1) The Slam Dunk Contest

With only seven active teams left in the league and a merger with the NBA pending, the ABA took an experimental approach to its 1976 All-Star Game. In the game itself, the first place and hometown Denver Nuggets took on a roster comprised of All-Stars from the six other teams. But the real revelation came at halftime. Reportedly first proposed by Nuggets general manager Carl Scheer, the idea of an ABA Slam Dunk Contest quickly gained traction in the league office. It made sense for the more free-flowing, renegade league in what may have been a final chance to prove its viability to the NBA. The competitors were Julius Erving, George Gervin, Larry Kenon, Artis Gilmore, and David “Skywalker” Thompson, all of whom were exhausted from having participated in the first half of the (surprisingly competitive) All-Star Game. While the “Skywalker” thrilled the home crowd with a thunderous 360, it was the “Doctor” who stole the show, setting off a delirious response with his signature free throw line dunk. Though only about 17,000 fans were in attendance and the broadcast was televised live only in markets with an ABA franchise, the inaugural Dunk Contest became a media sensation, going whatever was the equivalent of “viral” in the ’70s. Many have cited it as one of the main factors in the NBA agreeing to expand the 1976 merger from two teams to four.

2) Morning shoot-arounds

It’s feels like it’s been a ubiquitous staple forever but the concept of the morning shoot-around had to start somewhere with someone. That someone was Bill Sharman, a Hall of Fame player with the Celtics who transitioned into coaching in the early ’60s. In his first gig as coach of the Cleveland Rebels of the short-lived ABL, he started to toy with the idea of gathering his players on gameday mornings to practice shooting and walk through some set pieces. Sharman expanded these informal sessions when he took over as coach of the ABA Los Angeles Stars, finding it helped players focus and lock in for the night’s game. While the etymology specifics of the term “shoot-around” is unknown (it likely was coined a few years later), it was undoubtedly successful for Sharman, who was named Coach of the Year in ’69-’70 and led the Stars to the 1971 ABA title. He was soon after hired by the Lakers and brought his informal game-day practices with him. When the Lakers rattled off a record 33 straight wins in ’71-’72 en route to a dominant title victory, the shoot-around quickly became common practice around the NBA.

3) Pro basketball in the Southern U.S.

For its first few decades of existence, pro basketball was something of a niche sport regionally, with fan interest limited to the Northeast, Pacific Coast, and pockets of the Midwest and Upstate New York. The NCAA had made incursions with powerhouse schools like Kentucky, Duke, and North Carolina, but in 1967 the most Southern pro teams were the Cincinnati Royals and Baltimore Bullets. The ABA bucked that trend, with its inaugural season featuring the New Orleans Buccaneers, Dallas Chaparrals, Houston Mavericks, and Kentucky Colonels. Soon enough, the ABA would create or relocate franchises to Miami, Greensboro, San Antonio, Memphis, and Norfolk. The success of these teams varied, as did the size of their fan bases, but NBA owners obviously took notice. The St. Louis Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968, becoming the first NBA team in the traditional South. They were soon followed by the New Orleans Jazz (expansion franchise) and Houston Rockets (moved from San Diego), setting the stage for eventual teams in Orlando, Miami, New Orleans, Memphis, and Charlotte.

4) The three-pointer

Long before Stephen Curry, the king of three-pointers was Les Selvage, pride of Missouri’s Kirksville State Teachers College. A former AAU star, Selvage quit his job as a shipping clerk to join the Anaheim Amigos for the inaugural ’67-’68 ABA season. Lacking the size or athleticism to keep up with most ABA players, let alone NBA ones, the 6’1″ Selvage opted to launch at will from long distance. Not only did Selvage led the NBA in three-point field goals in ’67-’68, he attempted more by himself than eight other teams did in total. The three-pointer eventually became a staple of the ABA, with stars like Louie Dampier and George Gervin incorporating it into their offensive arsenal. It took a few years post-merger for the “trick shot” to be sanctioned in the NBA but it’s now hard to imagine the league without it. Though Selvage played just that one full season of ABA ball, his 10 three-point field goals in one game is the all-time ABA record, and his 26 attempts is still the single game record in the ABA or NBA.

5) Leaving college early for the pros

When Spencer Haywood challenged the NBA draft eligibility rule in 1969, the ABA sensed a new opportunity to poach talent. The ABA had originally instituted the NBA regulation wherein a player had to be four years removed from high school to be eligible. But league ownership opted to amend it with a “hardship clause,” allowing a loophole for players who could prove financial hardship, thus necessitating a pro basketball salary. Haywood took immediate advantage, joining the Denver Rockets for ’69-’70 and earning league MVP as a rookie. Over the next few years, notable hardship clause draftees forgoing NCAA eligibility to join the ABA included Julius Erving, George McGinnis, Ralph Simpson, Larry Kenon, Bobby Jones, and Moses Malone. ABA teams also made unsuccessful attempts to lure over NCAA stars like Bill Walton and Bob McAdoo earlier than their NBA eligibility started. The NBA created its own hardship clause in response and when the two leagues merged in 1976, age eligibility was removed altogether from the rule books.

6) Bob Costas

Just as it was jumpstarting the legendary playing careers of Julius Erving and numerous others, the ABA also granted a young Costas his broadcasting debut. Fresh out of college, Costas took a radio play-by-play job for the Spirits of St. Louis on KMOX radio in 1974. A charter member of the ABA, the Spirits were originally the Houston Mavericks, then the Carolina Cougars before relocating to St. Louis for the ’74-’75 season. The results on the court were mixed but they were at least entertaining, with colorful characters like Marvin “Bad News” Barnes, James “Fly” Williams, and young phenom Moses Malone suiting up. Costas honed his skills on air for two seasons, until the Spirits were forced to fold after missing the 1976 merger. He remained in the area, taking jobs calling University of Missouri basketball and St. Louis Blues hockey before joining the nascent NBA on NBC broadcast in 1980. Over the next two decades, Costas became one of the signature voices of televised basketball, most notably providing play-by-play in the 1998 NBA Finals when Michael Jordan hit “The Final Shot.”