Pioneer team chosen during the 30th anniversary of ABA in 1997
Julius Erving performing a slam dunk against the Spirit of St. Louis on November 6, 1974, at the St. Louis Arena, St. Louis, Missouri
TheABA All-Time Team were chosen in 1997 on the 30th anniversary of the founding of theAmerican Basketball Association (ABA). It comprised the 30 best and most influential players of the ABA during its ten years and nine full regular seasons of operation, with respect not only to performance at the professional level, but in consideration of sportsmanship, team leadership, and contributions to the growth of the league basketball, and irrespective ofpositions played. Only players who have played at least a portion of their careers in the ABA were eligible for selection, although performance in other leagues, most notably theNational Basketball Association was considered. Selected and announced beside the all-time team were a most valuable player and top head coach.
The team, announced inIndianapolis,Indiana, on August 23, 1997, in conjunction with an ABA reunion, was compiled based upon unranked voting by 50 selected panelists, among whom were members of the print and broadcastnews media who have reported on and announced games for the ABA, former referees (ten), former team owners (six), former league executives (including two former sports commissioners), and selected fans and statisticians; former players, even those to have held other positions within the league, were proscribed from voting.
Ninety-nine players received at least one vote. In addition to those who were selected, 13 players earned votes from at least 25percent (12.5) of voters:
Seven coaches received votes from at least one of the 50 panelists; having claimed 34 of the available votes,Bobby "Slick" Leonard was the clear winner of the all-time besthead coach award.Larry Brown, having received 16 votes for the players team, also received six votes in view of his coaching.
^abVoting undertaken bynews media covering the ABA was used to compile, after each season, two teams, each comprising twoforwards, twoguards, and onecenter, with the first to be composed at the best players at their respective positions and the second to be composed of the next best players.
^abInasmuch as the selection panel comprised fifty individuals, each of whom was permitted to select, at most, thirty former players, each player was eligible to receive as many as fifty votes; Brown, Dampier, Daniels, Erving, Gervin, Gilmore, and Issel, then, wereunanimous selections.
^"Marvin Barnes".basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.Archived from the original on 10 September 2010. RetrievedOctober 22, 2010.
^"Rick Barry".basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.Archived from the original on 15 September 2010. RetrievedOctober 22, 2010.
^abBrown was twice traded during the1974–75 season; he played 10regular season games for the Pacers, seven games for the Sounds, and finally 39 for the Stars.
^"Roger Brown".basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. RetrievedOctober 22, 2010.
^abJones was traded twice during the1975–76 season; he played 10 games for the Conquistadors/Sails, 15 games for the Colonels, and finally 51 games for the Spirits.
^Jones was traded during the1972–73 season; he played 53 games for the Chaparrals and 53 for the Stars.
^Inasmuch as the selection panel comprised fifty individuals, each of whom was given one vote for the league's all-timemost valuable player, a player earningunanimous approval would have received 50votes.
^Inasmuch as the selection panel comprised fifty individuals, each of whom was given one vote for the league's all-time besthead coach, a coach earningunanimous approval would have received 50votes.
.jpeg)