Yuto Takahashi American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league that existed from 1967 to 1976 in the United States. At that time, there were the top 2 basketball associations in the United States. One is the American Basketball Association (ABA), and the other is the National Basketball Association (NBA), which later became the premier professional basketball league in the world. NBA was a rival association for ABA, then they were competing for attracting more visitors and basketball players. NBA had already existed as a famous basketball league and 10 teams had played in. In 1967, there were growing calls among other cities which did not own their basketball teams to enter the NBA league. However, they had to pay a great deal of money for new teams to participate in NBA leagues. Therefore, ABA was established to meet the desire of cities which had no team in NBA league. ABA was a relatively new basketball association. They had to differentiate themselves from the NBA in advertising to new visitors. For example, ABA adopted unique rules. One of the rules was adopting a three-point shot. The rule is now normal in basketball rules. However, there was no three-point rule in NBA at that time. The rule was taken over not only NBA, but also international basketball rules. Another one was adopting a 30-second shot clock, unlike NBA’s 24-second shot clock. ABA stuck to the visual detail. ABA used a colorful red, white, and blue ball instead of the NBA’s orange ball. “The ABA league’s first commissioner, Mikan, unveiled the league's distinctive red, white, and blue official ball in August, calling it “a patriotic ball” and saying that it would be more appealing visually on television.” (“American”). The three-colored ball symbolized ABA league. When it comes to ABA’s culture, many black players who belong to ABA made the afro style against the fashion of the time. Afro also symbolized ABA player. The NBA Slam Dunk Contest was also brought on by ABA. Sports Illustrated wrote “the dunk contest was the best halftime invention since the bathroom.” (Sheehan). In modern times, a lot of basketball fans look forward to watching NBA Slum Dunk Contest that was pioneered by the ABA. One of the primary contributions of ABA to the modern NBA was the introduction of the Spencer Haywood Hardship Rule. NBA draft in 1960 was only eligible for people who had a college education. ABA created new rules which was “allowing new players to be drafted into the league if they were financially disadvantaged. The NBA saw that they'd lose a lot of young star players to the ABA if they didn't amend their own rules -- which they did in short order.” (Morenz). In the 1970s, opinions were being expressed that ABA and NBA should be merged. As time went on, it revealed that ABA’s financial difficulties. The movement of merging between ABA and NBA had been turned into reality. In the final season, two teams broke up and four teams were transferred to NBA league. Therefore, ABA league disappeared from basketball history. The best of the ABA from their nationally recognized teams to their all-star players, were able to continue forward in basketball history. Works Cited “American Basketball Association (ABA)” 2022 RetroSeasons.com. https://www.retroseasons.com/leagues/aba/1968/overview/ Morenz, Emily (October 13, 2020). “How The ABA Changed Basketball, Then Sold Out and Died” Groovy History.com https://groovyhistory.com/aba-basketball/5 Sheehan Jr, Vinny (February 16, 2018). "Reliving the first Slam Dunk Contest with. David Thompson". Pack Pride. Retrieved 2022-07-18. https://247sports.com/college/north-carolina-state/Article/Reliving-the-first-SlamDunk-Contest-with-NC-State-legend-David-Thompson-115187422/
