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.
Players
editTeam
editFirst team
edit* | Elected to theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player |
Of the 30 players elected to the first team, three served primarily aspoint guards during their ABA service, eight asshooting guards, five assmall forwards, eight aspower forwards, and six ascenters. Thefranchises most represented were theVirginia Squires (having also competed as theWashington Capitals andOakland Oaks), with eleven first team players' having played at least one game for one or more iterations of the franchise;Utah Stars (having also completed as theLos Angeles Stars andAnaheim Amigos), eight players;Indiana Pacers, seven players;San Antonio Spurs (having also competed as theTexas andDallas Chaparrals), six players;Denver Nuggets (having also competed as theDenver Rockets), five players; andSpirits of St. Louis (having also competed as theCarolina Cougars andHouston Mavericks), five players.
Five players elected to the first team—Rick Barry,Billy Cunningham,Julius Erving,George Gervin, andMoses Malone—were namedone year earlier to theNBA's50 Greatest Players list.
Others receiving votes
editNinety-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:
Most valuable player
editOnly four players received votes from the 50 panelists as the league's all-timemost valuable player;small forwardJulius Erving was the clear winner of the award.
Player | ABA team(s) played for | Votes accrued[34] |
---|---|---|
Julius Erving | Virginia Squires (1971–72—1972–73) New York Nets (1973–74—1975–76) | 46 |
Mel Daniels | Minnesota Muskies (1967–68) Indiana Pacers (1968–69—1973–74) Memphis Sounds (1974–75) | 2 |
Artis Gilmore | Kentucky Colonels (1971–72—1975–76) | 1 |
Connie Hawkins | Pittsburgh Pipers (1967–68—1968–69[23]) | 1 |
Coaches
editSeven 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.
Each of fourfranchises was represented by two coaches: theDenver Nuggets (having also competed as theDenver Rockets), theKentucky Colonels, theMemphis Sounds (having also competed as theMemphis Tams,Memphis Pros, andNew Orleans Buccaneers), and theSan Antonio Spurs (having also competed as theTexas andDallas Chaparrals).
* | Elected to theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
Notes
edit- ^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.
- ^"Zelmo Beaty".basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedOctober 22, 2010.
- ^abThe Chaparralsfranchise played as the Texas Chaparrals during the1970–71 season and as the Dallas Chaparrals therebefore and thereafter.
- ^Boone was traded during the1970–71 season; he played 42regular season games for the Chaparrals and 44 for the Stars.
- ^Boone was traded during the1976–77 season; he played 16regular season games for the Stars and 62 for the Spirits
- ^"Ron Boone".basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 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.
- ^"Mack Calvin".basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedOctober 22, 2010.
- ^"Darel Carrier".basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedOctober 22, 2010.
- ^"Billy Cunningham".basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. RetrievedOctober 22, 2010.
- ^"Louie Dampier".basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedOctober 22, 2010.
- ^"Mel Daniels".basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.Archived from the original on 25 September 2010. RetrievedOctober 22, 2010.
- ^"Julius Erving".basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. RetrievedOctober 22, 2010.
- ^Freeman was traded during the1970–71 season; he played 42regular season games for the Chaparrals and 24 for the Stars.
- ^"Donnie Freeman".basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedOctober 22, 2010.
- ^Gervin was traded during the1973–74 season; he played 49regular season games for the Squires and 25 for the Spurs.
- ^"George Gervin".basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedOctober 22, 2010.
- ^"Artis Gilmore".basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.Archived from the original on 25 September 2010. RetrievedOctober 22, 2010.
- ^abThe Pipersfranchise played as theMinnesota Pipers after the1967–68season.
- ^Lewis was traded during the1974–75 season; he played sixregular season games for the Sounds and then 63 for the Spirits.
- ^Lucas was traded during the1975–76 season; he played 28regular season games for the Spirits and then 58 for the Colonels.
- ^Netolicky was traded during the1973–74 season; he played 19 regular season games for the Spurs and 56 games for the Pacers.
- ^Brown was traded during the1970–71 season; he played 29regular season games for the Squires and 34 for the Rockets.
- ^Jones was traded during the1972–73 season; he played 13regular season games for the Chaparrals and 67 for the Cougars.
- ^Jones was traded during the1973–74 season; he played 44regular season games for the Cougars and 42 for the Rockets.
- ^The Pipersfranchise operated as thePittsburgh Condors after the1969–70 season.
- ^The Conquistadorssports franchise operated after the1975–76 season as theSan Diego Sails.
- ^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.
- ^Brown was inducted into theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in2005 as a contributor.
- ^The Starsfranchise operated as theUtah Stars after the1969–70 season.
- ^Sharman was also inducted into the Naismith Hall in1976 as a player for his NBA career.