“It’s a different life four months a year. I get up when I want to. I don’t play basketball at all. I visit friends and stay with my family. As a professional, I live in two different worlds. I live two different lives.”
Tag Archives: ABA
John Brisker: The Cream Always Rises to the Top, 1971
For a man who wasn’t even allowed to start for a college coach, John Brisker has come a long way.
David Brent: Strawberry Fields For Never, 1973
David Brent was not the first St. Louisan to sign a professional basketball contract. It is doubtful, though, that any other St. Louis athlete ever encountered the incredulous twists and turns that the David Brent story has taken.
Earl Strom: NBA’s Oldest Referee Does It His Way, 1982
Earl Strom officiates with his whistle in his hand. His partner, Joe Gushue, wore his on a lanyard. Strom suggested that Gushue remove the lanyard before they reach the exit, so that fans couldn’t get such an easy hold of him.
George McGinnis: Would You Believe . . . A Strong Julius Erving . . . A Tall Elgin Baylor?
At the age of 22, McGinnis has already been compared—favorably—with a man many considered the finest and most complete forward in basketball history—Elgin Baylor.
Julius Erving: The Greatest Show on Earth, 1973
Did Erving need the big-time to feed his ego, feeling perhaps that he’d suffer the sort of way Henry Aaron did by playing in towns where he didn’t get much national publicity? “No, I don’t feel that way,” said Erving. “All during my basketball career and life, the acknowledgement of me has been in a very limited sense.”
Mel Daniels Itching for Shot at NBA Stars, 1971
[In late 1967, about two weeks into his rookie season, Mel Daniels and his Minnesota Muskies were in Teaneck National Guard Armory to face the New Jersey Americans. A young reporter named Ira Berkow ambled over to Daniels and asked, “What do you think of playing in the ABA?” The ABA was brand-spanking-new, and DanielsContinue reading “Mel Daniels Itching for Shot at NBA Stars, 1971”
The NBA’s War on ABA, 1970
When superstar Connie Hawkins jumped from the American Basketball Association to the National Basketball Association, it was hailed as a major triumph for The Establishment (NBA) over the Young Rebels (ABA). Actually, it was a strategic move motivated by expediency and economy.
Who Are the All-Time Greatest Slam-Dunk Artists? 1977
Dr. J. is the slam-dunk champ of the ABA. Won it fair and square at halftime of the league’s All-Star game last winter.
Flashback 1966-67: When Philadelphia Did Win the NBA Championship, 1977
But match us up against the team now, and we’d win, no doubt about it. They’d have nobody to compete against Wilt. Chet or Billy would chase Doc, and Doc would have to come to the hoop, where Wilt would be waiting.
From Way Downtown 