Page "Indiana Pacers" Paragraph 6

The Pacers were one of four ABA teams that joined the NBA in the ABA-NBA merger in 1976.

For the 1976 – 77 season the Pacers were joined in the merged league by the New York Nets, Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs of the ABA.

Financially, the Pacers were by far the weakest of the four ABA refugees.

Indeed, they were on far weaker financial footing than the team acknowledged to be the last ABA team left out of the expansion, the Kentucky Colonels.

However, the Colonels were shut out because the Chicago Bulls owned the NBA rights to the Colonels ' best player, Artis Gilmore, and wouldn't have allowed the merger to go through unless the Colonels were left out.