Discovering the ABA (American Basketball Association)
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
My newest “discovery” (in the Columbian sense of the word) is the Remember The ABA website. Featuring some real classic material for would-be hoops historians, my favorite part of this site is the Only in the ABA section, which highlights some of the more vaudevillian moments of the now defunct professional basketball league known for pushing the boundaries of round ball.
Some of the real gems here include Robota the Wicked Witch of the West (sent to put a hex on a whole team) and a board game giveaway at the halftime of a game. Not to mention Playboy bunnies, afros and big hair galore, last second heroics, and some of the great players and coaches of all time, including Julius Erving and Larry Brown. Very entertaining, I always thought modern-day NBA halftimes were somewhat gimmicky, but talk about antics… Sometimes I long for the wacky days of the 70s.
As a result of this site, I am now on the lookout for classic ABA jerseys from some of the (now defunct) teams, e.g. the “Carolina Cougars” or the “Floridians.” If you hear of anything on the market, please drop me a line.
Enjoy!
