NBA great George Mikan was the first commissioner of the ABA, where he introduced both the 3-point line and the league's trademark red, white and blue basketball.

Dave DeBusschere, one of the stars of the New York Knicks championship teams, moved from his job as Vice President and GM of the ABA's New York Nets in 1975 to become the last commissioner of the ABA and facilitate the ABA-NBA merger in 1976.

After his playing career, Mikan became one of the founding fathers of the American Basketball Association ( ABA ), serving as commissioner of that league, and was also vital for the forming of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

ABA commissioner Mike Storen tried to block the sale on the grounds that selling the team's last true star was not in the best interest of the league.

Colonels general manager Mike Storen felt that this was a sign that Brown was going to run the team " his way ", and left the team as a result ; two months later, he accepted the job of ABA league commissioner.

In the 1975 – 76 season, the 76ers acquired George McGinnis from the Indiana Pacers of the ABA ( after the Knicks tried to sign him, not knowing that the 76ers owned his rights ).

In 1980, they traded Alex English to the Nuggets in order to reacquire former ABA star George McGinnis.

The early Spurs were led by ABA veteran James Silas, and the team would get stronger as the season went on as they twice took advantage of the Virginia Squires, acquiring Swen Nater, who would go on to win Rookie of the Year, in November, and " The Iceman " George Gervin in January.

Former NBA and ABA basketball player George Carter is also a graduate of Silver Creek Central High School.

The head coach was Jim Pollard, a former teammate of ABA Commissioner George Mikan from their days with the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers.

English was traded to the Nuggets midway through the 1979 – 80 season for George McGinnis, a former Pacers star from their ABA days.

The Sixers, featuring other stars like ABA co-MVP George McGinnis, ABA All-Star Caldwell Jones, future All-Star World B Free ( then Lloyd Free ), outside shooting threat Henry Bibby ( father of Mike Bibby ), and the versatile and aggressive Doug Collins ( later Michael Jordan's coach during the late 80's ), won the Atlantic Division and were the top drawing team in the NBA.

George " The Iceman " Gervin ( born April 27, 1952 ) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association ( ABA ) and National Basketball Association ( NBA ) for the Virginia Squires, San Antonio Spurs, and Chicago Bulls.

John Brisker and George Thompson played in the ABA All-Star Game.

* George E. Johnson ( basketball ) ( born 1947 ), retired American ABA / NBA player

George F. McGinnis ( born August 12, 1950 in Indianapolis, Indiana ) is a retired American professional basketball player, most notably with the Indiana Pacers of the American Basketball Association ( ABA ) ( from 1971 to 1975 ).

George McGinnis was one of the marquee players of the ABA, and later teamed with fellow ABA alumni Julius Erving and Caldwell Jones on the Philadelphia 76ers that made the National Basketball Association ( NBA ) Finals in 1977.

George McGinnis is one of the few ABA Most Valuable Players not called up to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, aside from former ABA players already admitted such as: Connie Hawkins ( 1992 ), Dan Issel ( 1993 ), David Thompson ( 1996 ) and Artis Gilmore ( 2011 ).

Halftime of the 1976 ABA All Star Game saw the first-ever Slam Dunk Contest, which was won by Julius Erving of the New York Nets ( who took off from the free throw line for his dunk ) over David Thompson of the Denver Nuggets, Artis Gilmore of the Kentucky Colonels, and George Gervin and Larry Kenon of the San Antonio Spurs.

In order to lure basketball fans to his league, Mikan invented the league's characteristic red-white-and-blue ABA ball, which he thought more patriotic, better suited for TV, and more crowd-pleasing than the brown NBA ball, and instituted the three-point line.

Mikan resigned from the ABA in 1969.

As an official, Mikan is also directly responsible for the ABA three-point line, which was later adopted by the NBA, the multi-colored ABA ball, which still lives on as the " money ball " in the NBA All-Star Three Point Shootout, and the existence of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

He was a prominent contributor to the ABA book Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association.

During the expansion, Drexel was officially united with the former MCP Hahnemann University, creating the Drexel University College of Medicine in 2002 ; and in the fall of 2006, Drexel established its School of Law, which was fully accredited by American Bar Association ( ABA ) in 2011.

* August 8 – As part of the ABA-NBA merger agreement, a dispersal draft was conducted to assign teams for the players on the two ABA franchises which had folded.

By 1977, the American Bicycle Association ( ABA ) was organized as a national sanctioning body for the growing sport.

Bruckner's symphonies are all in four movements ( though he was unable to complete the finale of the Ninth ), starting with a modified sonata allegro form, a slow movement in ABA ’ B ’ A ’’ form ( except in the Study Symphony, the First and the Sixth ), a scherzo in 3 / 4 time, and a modified sonata allegro form finale.

First, the ABA decided that its existing Model Code of Professional Responsibility ( promulgated 1969 ) was a failure.

Boe was losing money on both the Islanders and the Nets even as the Islanders quickly surged to NHL prominence and the Nets became an ABA power.

The American Basketball Association ( ABA ) was a professional basketball league founded in 1967.

The original ABA was founded in 1967, competing with the well-established National Basketball Association, until the ABA – NBA merger in 1976.

One of the more significant long-term contributions of the ABA to professional basketball was to tap into markets in the southeast that had been collegiate basketball hotbeds ( including North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky ).

The franchise was established in 1966 as a founding member of the American Basketball Association ( ABA ), with trucking magnate Arthur J.

In all, they appeared in the ABA Finals five times in the league's nine year history: a feat that was never bettered by any other ABA franchise.

The team was founded as the Denver Larks in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association ( ABA ) but changed its name to Rockets, because has made famous in the movie BASEKETball, they due not allow Larks in Denver.

Their new logo was a miner " discovering " an ABA ball.

A smothering defense was the team's image, as they held opponents less than 100 points an ABA record 49 times.

The ABA tried to halt the Gervin deal, claiming it was detrimental to the league, but a judge would rule in the Spurs ' favor, and Gervin made his Spurs debut on February 7.

Although there was some initial skepticism in league circles regarding the potential success and talent levels of the incoming ABA teams, the Spurs would prove worthy of NBA inclusion during the 1976 – 77 season with a record of 44 – 38, good for a tie for fourth place overall in the Eastern Conference.

This was done in spite of significant handicaps the NBA imposed on the incoming ABA teams, limiting their draft picks and television revenues during their early time in the merged league.

Their victory was the first and only NBA title to be won by a former ABA team.

The Spurs have always worn black on the road and white at home, except from the 1973 – 76 ABA seasons and their first NBA season where the home uniform was always silver.

* Artis Gilmore-a Jacksonville University, ABA, and National Basketball Association All-Star center, was born in Chipley