Key facts
- ABA-NBA merger was finalized in the summer of 1976, ending the ABA’s nine-year run as a separate league.
- Only four ABA franchises were absorbed into the NBA in that merger.
- George Gervin averaged nearly 30 points per game as an Eastern Michigan University sophomore before playing a year in the CBA and getting an ABA tryout with the Virginia Squires.
- Gervin led the NBA in scoring four times between the 1978 and 1982 seasons.
- January 27, 1976 is cited as the date of the first modern professional slam dunk contest, held in the ABA.
- Gervin credits ABA teammate Julius ‘Dr J’ Erving’s post-practice one-on-one games with helping build his confidence as a young pro.
A merger 50 years in the rearview
This summer marks 50 years since the American Basketball Association folded into the NBA. The merger was finalized in the summer of 1976, ending the ABA’s nine-year existence as a rival pro league. Only four ABA franchises joined the NBA in that merger, but the ABA’s style of play, some of its rule innovations and several of its star players left a permanent mark on the sport, according to the Guardian and Yahoo Sports.
George Gervin’s path through the ABA
George Gervin, later known as the Iceman and a Basketball Hall of Famer, is one of the clearest examples of the ABA’s role as an alternate route into professional basketball. Gervin averaged nearly 30 points per game as a sophomore at Eastern Michigan University, but a college fistfight left him with a bad reputation and no NBA prospects. He instead spent a year in the CBA before getting a tryout with the ABA’s Virginia Squires. He was not drafted; the Squires signed him after he impressed in that tryout, largely because of his shooting.
Once in the ABA, Gervin credits teammate Julius “Dr J” Erving with mentoring him through informal one-on-one games held after official practices. Gervin says those sessions built his confidence and self-esteem and helped him understand he could play at that level. The two remain close friends five decades later.
From the ABA to NBA scoring titles
Gervin went on to lead the NBA in scoring four times in a five-year stretch, from the 1978 season through the 1982 season. His finger-roll shot is still referenced and studied by current players. The Guardian notes he is remembered today as one of basketball’s great pure scorers, a reputation built on the foundation of confidence and skill he developed during his ABA years with the Squires.
The first modern slam dunk contest
Among the moments the Guardian highlights from the ABA era is January 27, 1976, described as the date of the first modern professional basketball dunk contest. Gervin and Erving, by then established teammates-turned-friends from their earlier one-on-one sessions in Virginia, were both connected to that ABA event, which the article frames as one of the league’s lasting contributions to how basketball is presented and played.
What the sources establish and what’s missing
Both the Yahoo Sports and Guardian pieces are the same feature, framed as an oral-history style retrospective built around interviews with Gervin and mentions of former ABA player Ralph Simpson. The Yahoo Sports version cuts off early in the text provided and does not add additional detail beyond the headline and framing. Neither source provides specific final scores, current team records, or statistical box scores, since this is a historical retrospective rather than a recap of a single current game.
Sources
Featured photo: SecretName101 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)