{"id":559906,"date":"2026-08-05T16:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T16:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/559906\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T16:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T16:20:08","slug":"how-the-aba-changed-basketball-forever-dr-j-george-gervin-and-the-league-that-dared-to-be-different-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/559906\/","title":{"rendered":"How the ABA changed basketball forever: Dr J, George Gervin and the league that dared to be different | Basketball"},"content":{"rendered":"

After practice, George Gervin wanted to go home. He was a rookie playing for the Virginia Squires of the upstart American Basketball<\/a> Association, and the sleek, Detroit-born hooper didn\u2019t yet know what being a pro quite meant. He didn\u2019t know that the real workouts often started after practice. But his teammate Julius \u201cDr J\u201d Erving quickly showed him the ropes.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoc would say, \u2018Hey, young fella! Where you going? Me and you ain\u2019t done!\u2019\u201d Gervin tells the Guardian. \u201cMe and him would play one-on-one after practice. It was beautiful, probably one of the most beautiful experiences I had as a young pro.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Gervin is remembered as being one of basketball\u2019s great scorers. Known as the Iceman, his finger roll is still studied by the best in the game. A Hall of Famer, Gervin led the National Basketball Association in scoring four out of five years from 1978 to 1982. But before that, he was considered damaged goods.<\/p>\n

A fistfight in college saddled Gervin with a bad reputation. And though he averaged nearly 30 points per game for Eastern Michigan University as a sophomore in college, he was not an NBA<\/a> prospect. So, he played a year in the CBA before earning a tryout in the ABA.<\/p>\n

Still thought of as a subpar league in the 1970s, the fledgling ABA was hoping to force a merger with the more established NBA. The ABA needed all the talent it could get, so guys like Gervin got a shot. Gervin wasn\u2019t drafted \u2013 instead, he impressed in his tryout and the Squires signed him. \u201cBecause I shot the ball well,\u201d Gervin remembers.<\/p>\n

Turns out, the ABA was just the step the scoring wing needed. \u201cI came in a little young, inexperienced,\u201d Gervin says. \u201cComing into a world that I needed to have some kind of guidance.\u201d But those one-on-one games between the Iceman and Dr J proved to be beneficial for both mind and body.<\/p>\n

Julius Erving (32), Larry Kenon (35), George Gervin (44), Artis Gilmore (53) and David Thompson (33) look on before the 1976 ABA slam dunk contest in Denver. Photograph: Carl Iwasaki\/Sports Illustrated\/Getty ImagesJulius Erving from the line in 1976. Photograph: Manny Millan\/Sports Illustrated\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d throw me the ball and say, \u2018Me and you are playing one-on-one,\u2019\u201d Gervin says. \u201cAt the same time, he wasn\u2019t really competing against me. He was getting me ready. Seeing what I was made of. I tell him today that I owe him. Because he helped build my self-confidence and self-esteem. He helped me understand I had the ability to play in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fifty years after the ABA merged with the NBA, ending the upstart league\u2019s nine-year run, players like Gervin remain living reminders of its enduring influence. The merger, finalized in the summer of 1976, brought only four ABA franchises into the NBA, but many of the league\u2019s innovations \u2013 and some of its brightest stars \u2013 would permanently reshape professional basketball.<\/p>\n

Even now, Gervin and Erving remain close friends. Their paths have crossed countless times since those one-on-one practices in Virginia. But one day that especially stands out is 27 January 1976 \u2013 the day of the first modern pro basketball dunk contest.<\/p>\n

The ABA, which was founded in the late 1960s as a rival to the NBA, soon became known as the more flamboyant and fun of the two. Though it didn\u2019t have the national TV contracts and history the NBA did, what the ABA offered fans was high-flying dunks, a red-white-and-blue basketball, the three-point shot, and fashion out the wazoo, from muttonchop sideburns to afros<\/a>. And no one symbolized the ABA\u2019s cultural heft quite like Dr J.<\/p>\n

A star on and off the court, Erving and the ABA made history on that January night in 1976. With no money for a half-time performer at the ABA All-Star game, officials organized a dunk contest, which featured, among others, Erving, Gervin, and leaper David Thompson. In the end, it was Dr J who won the trophy, flying from the free-throw line<\/a> like Superman.<\/p>\n

\u201cAwful!\u201d says Gervin, laughing, thinking about the contest. \u201cI was awful! I couldn\u2019t beat them. You\u2019re going into a contest knowing you can\u2019t win. I knew I couldn\u2019t beat David Thompson or Doc. So, it was just being a part of the show. I was brave enough to accept defeat \u2013 part of something that was bigger than I ever thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julius Erving made history in winning the 1976 ABA slam dunk contest.<\/p>\n

Still, despite the lack of hope to win, Gervin knew his name attached to the contest would draw eyeballs, even if he wasn\u2019t known as a creative dunker as his peers. \u201cI\u2019m thankful that I said OK,\u201d he says. \u201cThe game is basically entertainment. Being ABA, that\u2019s what we were all about \u2013 entertaining.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NBA in the early 1970s was largely resistant to change. So, the ABA took on the job of pushing the game forward. Though the NBA did have high-wattage players like Walt \u201cClyde\u201d Frazier, Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar<\/a>), Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and others, it was nevertheless known as being slower, stodgier.<\/p>\n

It also didn\u2019t allow underclassmen to join its ranks \u2013 until Spencer Haywood<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite the NBA\u2019s self-imposed four-year rule, the ABA drafted the 1968 Olympic gold medalist before he\u2019d graduated from college. And Haywood, whose mother was working in poverty picking cotton in Mississippi, suited up. As a first-year player, he won both the Rookie of the Year and MVP trophies in Denver. His success opened the doors for other underclassmen like Ralph Simpson.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpencer and I played high school ball together in Detroit,\u201d Simpson tells the Guardian. In college, Simpson starred for a season at Michigan State, averaging nearly 30 points. But then his father had a heart-attack and got sick. \u201cSpencer said, \u2018Well, why don\u2019t you come out here with me.\u2019 We didn\u2019t have any money and things were getting kind of hard. I wanted to stay at school, but I got offered a little money and that\u2019s how I got to Denver.\u201d<\/p>\n

A sweet-scoring swingman with a knack for rebounding, Simpson became a five-time ABA All-Star playing for coaches like Hall of Famer Larry Brown. \u201cThe ABA gave us a chance to develop,\u201d says Simpson, who is also the father of Grammy-winning artist India Arie<\/a>. \u201cI probably wasn\u2019t ready to play in the NBA, but after a year or two, I started to develop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson was one of Simpson\u2019s teammates in Denver. And Simpson was with his friend at the 1976 dunk contest. \u201cI told Julius I thought David would beat him!\u201d Simpson remembers. \u201cBut I think David got a little nervous looking at Dr. J and his status. Going into the last round, David was leading and missed a 360-degree dunk. And Julius\u2014he didn\u2019t miss any.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr J capped the competition with that leaping dunk from the foul line. \u201cJulius ended up winning it, taking off from the free-throw line,\u201d says Simpson, with a laugh. \u201cI thought his foot was on the line. But I wouldn\u2019t tell Julius that! He\u2019d get mad, probably.\u201d<\/p>\n

The San Antonio Spurs\u2019 Baseline Bums fans look on before a 1975 game agains the Denver Nuggets. Photograph: John Iacono\/Sports Illustrated\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The ABA\u2019s restless existence meant teams came and went, from the Miami Floridians, the San Diego Conquistadors and other oddball franchises. But if the teams were fleeting, the personalities were unforgettable. Every season seemed to introduce another larger-than-life figure, from the troubled Marvin \u201cBad News\u201d Barnes to the politically minded Warren Jabali.<\/p>\n

But Simpson remembers the strong camaraderie the league offered its workforce. Players were friends, despite the heated competitions. \u201cWarren Jabali, he taught me a lot when he was in Denver for those two years,\u201d Simpson says. \u201cHe probably was the best all-around guard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jabali was a fire hydrant of a man. He was also militant in his political convictions. Simpson remembers going to an All-Star game in Virginia. The hotel they stayed at required the ABA players to room in the basement. \u201cWarren really got upset about it and wanted us to boycott,\u201d Simpson says. \u201cWe didn\u2019t end up boycotting, but the owners got ahold of it, and when we got back to Denver, they cut Warren.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jabali later moved to Africa, phoning Simpson just before his plane took off to offer some last words of praise before the journey. \u201cHe told me, \u2018Ralph, you\u2019re the best one-on-one player in the ABA,\u2019\u201d Simpson says. \u201cThat came out of his mouth. That was exciing to me, he knew ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the summer of 1976, some 50 years ago, the ABA merged with NBA. Four of the remaining seven ABA teams were absorbed \u2013 the Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, New York Nets and Denver Nuggets. Simpson says part of the condition of Denver\u2019s acceptance into the NBA was that he be shipped to Detroit to play for the Pistons. Whether that\u2019s fact, he also says one of the greatest thrills of his career was putting on his hometown uniform.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat brought tears to my eyes,\u201d Simpson says. \u201cI saw up in the stands, my dad was crying, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Gervin, the 1976 merger between the ABA and NBA was ultimately good. While there were downsides \u2013 dozens of players were left without jobs \u2013 pro basketball benefited from the union. The ABA had put people like Gervin and Simpson on the big stage, but after the merger, there was still more to prove on the hardwood. \u201cWe played with chips on our shoulder,\u201d Gervin says. \u201cWe played to let the NBA fans know that we were for real and that we could play.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it worked. Among the 24 roster spots at the NBA All-Star game in 1977, just a year after the merger, half were filled by former ABA players, including Erving, Gervin, Thompson, and more. \u201cI think that\u2019s an indication of we wasn\u2019t lying,\u201d says Gervin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After practice, George Gervin wanted to go home. He was a rookie playing for the Virginia Squires of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":559907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-559906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}