The Semi-Pro ABA

For one brief moment, the long deceased American Basketball Association will be resurrected in the minds of moviegoers this weekend with the release of Will Ferrell's over the top comedy, Semi-Pro. Ferrell is a proven box office winner so his movie will shed light on an era that has been forgotten by most and remembered by those few who were fortunate to live in an ABA city during the leagues run in the late 60's and early 70's.

This writer had the privilege to grow up on Long Island and witness the league through one of its top franchises, the New York Nets. It is funny how things keep repeating themselves. The Nets actually were born in New Jersey as the Americans and after one season moved to Long Island. They played in the old hockey arena in Commack and then moved to the 5,000 seat Island Garden for two seasons. The Nets hit the ABA big time when they became the main tenant at the Nassau Memorial Veterans Coliseum. Despite being successful in New York, the owners eventually moved the team back to New Jersey when the Nets entered the NBA as one of four teams to survive (an historic fact at the heart of Semi-Pro) the demise of the red, white, and blue basketball league. The very same Nets franchise is poised to move back to New York (Brooklyn, of all places!) in the near future.

The Nets had a list of famous names linked to the club. Rick Barry (who shot his free throws underhanded), Dr. Julius Erving (the most dynamic offensive player in history!), Coach Lou Carnesseca (of St. Johns college and sweater fame), and Hall of Fame pitcher, Bob Gibson, who served for a time as a color commentator on local broadcasts.

The Nets also featured ABA types like Whopper Billy Paultz and super afro 6'2" slam dunk master Ollie Brown. And that is what made the ABA so much fun. Mixed in with the two or three quality players on each team were has-beens and never-
weres. Famed TV announcer Bob Costas has spent an entire lifetime boasting about his work with the Spirits of St. Louis and all-time crazy man, Marvin Barnes. Those who witnessed Wendall Ladner on and off court, would probably vote for the oft-traded Ladner as the epitome of the league and the basis for Ferrell's new movie.

When you mix in the Floridan ball girls, the Memphis TAMS (who played games in Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi), gigantic Kentucky Colonel Artis Gilmore, the original slam dunk All Star contests, the origins of the three point shooting line, red-necks, ruffians, and soul brothers on the court all at one time, and fantastic basketball from teams like the Utah Stars, the Indiana Pacers, and the Kentucky Colonels, you have a defunct league that has left its millions (oh well, thousands) of die-hard partisans with memories to last a lifetime.