How Good Was the ABA? — Part 1

In 1967, a new professional basketball league launched: the American Basketball Association (ABA). After nine years, there was a partial merger which brought the ABA's Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets, and San Antonio Spurs into the NBA, along with numerous players from ABA teams who disbanded. Many Hall of Famers played in the younger league, including Rick Barry, Julius Erving, and Moses Malone.

So how strong was the ABA? For me, this is two separate questions: how good was the ABA in the late 1960s (its first two years of operation), and how good was the ABA in the mid 1970s (its last few years of operation)?

The short answer is that the ABA was always an uneven league, with a few elite players but not as much depth as the NBA. It was a very marginal major league in its infancy, but by the time of the merger, the ABA had as many stars as the more established NBA. While the worst players in the NBA were better than the weakest players in the ABA, the younger association was clearly a major league by the mid '70s, though plagued by financial difficulties and instability.

To get into more depth (and demonstrate the accuracy of this evaluation), we'll have two posts. This first one compares the ABA, in its first two seasons (1967-68 and 1968-69), to the NBA.

The natural way to do this, it seems to me, is to compare players who participated in both leagues. I will give away the conclusion up front: I believe the NBA in the late '60s was about 50% stronger than the ABA, in this sense: a player who averaged 30 points in the ABA would probably average about 20 in the NBA. A player who averaged 9 rebounds would probably average closer to 6 rebounds in the NBA. Now, let's talk about why.

I think we have to start with Connie Hawkins. As a freshman, Hawkins was expelled from college in 1961 due to a gambling scandal in which he was innocent and had no part. Furthermore, he was kept out of the NBA and other college programs. He briefly played in small leagues, before joining the Harlem Globetrotters. He joined the ABA's Pittsburgh Pipers in their inaugural season, 1967-68.

Hawkins averaged 26.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists, winning ABA MVP and leading the Pipers to the first ABA championship. He was injured in '69 and missed half the season, but averaged 30.2 ppg. The following year, the NBA finally relented and lifted his ban. Hawkins signed with the Phoenix Suns and played his first NBA game at age 28. In the 1969-70 season, Hawkins averaged 24.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Hawkins was named first-team All-NBA, and the Suns improved from 16-66 to 39-43, still one of the biggest one-year turnarounds in history.

No one disputes that Connie Hawkins could play in the NBA, even excel and star in the NBA. Similarly, established NBA All-Stars like Rick Barry, Billy Cunningham, and Zelmo Beaty eventually jumped to the new league. Barry actually has better stats in the NBA than the ABA. But what about the rest of the league? After a handful of stars, were ABA starting rotations filled with guys who couldn't make the end of the bench in the established league?

Below is a list of everyone who: played in the ABA during the 1967-68 and/or 1968-69 season AND played in the NBA within three years. Only seasons between 1965-72 are shown.

For instance, Mel Daniels is not included because although he played in the ABA in both of its first two seasons, he did not play in the NBA until 1977. We can't really compare Daniels in 1969 to the washed-up Daniels who played 11 games for the Nets eight years later.