It’s time to stick Jackie Moon where the sun doesn’t shine.
That is the opinion of several players who starred in the American Basketball Association.
In “Semi-Pro,” Will Ferrell portrayed Moon, a player-coach-owner of the fictional Flint Tropics, who rallied teammates to create a product that would compel the NBA to include the franchise in a merger.
The fake team hit real ABA alums hard.
“The league is part of basketball history. But there’s been books written about it I didn’t like and then they came out with that movie in (2008) and that really pissed me off,” said guard Chuck Williams, a former Denver Nuggets ABA All-Star in the 1975-76 season. “It made us look like clowns.”
Added Ralph Simpson, a legend for the Denver Rockets and Nuggets, “100 percent it hurt the ABA. That’s not what the ABA was. It was real people. Making an American game better.”
The movie reinforced a tired trope that the ABA was defined more by its financial failures and outrageous characters than outstanding players; players whose ability on the court and style off it have left fingerprints all over the modern NBA.
“Today’s game has a lot of ABA to it,” said former ABA player and longtime Nuggets coach George Karl. “A lot of the current game evolved from it.”
Karl set out to prove this point, shining a light on the often overlooked league that was more like the AFL to the NFL than the XFL to the NFL. When COVID halted sports in 2020, Karl buried himself in video, watching old Nuggets playoff series he coached. That led him to widen the lens as he viewed the 1976 NBA and ABA Finals as a matter of comparison.
Seeing the quality of play, the rosters, the talent, Karl drew a definitive conclusion. The ABA deserved to have its story told.
Nuggets rookie David Thompson keeps the Indiana Pacers' Darnell Hillman away from the ball during a game at McNichols Sports Arena in December 1975. The Nuggets went 60-24 in the ABA's last season. (Photo by John Sunderland/The Denver Post)
So, with the help of local business partner Brett Goldberg, the idea was hatched, eventually finding the sunlight as the four-part documentary series: “Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association.” It premieres Feb. 12 on Prime Video, chronicling the rise and fall of the ABA, and its influence on the NBA.
“Those ABA Finals were pretty (darn) good. Then I watched the NBA Finals, and that was the year that Phoenix played Boston. Boston had gotten too old and was just kind of hanging on. And the Suns were (42-40) in the regular season,” Karl said. “It was during this time that we started talking about doing something on the ABA. And I kind of felt that our country was in a similar place as it was when the ABA started. Our country felt wobbly again.”
Karl has never been one to bite his tongue. Doing a deep dive into his ABA days — he played for the San Antonio Spurs — motivated him to fight for the project to help the league receive its due.
Talking to former ABA players, including those with Denver ties, convinced Karl to forge ahead.
Williams, a local prep star who played at CU, was among them.
“Legitimacy,” Williams said. “That’s what I hope this (docuseries) brings. Legitimacy.”
History suggests that the ABA has been overlooked for its lasting impact. In 1967, when the ABA launched with George Mikan as the commissioner, the NBA featured 12 teams. The ABA countered with 11, while offering a franchise buy-in of $5,000. Early owners included singer Pat Boone of the Oakland Oaks.
The enterprise survived longer than most rival leagues because it was aggressive, signing players like Connie Hawkins, who had been illegally banned by the NBA for his involvement in a game-fixing scandal. It was innovative, blending free-flowing fast breaks with physicality. And it was entertaining and stylish, symbolized by Julius Erving, a producer on the docuseries.
Nuggets Coach Larry Brown makes like an orchestra conductor, but he's just signaling his team to go to center Mike Green during an ABA game on April 1, 1975. (Photo by Jodi Cobb/The Denver Post)
The ABA’s red-white-and-blue basketball became a popular fixture on the playgrounds in large part because of Dr. J, who led the New Jersey Nets to the league championship over the Nuggets on May 13, 1976, in the last ABA game ever played. He bested Nuggets phenom David Thompson (42 points, seven rebounds) by delivering 31 points, 19 rebounds and five steals.
“The merger doesn’t happen without Julius Erving,” Karl said. “The real basketball people knew how good we were.”
The ABA pioneered diversity. By 1969, more than half the ABA was composed of Black players, far more than the other professional sports leagues at the time.
“It gave me a chance to develop,” said Simpson, who followed Spencer Haywood, his former high school teammate in Michigan, to Denver.
Or as Williams put it, “The ABA provided an opportunity for Black players to play if they were good enough. And the camaraderie with all the guys I played against and were teammates with, it was like a brotherhood. And that exists to this day.”
The league faced numerous challenges, including attendance issues and the inability to plant flags in big markets to attract television dollars. When the leagues merged, four franchises — the Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets (now Brooklyn), and San Antonio Spurs — were admitted to the NBA.
The NBA has never recognized the ABA’s statistics. But after an eight-year legal battle, the Dropping Dimes Foundation convinced the NBA to provide recognition payments to former ABA players in 2022.
It was meaningful and appropriate given the ABA’s seismic impact.
The NBA has adopted some of the ABA’s most memorable features, including the 3-point arc, slam dunk competition, the festive celebration that is All-Star weekend and the nightly fashion statements. Before there was Russell Westbrook, Dr. J. was rocking striped shirts, tight trousers, yellow-tinted, bug-eye sunglasses and exotic hats.
“Julius was dressing before anyone else,” Karl said “And you even had Denver’s Larry Brown coaching in overalls one night, so. …”
Yes, the ABA was different. Rebellious. Irreverent. And loaded with talent.
When the docuseries begins, Karl explained, it includes a handful of players proudly saying their name, followed by “I am an ABA guy.”
And when you know the history, well beyond the silver screen, you will understand why.
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