABA are incredible.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/ABA-KENTUCKY-COLONELS-BASKETBALL-BOOK-/300655191127?pt=Vintage_Sports_Memorabilia&hash=item4600722457

    JLK33

  • cool basketball is what I remember

    attachment

    BoniMaroni

  • Go Squires!!!!!

    attachment

    HumphreyBogart said... Jackie Robinson isn't dirty. This isn't Pack Pride.

    tcc_dc

  • BoniMaroni said...

    cool basketball is what I remember

    If my parents haven't thrown it out I have one of those somewhere in their basement.

    Crimterp

  • I've got Dr J's autograph from a Virginia Squires/Kentucky Colonels game played at University of Cincinnati. I think Costas and some other folks got their starts calling games in the ABA.

    sugarmag

  • JLK33 said...

    Most of you on here are too young to know anything about the ABA. I caught a glimpse as a kid and it was incredible. here is a great website: http://www.remembertheaba.com

    This was a great era and in my opinion the ABA and NBA players of this era were the pioneers. basketball athleticism and creativity took a huge hyperjump. The player everbody has heard of is Julius "Doctor J" Erving who came in the league from New York City and UMass to the VA Squires, By the time Doctor J made to NBA his knees were on decline. Roger Brown,(R.I.P.) of the Inidana Pacers is possibly the greatest unknown player in basketball.

    One of greatest ABA teams ever assemebled was the 1975 Kentucky Colonels who had Artis Gilmore & Dan Issell and many other great players, Louie Dampier,etc.

    During this era music was incredible, you had Motown,, The Funk era, hard rock, everything. The African American players had the huge Afros and many had other players had long hair and or sideburns.

    but basketball was unreal.

    A friend of mine I know wrote a book about the kentucky Colonels. Pinky Gardner was the Trainer and had many other duties for the Colonels. He is great, great person and reamins close to everybody including Artis Gimore, Hubie Brown. Pinky's book is off the charts. I am not doing this for him, he is well off, just a great read and website for the people here. I collect jerseys and my Mitchell and Ness ABA are incredible.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/ABA-KENTUCKY-COLONELS-BASKETBALL-BOOK-/300655191127?pt=Vintage_Sports_Memorabilia&hash=item4600722457

    If you haven't read it yet, Loose Balls is a great read. A couple of HOF pics in there as a bonus.

    This post was edited by HoopheadVII on 2/2/2012 at 8:14 AM

    Amazon.com: Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association (9781416540618): Terry Pluto: Books

    Amazon.com: Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association (9781416540618): Terry Pluto: Books

    www.amazon.com

    HoopheadVII ●

  • Did the Don Cornelius thread get you started on this?

    By far the best fro was a guy named Darnell Hillman.

    Plus, don't forget the one year we had Rick Barry in DC.

    sgii

  • StewieTerp

  • No one from Md should have one nice word about the ABA. They probably cost Maryland a couple of NCs

    BS19

  • B519 got an upvote for the Moses Malone reference.

    Also David Thompson played one year in the ABA. He and Dr. J were the finalist in the most anticipated dunk contest ever at that time. Dr J won the contest.

    kool

  • Cremesicle said...

    Only sports league I can recall whose name is a palindrome.

    I remember Jackie Moon.

    multiple awards

  • Whoops, that's not right!

    multiple awards

  • BS19 said...

    No one from Md should have one nice word about the ABA. They probably cost Maryland a couple of NCs

    This is exactly what I was going to say - as soon as I saw the thread.

    F*** the ABA!

    Mike4Terps2

  • Mike4Terps2 said...

    This is exactly what I was going to say - as soon as I saw the thread.

    F*** the ABA!

    Upvote for knowledge of Md history

    BS19

  • As a young kid I saw Moses Malone at Cole Field House the day before classes started. He was driving a Chrysler Imperial and had an 8 track tape of Shaft. He was on his way to the Utah Stars of ABA. I think he was saying farewell to MD.
    Moses mumbled some and gave us all 5s. He played that summer in Chevy Chase league near Chevy Chase Circle in DC.
    My friends older brother said there goes UCLA of East.
    if Moses played for Lefty, NCCA titles.
    To answer SGII, the death of Don Cornelius had nothing to do with this thread. However, Soul Train and ABA had the same flair and were connected somehow in a spiritual way.
    I have been looking at You Tube ABA and remember the ABA for while. Pinky showed me website, remember the ABA and I showed him the you tubes.
    Pinky coached against the Dunbar team that was stacked with Mugsy, Wingate, etc.

    The 1975 Kentucky Colonels were good enough to win NBA title. After ABA merged the # of NBA All Stars from ABA was shocking.

    JLK33

  • Saw Rick Barry and the Caps play at the Washington Coliseum when I was 12. Barry might have been the best player in the league that year. (Dr. J arrived the next year - ironically, to play for the Caps who had become the Virginia Squires - ghey-est team name ever - while Barry moved on to the New York Nets.)

    The Caps actually played in the ABA's Western Division, because the year before they had been the Oakland Oaks and the league didn't want to switch the alignment around. Their schedule was really difficult. They had enough talent to have a shot at winning the championship but wound up third in their division because of all the travel.

    Warren Armstrong had the best 'fro on the team.

    This post was edited by thesloth on 2/3/2012 at 10:49 PM

    thesloth

  • Saw the Virginia Squires play in the Norfolk Scope circa 1974. Love the ABA - but not as much as the USFL. God Damn I loved that football.

    artielange

  • The aba is still alive and I get to see the south Carolina warriors play a lot. It is like mid major street ball.

    coastalTerp

  • Loose Balls by Terry Pluto is a great read for any basketball fans. Hilarious stories in there.

    goterpss

  • goterpss said...

    Loose Balls by Terry Pluto is a great read for any basketball fans. Hilarious stories in there.

    Good call, imo!

    HoopheadVII ●

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