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Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association
What do Julius Erving, Larry Brown, Moses Malone, Bob Costas, the Indiana Pacers, the San Antonio Spurs and the Slam Dunk Contest have in common? They all got their professional starts in the American Basketball Association.
What do Julius Erving, Larry Brown, Moses Malone, Bob Costas, the Indiana Pacers, the San Antonio Spurs and the Slam Dunk Contest have in common? They all got their professional starts in the American Basketball Association.
The NBA may have won the financial battle, but the ABA won the artistic war. With its stress on wide-open individual play, the adoption of the 3-point shot and pressing defense, and the encouragement of flashy moves and flying dunks, today's NBA is still—decades later —just the ABA without the red, white and blue ball.
Loose Balls is, after all these years, the definitive and most widely respected history of the ABA. It's a wild ride through some of the wackiest, funniest, strangest times ever to hit pro sports—told entirely through the (often incredible) words of those who played, wrote and connived their way through the league's nine seasons.
What do Julius Erving, Larry Brown, Moses Malone, Bob Costas, the Indiana Pacers, the San Antonio Spurs and the Slam Dunk Contest have in common? They all got their professional starts in the American Basketball Association.
The NBA may have won the financial battle, but the ABA won the artistic war. With its stress on wide-open individual play, the adoption of the 3-point shot and pressing defense, and the encouragement of flashy moves and flying dunks, today's NBA is still—decades later —just the ABA without the red, white and blue ball.
Loose Balls is, after all these years, the definitive and most widely respected history of the ABA. It's a wild ride through some of the wackiest, funniest, strangest times ever to hit pro sports—told entirely through the (often incredible) words of those who played, wrote and connived their way through the league's nine seasons.
450 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
237 people are currently reading
3375 people want to read
About the author
Terry Pluto
48 books52 followersTerry Pluto is a sports columnist for the Plain Dealer. He has twice been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the nations top sports columnist for medium-sized newspapers. He is a nine-time winner of the Ohio Sports Writer of the Year award and has received more than 50 state and local writing awards. In 2005 he was inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame. He is the author of 23 books, including The Curse of Rocky Colavito (selected by the New York Times as one of the five notable sports books of 1989), and Loose Balls, which was ranked number 13 on Sports Illustrateds list of the top 100 sports books of all time. He was called Perhaps the best American writer of sports books, by the Chicago Tribune in 1997. He lives with his wife, Roberta, in Akron, Ohio."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 226 reviews
March 12, 2018
A mildly entertaining listen about the ABA, a weird pro league that existed from 1967-1976. The ABA gave us some incredible players (Julius Erving, Artis Gilmore, Rick Barry, David Thompson, Moses Malone) and some great innovations (the 3 pointer, a quicker pace of play, the dunk contest, and basically any gimmicky promotional thing ever). It was pretty interesting learning about those guys and events, especially many of the really whacky players they had. The league was a real mess, with teams folding and moving constantly, crappy gyms, horrible travel schedules, and poor press coverage. However, you also learn how the ABA gave players way more leverage in getting better contracts. There were some genuinely funny anecdotes in this book too.
However, this book was way too long and the format stunk. Pluto's idea was that the ABA had so little TV or press coverage that most of what we know of it comes from lore, legend, and hearsay. Thus 95% of the book is just passages from interviews arranged chronologically to tell various stories in the ABA's career. To be honest, as a history dude, it's an interesting idea to put a book together as an oral history of a sports league. However, the execution just doesn't work. The segments are way too long and go into mind numbing detail about every dang trade, coaching move, and managerial dispute that happened in this 9 year period. In hindsight, the book would have been much better had it been 25% shorter or just written as a normal 300-pager-or-so fun sports book. That's why I don't really recommend it. If you want a more fun and much shorter hoop book, check out Showtime about the 1980's Lakers. I think you would have to be older or just a hardcore hoop fan (more than me) to really like Loose Balls (kudos on a great title though).
However, this book was way too long and the format stunk. Pluto's idea was that the ABA had so little TV or press coverage that most of what we know of it comes from lore, legend, and hearsay. Thus 95% of the book is just passages from interviews arranged chronologically to tell various stories in the ABA's career. To be honest, as a history dude, it's an interesting idea to put a book together as an oral history of a sports league. However, the execution just doesn't work. The segments are way too long and go into mind numbing detail about every dang trade, coaching move, and managerial dispute that happened in this 9 year period. In hindsight, the book would have been much better had it been 25% shorter or just written as a normal 300-pager-or-so fun sports book. That's why I don't really recommend it. If you want a more fun and much shorter hoop book, check out Showtime about the 1980's Lakers. I think you would have to be older or just a hardcore hoop fan (more than me) to really like Loose Balls (kudos on a great title though).
October 11, 2015
What makes LOOSE BALLS great is that the ABA is the last great American myth. There is little to no evidence of if any of the stories it engendered are true, but the book lives up to its strange, yet engaging legacy of being both the epitome of what the 1970s were about (afros, free spirited excess, drugs, guns) and the birth of contemporary, fast-flowing basketball.
I didn't know the ABA all that well before getting into LOOSE BALLS, but the oral history structure of the book was perfect to get me introduced and become familiar with some of its key names such as Mike Storen, Carl Scheer, Joe Mullaney, Larry Brown, Dick Tinkham, Bob Bass, Slick Leonard, etc. Not sure who among these guys is still alive, but let me tell you something: they will all live forever because the ABA was the most media-friendly thing in a world where they was no media to cover it and therefore it has found its place in our common imaginary.
I didn't know the ABA all that well before getting into LOOSE BALLS, but the oral history structure of the book was perfect to get me introduced and become familiar with some of its key names such as Mike Storen, Carl Scheer, Joe Mullaney, Larry Brown, Dick Tinkham, Bob Bass, Slick Leonard, etc. Not sure who among these guys is still alive, but let me tell you something: they will all live forever because the ABA was the most media-friendly thing in a world where they was no media to cover it and therefore it has found its place in our common imaginary.
February 3, 2025
I am not a big basketball fan, probably fourth after baseball, football, and hockey; nonetheless , this book about a league challenging the NBA interested me. The ABA reminds me of a professional football league that would soon follow in the 80’s, the USFL. The book is very entertaining and fun to read! I liked it so much I found myself in YouTube vortex of Dr. J highlights. I also purchased the Dr. J autobiography and will look forward to reading his story. Definitely recommend to basketball fans and general sports fans.
March 10, 2016
If you're a basketball fan this oral history of the ABA is well-worth your time. I never realized how important the ABA was to the current NBA's health and success. The book is equal parts history and and hilarious. It gives first hand accounts of the intricacies and insanity of the ABA. Really enjoyed it and learned quite a bit about how pro basketball in the U.S. got to where it is today.
March 24, 2018
Warren Jabali deliberately stomped on a dude's head during an ABA game. Also the Spurs held a Dime Beer Night that ended in a riot. These are the things that are sorely missing from modern basketball.
February 18, 2026
Loved this history of the ABA. All the NBA became was the ABA. Every great coach and player seemingly of the 80s and beyond owes their careers to these Trail Blazers. The stuff they pulled. Amazing. The business stunts. The free wheeling. Just trying to make it happen. DIY.Punk rock hoops. And to finish this on the day we lost Doug Moe.
February 18, 2019
Good oral history of a fun league and where my love for hoops started, back when the San Antonio Spurs first arrived on loan from Dallas. The league was full of real characters and some great talent. That said, this book is so out of date and would benefit from an updated or revised edition.
November 10, 2023
Contained a lot of great stories from the ABA, but I would have preferred the writing to commit to being completely linear or a collection of stories without trying to follow the season by season timeline. I wish the author recorded these interviews, as this would be outstanding as a documentary. I would recommend the book if you want to get a good background of the ABA as a whole and are comfortable jumping around.
November 5, 2025
Funny stories.
March 28, 2022
Exactly what I needed after the heavy, depressing stuff I had been reading. The oral history format really works well for this subject.
July 23, 2024
Enjoyed the oral history format much more than I had originally expected, allowed for an unconventional storytelling for an unconventional story. Don’t think there’s ever been a major sports league quite like the ABA and this books absolutely does it justice. One could make a million great movies out of this book easily!!
March 26, 2015
Loose Balls is a highly enjoyable account of the wild days of the American Basketball Association. I'm an off and on NBA fan and a long time fan of the game of basketball. I can tell you stats and stories about many NBA players, but until I read this book, I basically knew nothing about this short-lived league other than the fact that it birthed the San Antonio Spurs. The book chronicles the several years in the Seventies that the league burned bright and how strongly it affected the NBA that we know today.
One odd aspect of the book is that it is told in a non-linear fashion, in an atypical way. Rather than stick to a chronological form, the book is divided into compartments to follow particular players (Like Moses Malone) or teams (The fabled Indiana Pacers). The tale is also told from a patchwork of quotes from a wide variety of players, coaches, owners, and even journalists who experienced the ABA. This style ends up leading to lots of repetition, which at times can be maddening. I listened to this on Audible, so I imagine that it would be a different experience on the page. Every fan of the basketball pro game should be required to spend time with Pluto's loving look at the days when afros and red-white-and blue balls captured the imaginations of fans young and old.
One odd aspect of the book is that it is told in a non-linear fashion, in an atypical way. Rather than stick to a chronological form, the book is divided into compartments to follow particular players (Like Moses Malone) or teams (The fabled Indiana Pacers). The tale is also told from a patchwork of quotes from a wide variety of players, coaches, owners, and even journalists who experienced the ABA. This style ends up leading to lots of repetition, which at times can be maddening. I listened to this on Audible, so I imagine that it would be a different experience on the page. Every fan of the basketball pro game should be required to spend time with Pluto's loving look at the days when afros and red-white-and blue balls captured the imaginations of fans young and old.
August 8, 2021
This book epitomizes why I don't like oral histories. The story feels fragmented and biased. You ask 6 people to talk about the same story, and then each of their responses has redundant information. This book is probably 40% longer than it needed to be.
The author submits no evidence that he can write - the only material that isn't a quote are his "yearly diaries" that are nothing but a stream of facts. The book is filled with typos, showing he can't edit either. And the choice to organize the book into stories means that when he does talk about the league chronologically, none of those details make any sense.
I enjoyed learning about the ABA, and the crazy stories were entertaining, but this book was close to not worth it.
The author submits no evidence that he can write - the only material that isn't a quote are his "yearly diaries" that are nothing but a stream of facts. The book is filled with typos, showing he can't edit either. And the choice to organize the book into stories means that when he does talk about the league chronologically, none of those details make any sense.
I enjoyed learning about the ABA, and the crazy stories were entertaining, but this book was close to not worth it.
February 18, 2008
HANDS DOWN THE FUNNIEST BOOK ABOUT PRO BASKETBALL EVER WRITTEN! It helps that it's about the brief, crazed history of the ABA, but the chapter about the St. Louis Spirits (with Marvin "Bad News" Barnes, Fly Williams of Austin Peay, and a first-year sportscaster named Bob Costas) is worth the price of the book alone. Pluto's book on the Cleveland Indians, The Curse of Rocky Colavito, is almost as funny, and ranks with Seasons in Hell: With Billy Martin, Whitey Herzog and "The Worst Baseball Team in History"--The 1973-1975 Texas Rangers, by Mike Shropshire, and Jim Bouton's Ball Four, as the funniest book about major league baseball ever written.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2021
One of the 10 best sports books I've read (and I've read . . . lots). The ABA was an incredible thing/place/time. Not all that long ago (the league existed from 1967 to 1976), it feels like it was of a different world (no cable TV, not internet, no ESPN for crying out loud). There were professional coaches who had not seen Julius Erving(!) play until they faced him in an ABA game. Basketball legends were organic in the time of the ABA (none grew larger than Doctor J, but there was also the Ice Man, and Skywalker), and the league's style (dunks and three-pointers!) changed basketball for good. And for the better.
October 29, 2021
I was a fan of the ABA when I was a child, scouring the newspapers for box scores of Washington Capitals and Virginia Squires games. I grew up on the legend of Julius Erving, catching only occasional glimpses of him on local TV. Terry Pluto's exhaustive coverage of wild days of the ABA was a fascinating read. It is a delight for the hardcore basketball fan. My only complaint was with one of the narrators, who consistently mispronounced the names of many of the players.
January 27, 2020
I'd heard of this book before, but visiting the Nassau Coliseum last month, and seeing championship banners and Doctor J's retired number still in the rafters 40-plus years after the Nets' departure, I found myself wanting to seek it out. Our library boasted a copy, but alas, it was MIA- and hadn't been checked out since 2012.
This is a crime. This book is the Ball Four of the hardwood floor. So many stories of the moments on the courts, in the boardrooms and locker rooms, and around a generation of players that first found fame with a beachball and a funny-looking "home run" line. (The term died out, but the NBA adopted it, along with much of the ABA's style and signature events, after forcing the four teams, especially the Nets, into abject surrender to join their little club.)
So many characters in this plot: the owners who plotted against the NBA and each other to sign and steal players. The on-court enforcer, John Brisker, who never backed away from a fight and was last known fighting for or against Idi Amin in Uganda (accounts vary) and was ultimately declared legally dead years after anyone saw him alive. The retired but never raftered number of Wendell Ladner, a Net who died in a plane crash but who supposedly said, seeing a Monument on a flight into DC that successfully landed, "Wow! That must be the Washington Post!" (Ladner once crashed into a water cooler and required 48 stitches. A teammate said he didn't know the meaning of the word pain- but then, Wendell didn't know the meaning of many other words, either.)
In their almost decade of play, the roughly dozen-a-year franchises moved around like Wack-a-Moles, to cities and multi-city states where three-digit crowds were sometimes considered big. But so many future NBA stars, including the Nets' own Julius Erving, made their marks in this league.
I finished the book today, right after learning of Kobe Bryant's own passing in an air tragedy. The ABA really made his career possible, 20 years before he arrived; it introduced the star-player model of team marketing, mostly unknown in the NBA's first generation, and it broke the NCAA monopoly on underclassmen. Ironically, the barely-surviving-in-the-NBA New Jersey Nets almost selected Kobe in his entry draft. What a different world that might have been.
This is a crime. This book is the Ball Four of the hardwood floor. So many stories of the moments on the courts, in the boardrooms and locker rooms, and around a generation of players that first found fame with a beachball and a funny-looking "home run" line. (The term died out, but the NBA adopted it, along with much of the ABA's style and signature events, after forcing the four teams, especially the Nets, into abject surrender to join their little club.)
So many characters in this plot: the owners who plotted against the NBA and each other to sign and steal players. The on-court enforcer, John Brisker, who never backed away from a fight and was last known fighting for or against Idi Amin in Uganda (accounts vary) and was ultimately declared legally dead years after anyone saw him alive. The retired but never raftered number of Wendell Ladner, a Net who died in a plane crash but who supposedly said, seeing a Monument on a flight into DC that successfully landed, "Wow! That must be the Washington Post!" (Ladner once crashed into a water cooler and required 48 stitches. A teammate said he didn't know the meaning of the word pain- but then, Wendell didn't know the meaning of many other words, either.)
In their almost decade of play, the roughly dozen-a-year franchises moved around like Wack-a-Moles, to cities and multi-city states where three-digit crowds were sometimes considered big. But so many future NBA stars, including the Nets' own Julius Erving, made their marks in this league.
I finished the book today, right after learning of Kobe Bryant's own passing in an air tragedy. The ABA really made his career possible, 20 years before he arrived; it introduced the star-player model of team marketing, mostly unknown in the NBA's first generation, and it broke the NCAA monopoly on underclassmen. Ironically, the barely-surviving-in-the-NBA New Jersey Nets almost selected Kobe in his entry draft. What a different world that might have been.
August 9, 2023
I was torn about whether to buy this book or not. On one hand, I loved the ABA in the 1970s as a teenage basketball player. On the other hand, I was not sure about the format, as it is written as an oral history rather than a standard narrative work of history. I am sure glad I bought it and read it! One of the best sports books I have ever read.
First off, the oral history approach works much better than I ever imagined. With a few exceptions, the interview quotes flow nearly seamlessly throughout the book. It is quite an achievement to have woven all the interview material into such a great narrative flow. I just loved reading a few paragraphs from someone I have never heard of, and then, Julius Erving or some other basketball legend will chime in. Trust me. It works.
Even though I thought of myself as a fan of the ABA in the 70s, I had no idea about how the league got started. It's so funny and ironic that the people behind the league actually started out trying to start a pro football team. And the early days of the league were something you have to read about to believe.
After reading and thoroughly enjoying the book, I was struck about a couple things. First, the NBA that we know today really traces its roots to the ABA, which was revolutionary in the style of play and the dominance of black players. The book does a great job of making this case. I don't think there could have been the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s without the ABA paving the way. Second, reading the book lifts the curtain on the jealousies, egos, and money issues that appear to be endemic in professional sports leagues. It is especially hard for a league to balance all of the competing interests between the players, coaches, management, and owners. I think some interesting lessons can be drawn about the future of NCAA college football and basketball, which, for all practical purposes, are now professional sports. However, these college sports now have a very weak "association" to ensure that competitive balance is kept in place. This is after all what keeps the fans coming back.
All in all, a delightful read not just for basketball junkies.
First off, the oral history approach works much better than I ever imagined. With a few exceptions, the interview quotes flow nearly seamlessly throughout the book. It is quite an achievement to have woven all the interview material into such a great narrative flow. I just loved reading a few paragraphs from someone I have never heard of, and then, Julius Erving or some other basketball legend will chime in. Trust me. It works.
Even though I thought of myself as a fan of the ABA in the 70s, I had no idea about how the league got started. It's so funny and ironic that the people behind the league actually started out trying to start a pro football team. And the early days of the league were something you have to read about to believe.
After reading and thoroughly enjoying the book, I was struck about a couple things. First, the NBA that we know today really traces its roots to the ABA, which was revolutionary in the style of play and the dominance of black players. The book does a great job of making this case. I don't think there could have been the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s without the ABA paving the way. Second, reading the book lifts the curtain on the jealousies, egos, and money issues that appear to be endemic in professional sports leagues. It is especially hard for a league to balance all of the competing interests between the players, coaches, management, and owners. I think some interesting lessons can be drawn about the future of NCAA college football and basketball, which, for all practical purposes, are now professional sports. However, these college sports now have a very weak "association" to ensure that competitive balance is kept in place. This is after all what keeps the fans coming back.
All in all, a delightful read not just for basketball junkies.
December 15, 2017
In Loose Balls by Terry Pluto, he goes through anecdotes and stories from players who took part in the American Basketball Association (ABA) to form a collage of knowledge that gives the reader a great narration of the league (the ABA was a competitor of the NBA in the 1970s and added a 3 point line, a multi-colored ball, and generally had more athletic but less coached players). The ABA eventually merged with the NBA in 1976. Anyway, the book starts in the late 1960s as the idea of the ABA was being formed and put into place. It is essentially a collection of anecdotes from people who were critical at one point in the ABA (for example, Calvin Murphy and Connie Hawkins were crucial to the early ABA but not so much in the early-mid 70s when Spencer Haywood and the Indiana Pacers were the talk of the town). It details each time period and important players, coaches, and executives, letting the people involved do the storytelling. One thing that works well with this is the chaos of the anecdotes. One moment Roger Brown is being lauded by Bobby Leonard, the next George McGinnis is saying that he carried the Pacers and Roger Brown was his wingman. Different people tell stories about how they were the founder of the league. In not telling a singular narrative, it tells all of them. The book also does a good job not picking too broad of topics, but focusing on one topic from one era to give it detail. Instead of talking about the complicated contract clauses and how ABA players were getting tricked out of money, it talks about Spencer Haywood and his story and how he fell victim to these ploys, making it a more relatable and interesting book.
July 24, 2023
The other day, I was at a basketball team store when I saw a New York Nets hat for sale. I’ve tried really hard not to purchase clothes and hats these days but I just couldn’t help myself. It was beautiful, with the old school Nets logo. It represented everything good about the old American Basketball Association.
The AFL came along just as football was getting a toehold in the market after the 1958 NFL Championship Game. None of the rogue baseball leagues survived long but the failed Continental one gave the league much needed expansion.
The ABA came along when pro basketball was a virtual non-entity. Yeah the NBA had history before but no one, not even folks in Boston, cared about the Celtics winning 10 titles in 12 years. It was a blah league that needed to be pulled into a new era. And the ABA dragged it kicking and screaming. Three point line. Slam Dunk Contest. Spacing for guard-play instead of just dumping it off to the biggest guy down low. The league had it all.
Terry Pluto does a great job letting the story tell itself through oral history. It’s somewhat organized from year-to-year but also goes off on tangents, with the major teams getting a large chapter and the wild Spirits of St. Louis, who only existed for two seasons, getting twice as long as established teams like Indiana, Denver, and Kentucky. But that’s the ABA for you. Print the legend because the facts are close enough. Excellent book. I devoured it in two days because I just couldn’t get enough.
The AFL came along just as football was getting a toehold in the market after the 1958 NFL Championship Game. None of the rogue baseball leagues survived long but the failed Continental one gave the league much needed expansion.
The ABA came along when pro basketball was a virtual non-entity. Yeah the NBA had history before but no one, not even folks in Boston, cared about the Celtics winning 10 titles in 12 years. It was a blah league that needed to be pulled into a new era. And the ABA dragged it kicking and screaming. Three point line. Slam Dunk Contest. Spacing for guard-play instead of just dumping it off to the biggest guy down low. The league had it all.
Terry Pluto does a great job letting the story tell itself through oral history. It’s somewhat organized from year-to-year but also goes off on tangents, with the major teams getting a large chapter and the wild Spirits of St. Louis, who only existed for two seasons, getting twice as long as established teams like Indiana, Denver, and Kentucky. But that’s the ABA for you. Print the legend because the facts are close enough. Excellent book. I devoured it in two days because I just couldn’t get enough.
May 12, 2025
Great Memories for an ABA fan
About half the book is an almost encyclopedic account of the ABA. The other half is full of entertaining stories and individual accounts of the often weird and wacky goings on of the league. These two very different viewpoints are weaved together in each section, often in one person’s telling.
As a teenaged fan of the ABA back in the 1970s, it brought back many memories of the players I watched, including some names - Mel Daniels, Zelmo Beatty, Billy Keller, George McGinness - I hadn’t thought of in decades. Of course, some of the more well known players, like Dr J., Larry Kenon, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin and Dan Issel are in there too. As are hundreds of others: some well-known and some lesser-known players, owners, GMs, team officials, broadcasters, and a host of people temporarily or tangentially related to the ABA - each sharing their individual takes on the comings and goings, and the sometimes unbelievable antics, of the league and its members.
It’s not perfect (but then again, neither was the league). It’s a long book; it’s mostly interesting and entertaining, but occasionally gets bogged down by too much “management/ownership” details, which sometimes come across as dry and/or repetitive, and not really something the reader wants, or needs, to know. Former ABA fans like me will most likely enjoy it, but if you weren’t a fan, and/or aren’t a fan of pro basketball history, you probably won’t relate to it all that much.
About half the book is an almost encyclopedic account of the ABA. The other half is full of entertaining stories and individual accounts of the often weird and wacky goings on of the league. These two very different viewpoints are weaved together in each section, often in one person’s telling.
As a teenaged fan of the ABA back in the 1970s, it brought back many memories of the players I watched, including some names - Mel Daniels, Zelmo Beatty, Billy Keller, George McGinness - I hadn’t thought of in decades. Of course, some of the more well known players, like Dr J., Larry Kenon, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin and Dan Issel are in there too. As are hundreds of others: some well-known and some lesser-known players, owners, GMs, team officials, broadcasters, and a host of people temporarily or tangentially related to the ABA - each sharing their individual takes on the comings and goings, and the sometimes unbelievable antics, of the league and its members.
It’s not perfect (but then again, neither was the league). It’s a long book; it’s mostly interesting and entertaining, but occasionally gets bogged down by too much “management/ownership” details, which sometimes come across as dry and/or repetitive, and not really something the reader wants, or needs, to know. Former ABA fans like me will most likely enjoy it, but if you weren’t a fan, and/or aren’t a fan of pro basketball history, you probably won’t relate to it all that much.
April 7, 2023
Sports nostalgia tour of the American Basketball Association whose heydays were in the late 60s and 70s. The league had some great players like Dr. J, Rick Barry, George Gervin, Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel and others. Interesting stories about how they tried to create the league. Poor Pat Boone was one of the early investors and almost went broke. There were some smart owners and many greedy ones. George Mikan was the ABA’s first commissioner and insisted that the league’s headquarters be situated in Minnesota where he lived.
So many characters Marvin Barnes, Johnny Neumann, John Brisker etc. played in the league. The book details many of their antics. I remember Rick Mount, one of the best shooting guards in college at Purdue. Unfortunately his college game did not translate that well into the pros.
The financial status of the teams and the league were always in peril. They did not have a national TV contract like the NBA. Many coaches and players suffered returned checks or did not get paid at all.
I did not realize or remember that ABA teams played NBA teams in exhibition games and competed fairly well. There were some excellent ABA coaches including Hubie Brown, Larry Brown, Stan Albeck and Doug Moe. (Even Wilt Chamberlain was an ABA coach but not a very good or devoted one.)
There are a large number of amusing anecedotes and stories. This is a very entertaining sports book about a very interesting time in professional basketball.
So many characters Marvin Barnes, Johnny Neumann, John Brisker etc. played in the league. The book details many of their antics. I remember Rick Mount, one of the best shooting guards in college at Purdue. Unfortunately his college game did not translate that well into the pros.
The financial status of the teams and the league were always in peril. They did not have a national TV contract like the NBA. Many coaches and players suffered returned checks or did not get paid at all.
I did not realize or remember that ABA teams played NBA teams in exhibition games and competed fairly well. There were some excellent ABA coaches including Hubie Brown, Larry Brown, Stan Albeck and Doug Moe. (Even Wilt Chamberlain was an ABA coach but not a very good or devoted one.)
There are a large number of amusing anecedotes and stories. This is a very entertaining sports book about a very interesting time in professional basketball.
July 5, 2024
What an entertaining book about the existence of the American Basketball Association. Yes young basketball fans there was another league that went head to head with the NBA. If not for this league the NBA would have continued to have a monopoly restricting player movement and paying its players as servants.
How did the ABA change that? Increasing contract wages, performance clauses, deferred payments, convincing not only NBA players buts its officials to jump leagues. We all know the 3 point shot, right? Came from the ABA. Slam Dunk Contest? Came from the ABA. Underclassmen draft? Came from the ABA. You want stars that got their starts in the ABA? The other worldly Dr. J Julius Erving. He was the dunk master long before people heard of Michael Jordan. The great Moses Malone. Right of high school long before people ever heard of LeBron James or Kobe Bryant. Spencer Haywood, Connie Hawkins, Willie Wise, Mack Calvin.
Eventually the NBA realized it couldn't win an extended battle and merged with the ABA by taking 4 teams. The Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, New York Nets and the San Antonio Spurs.
Oh great coaches got their starts in the ABA too. Larry Brown, Doug Moe, Slick Leonard.
A funny, entertaining book. Some of the stories that came from the league's creation will have you laughing out loud. Read this book about how the ABA changed the NBA and basketball into the current form of today.
How did the ABA change that? Increasing contract wages, performance clauses, deferred payments, convincing not only NBA players buts its officials to jump leagues. We all know the 3 point shot, right? Came from the ABA. Slam Dunk Contest? Came from the ABA. Underclassmen draft? Came from the ABA. You want stars that got their starts in the ABA? The other worldly Dr. J Julius Erving. He was the dunk master long before people heard of Michael Jordan. The great Moses Malone. Right of high school long before people ever heard of LeBron James or Kobe Bryant. Spencer Haywood, Connie Hawkins, Willie Wise, Mack Calvin.
Eventually the NBA realized it couldn't win an extended battle and merged with the ABA by taking 4 teams. The Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, New York Nets and the San Antonio Spurs.
Oh great coaches got their starts in the ABA too. Larry Brown, Doug Moe, Slick Leonard.
A funny, entertaining book. Some of the stories that came from the league's creation will have you laughing out loud. Read this book about how the ABA changed the NBA and basketball into the current form of today.
October 25, 2017
An intriguing behind the scenes look at the American Basketball Association, but in the introduction chapter Terry Pluto includes the line ... 'True Stories? Who knows?' and you get that sense in this book. Pluto did a great job interviewing a bunch of players/coaches/announcers/owners from the ABA days, but he spills everything out into this book, and I got the sense that little effort was made to back up claims that were made, etc.
It is written in that lazy transcription style where Pluto simply gives you the dictation from his tape recorder rather than put any effort into crafting the information he gleaned into a story.
I enjoyed the insights from Bob Costas the most, and was impressed at the number of voices Pluto tracked down, I just wish he had organized it better. Many parts of the book become repetitive and you get disjointed chapters that go from telling behind the scenes stories to a simple list of facts/stats from a season.
Despite my frustrations with the style of the book, as a basketball fan, I enjoyed a look at an era of basketball that pre-dates me.
C'mon NBA ... adopt the red, white and blue ball.
It is written in that lazy transcription style where Pluto simply gives you the dictation from his tape recorder rather than put any effort into crafting the information he gleaned into a story.
I enjoyed the insights from Bob Costas the most, and was impressed at the number of voices Pluto tracked down, I just wish he had organized it better. Many parts of the book become repetitive and you get disjointed chapters that go from telling behind the scenes stories to a simple list of facts/stats from a season.
Despite my frustrations with the style of the book, as a basketball fan, I enjoyed a look at an era of basketball that pre-dates me.
C'mon NBA ... adopt the red, white and blue ball.
July 6, 2018
A very enjoyable and informative book on the American Basketball Association, the league that introduced hoops to the red, white & blue basketball, the 3 point shot and "hardship" players. Being a native of Indiana and a big fan of the early Pacers, I never really knew that the ABA was a league in constant turmoil during its nine year existence. Indiana was a reasonably stable franchise during those years. I vividly recall Roger Brown, Bob Netolicky, Mel Daniels, Freddie Lewis, Billy Keller, George McGinnis, Don Buse, Danny Roundfield, Billy Knight, Darnell Hillman, Coach Bobby Leonard and others on the Pacers team. KY had Gilmore, Issel, Dampier and Carrier. Utah had a talented group led by Zelmo Beaty, Willie Wise and Ron Boone. Other great ABA players were Connie Hawkins, Doug Moe, Spencer Heywood, George Gervin, Jimmy Silas, Moses Malone, David Thompson and the great Dr J. It was a wild and crazy league with some real characters (players, coaches and owners). If you have any interest in the ABA then this is the book to read. Full of facts and anecdotes, often funny and some hard to believe. The league included Pat Boone, Bob Costas, Charlie Finley, "Bad News" Barnes, and enforcers Wendell Ladner, John Brisker and Warren Jabali. Fun read for me. Note: Many of you have probably never heard of Roger Brown, small forward for the Pacers. A New Yorker, he was one of the best basketball players I ever saw. They pulled him off an auto factory job in Dayton, OH in '67 and what a treat to watch him on the court.
August 13, 2019
If you were a fan of the ABA back in the day, you will love this book. For those of us interested in the anomaly of this second tier basketball league, this book is a bit long and overly detailed. Pluto decided to write the book as basically a collected interview rather than an overarching narrative. I think that decision makes the book unique, giving "voice" to the players and officials that directed the quirky and interesting ABA.
If you are looking for a quick summary, I would recommend finding something online. However, if you're interested in getting to know the personalities of big names like Julius Irving and Moses Malone, then this book will be for you. There was a litle of "wild west" stuff that happened in the ABA from the creativity in the early days to the more "up tempo" style they popularized.
The book makes it clear that the ABA changed professional basketball forever. Even though it didn't last long term, it served to bring innovation and competition to the game. It was a joy to learn about. The introduction is well worth exploring even if you're not looking for 400 plus pages of ABA stories.
If you are looking for a quick summary, I would recommend finding something online. However, if you're interested in getting to know the personalities of big names like Julius Irving and Moses Malone, then this book will be for you. There was a litle of "wild west" stuff that happened in the ABA from the creativity in the early days to the more "up tempo" style they popularized.
The book makes it clear that the ABA changed professional basketball forever. Even though it didn't last long term, it served to bring innovation and competition to the game. It was a joy to learn about. The introduction is well worth exploring even if you're not looking for 400 plus pages of ABA stories.
March 24, 2020
This book really took me back in time. Even though it wasn't on TV much, I was a huge fan of the ABA. There wasn't a team in my area(Chicagoland, at the time), but I followed it as best I could. I even bought a red, white, and blue basketball. I would shoot at the rim above my garage, or at a park that was close to the house. My kids were small then, and they'd watch, and I would hold them up to make baskets. It's not that I disliked the NBA, but the ABA played a more exciting brand of ball, with the striped ball, the 3 point basket, and a fast-break style, that's the norm in the NBA today. This book is comprised of interviews with players, owners, broadcasters, and others involved, and gives you a great understanding of the whole issue. Highly recommended for anyone who was a basketball fan back in the day. BTW, this is not a new book. With the libraries in Dallas closed, due to Covid-19, one must find reading material where one can. My older son had this, and I found it while perusing his bookshelf.
February 28, 2022
In many ways this book was my white whale. I heard about it a sports-obsessed kid but could never get my hands on it. Many years later I finally did.
Living up to those lofty expectations was always going to be a tough task, but right off the bat the format was tough to get used to. The book is organized as an oral history so you're hearing from a bunch of different sources for a paragraph or two at a time. That means that the story isn't clean. Sources contradict each other, emphasize different parts and organize the timeline differently. There's an authenticity to the story but reading it can be work at times. It's a thorough account that gets deep into the details of the ABA that runs 400+ pages. So for as much fun at it is (and it's a LOT of fun) it's something I'd read in pieces over the course of several weeks rather than go straight through.
If you remember the ABA and can add in the nostalgia factor to this book I'm sure that would make it even better. All in all I'm really glad I finally got the chance to read it.
Living up to those lofty expectations was always going to be a tough task, but right off the bat the format was tough to get used to. The book is organized as an oral history so you're hearing from a bunch of different sources for a paragraph or two at a time. That means that the story isn't clean. Sources contradict each other, emphasize different parts and organize the timeline differently. There's an authenticity to the story but reading it can be work at times. It's a thorough account that gets deep into the details of the ABA that runs 400+ pages. So for as much fun at it is (and it's a LOT of fun) it's something I'd read in pieces over the course of several weeks rather than go straight through.
If you remember the ABA and can add in the nostalgia factor to this book I'm sure that would make it even better. All in all I'm really glad I finally got the chance to read it.
July 30, 2018
I was aware of the ABA growing up through the basketball cards my older brother collected in the early 1970's. And of course, Dr. J was my first favorite basketball player but that was when he was with the 76ers. At first, I was a little skeptical about reading a book that was essentially an oral history, but was hooked the minute I started to read the book. I couldn't put it down. Who can forget teams with names like the Anaheim Amigos, the Pittsburgh Pipers, the Oakland Oaks, the New Orleans Buccaneers, the Minnesota Muskies and the San Diego Conquistadors/Sails. Or, the players like LaVern (Jelly) Tart, Marvin (Bad News) Barnes, Fly Williams. Warren Jabali and greats like Connie Hawkins, Roger Brown, Mel Daniels, Dan Issel, Artis Gilmore, Dr. J, or David "Skywalker" Thompson. From beginning to the end this book was a joy to read.
August 15, 2025
An engaging oral history of a unique phenomenon, that could really only have existed when it did: a loose confederation of teams, run largely by entrepreneurs, hucksters, and conmen, which was established with the tacit (and sometimes overt) purpose of being absorbed into the established National Basketball Association. Sometimes this goal was an Association-wide endeavor, at other times teams attempted to jettison the Association on their own. Teams were moved from city to city, teams folded, teams were moved and then folded. However unorthodox the owners may have been, they were frequently matched in eccentricity by the men actually playing the games. The lasting result of the experiment resulted in the established League becoming more up-tempo and freewheeling, which was all to the good, no matter how many business men and players were screwed over in the process.
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