The original ABA started in 1967 and they competed with the NBA until they both merged in 1976.  This merger was necessary as it took a while to build the fan base, and with a lack of television contract and financial losses they couldn’t stay independent any longer.  Their style of play was different to the NBA in that it was more wide-open play and a different offensive style.  They also had different rules, for example the ABA had a 30 second shot clock as opposed to the 24 second clock used by the NBA.  They even used different colour balls, the ABA opting for a red white and blue ball, and the NBA using an orange ball.  In the ABA’s last year they pioneered the slam dunk contest at its all star game in Denver in 1976.
In 1999 a new league was created called the ABA2000 and was set up as a professional men’s league.   They currently have no affiliation with the original ABA and the name, American Basketball Association’ was licenced from NBA by owners Joe Newman and Dick Tinkham.  They used the same colours for the ball as the previous ABA, red white and blue.  It is not on the same scale as the NBA as the games aren’t played in main arenas and the games aren’t shown on TV.   The American Basketball Association considers itself to have an innovative approach to the game and it combines FIBA and Pro-rules. It created the three point shot, used also now by the NBA and other leagues.  Today’s ABA was co-founded by Richard Tinkham and Joe Newman.  Richard is now the Special Counsel and Joe the CEO.  The other major positions held are as follows: [Read more...]