ABA_All-Time_Team

ABA All-Time Team

ABA All-Time Team

Add article description

The ABA All-Time Team were chosen in 1997 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the American 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 of positions played. Only players to have played at least a portion of their careers in the ABA were eligible for selection, although performance in other leagues, most notably the National Basketball Association was ostensibly considered. Selected and announced beside the all-time team were a most valuable player and top head coach.

The team, announced in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 23, 1997, in conjunction with an ABA reunion, was compiled based upon unranked voting undertaken by 50 selected panelists, amongst whom were members of the print and broadcast news media to have reported on and announced games for the ABA, former referees (ten), former team owners (six), former league executives (including two former commissioners), and selected fans and statisticians; former players, even those to have held other positions within the league, were proscribed from voting.

Players

Team

First team

* Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player

Of the 30 players elected to the first team, three served primarily as point guards during their ABA service, eight as shooting guards, five as small forwards, eight as power forwards, and six as centers. The franchises most represented were the Virginia Squires (having also competed as the Washington Capitals and Oakland 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 the Los Angeles Stars and Anaheim Amigos), eight players; Indiana Pacers, seven players; San Antonio Spurs (having also competed as the Texas and Dallas Chaparrals), six players; Denver Nuggets (having also competed as the Denver Rockets), five players; and Spirits of St. Louis (having also competed as the Carolina Cougars and Houston Mavericks), five players.

Five players elected to the first team—Rick Barry, Billy Cunningham, Julius Erving, George Gervin, and Moses Malone—were named one year earlier to the NBA's 50 Greatest Players list.

More information Name, Position ...

Others receiving votes

Ninety-eight players received at least one vote. In addition to those who were selected, 12 players earned votes from at least 25 percent (12.5) of voters:

More information Player, Position primarily played ...

Most valuable player

Only four players received votes from the 50 panelists as the league's all-time most valuable player; small forward Julius Erving was the clear winner of the award.

More information Player, Votes accrued ...

Coaches

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 best head coach award. Larry Brown, having received 16 votes for the players team, also received six votes in view of his coaching.

Each of four franchises was represented by two coaches: the Denver Nuggets (having also competed as the Denver Rockets), the Kentucky Colonels, the Memphis Sounds (having also competed as the Memphis Tams, Memphis Pros, and New Orleans Buccaneers), and the San Antonio Spurs (having also competed as the Texas and Dallas Chaparrals).

* Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach
More information Coach, Overall ABA regular season coaching record (winning percentage in parentheses) ...

Notes

  1. [1]
    Voting undertaken by news media covering the ABA was used to compile, after each season, two teams, each comprising two forwards, two guards, and one center, 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.
  2. [2]
    Inasmuch 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, were unanimous selections.
  3. [3]
    "Marvin Barnes". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 10 September 2010. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  4. [4]
    "Rick Barry". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 15 September 2010. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  5. [5]
    "Zelmo Beaty". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  6. [6]
    The Chaparrals franchise played as the Texas Chaparrals during the 1970–71 season and as the Dallas Chaparrals therebefore and thereafter.
  7. [7]
    Boone was traded during the 1970–71 season; he played 42 regular season games for the Chaparrals and 44 for the Stars.
  8. [8]
    Boone was traded during the 1976–77 season; he played 16 regular season games for the Stars and 62 for the Spirits
  9. [9]
    "Ron Boone". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  10. [10]
    Brown was twice traded during the 1974–75 season; he played 10 regular season games for the Pacers, seven games for the Sounds, and finally 39 for the Stars.
  11. [11]
    "Roger Brown". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  12. [12]
    "Mack Calvin". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  13. [13]
    "Darel Carrier". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  14. [14]
    "Billy Cunningham". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  15. [15]
    "Louie Dampier". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  16. [16]
    "Mel Daniels". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 25 September 2010. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  17. [17]
    "Julius Erving". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  18. [18]
    Freeman was traded during the 1970–71 season; he played 42 regular season games for the Chaparrals and 24 for the Stars.
  19. [19]
    "Donnie Freeman". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  20. [20]
    Gervin was traded during the 1973–74 season; he played 49 regular season games for the Squires and 25 for the Spurs.
  21. [21]
    "George Gervin". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  22. [22]
    "Artis Gilmore". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 25 September 2010. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  23. [23]
    The Pipers franchise played as the Minnesota Pipers after the 1967–68 season.
  24. [24]
    Lewis was traded during the 1974–75 season; he played six regular season games for the Sounds and then 63 for the Spirits.
  25. [25]
    Lucas was traded during the 1975–76 season; he played 28 regular season games for the Spirits and then 58 for the Colonels.
  26. [26]
    Netolicky was traded during the 1973–74 season; he played 19 regular season games for the Spurs and 56 games for the Pacers.
  27. [27]
    Brown was traded during the 1970–71 season; he played 29 regular season games for the Squires and 34 for the Rockets.
  28. [28]
    Jones was traded during the 1972–73 season; he played 13 regular season games for the Chaparrals and 67 for the Cougars.
  29. [29]
    Jones was traded during the 1973–74 season; he played 44 regular season games for the Cougars and 42 for the Rockets.
  30. [30]
    The Pipers franchise operated as the Pittsburgh Condors after the 1969–70 season.
  31. [31]
    The Conquistadors sports franchise operated after the 1975–76 season as the San Diego Sails.
  32. [32]
    Jones was traded twice during the 1975–76 season; he played 10 games for the Conquistadors/Sails, 15 games for the Colonels, and finally 51 games for the Spirits.
  33. [33]
    Jones was traded during the 1972–73 season; he played 53 games for the Chaparrals and 53 for the Stars.
  34. [34]
    Inasmuch as the selection panel comprised fifty individuals, each of whom was given one vote for the league's all-time most valuable player, a player earning unanimous approval would have received 50 votes.
  35. [35]
    Inasmuch as the selection panel comprised fifty individuals, each of whom was given one vote for the league's all-time best head coach, a coach earning unanimous approval would have received 50 votes.
  36. [36]
    Brown was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005 as a contributor.
  37. [37]
    The Stars franchise operated as the Utah Stars after the 1969–70 season.
  38. [38]
    Sharman was also inducted into the Naismith Hall in 1976 as a player for his NBA career.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article ABA_All-Time_Team, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.