Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association

by Terry Pluto

Book Overview

What do Julius Erving, Larry Brown, Moses Malone, Bob Costas, the Indiana Pacers, the San Antonio Spurs and the Slam Dunk Contest have in common? They all got their professional starts in the American Basketball Association.What do Julius Erving, Larry Brown, Moses Malone, Bob Costas, the Indiana Pacers, the San Antonio Spurs and the Slam Dunk Contest have in common? They all got their professional starts in the American Basketball Association. The...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 141654061X
• ISBN13: 9781416540618
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

An Absolutely Fantastic Book!

I was in high school and college during the ABA years and thought I knew about the league. How wrong I was! This book has great insight into the creation of the league, each season and it's ultimate decline/merger with the NBA. It includes behind the scene stories - many that are absolutely hilarious - that give readers true insight into the daily operations of the floundering league. It's so good you'll never want to put it down.

One Of The Funniest Sports Books You'll Ever Read

Not living in an ABA city, I never saw many of that league's games but after reading this book, I sure wish I had! Terry Pluto has put together a fantastic book of comments ("oral history") from various people who were involved with the ABA. Man, this was fun read! I lost count how many times I just laughed out loud and some of the outraegous people that made up the fledgling pro basketball league. I learned a lot about the various teams, from the Kentucky Colonels, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, New York Nets to - best of all - the St. Louis Spirits. A young "Bobby Costas," who got his pro start in broadcasting with that team, relates some very funny stories in this book. Some of the players are just plain thugs (see the chapter, "The Meanest Men in the ABA") and some are brutal prima donnas (can you say, "Marvin Barnes?") but the good guys are equally memorable. For instance, I have more respect for Julius Erving than ever after reading this book. There are some wonderful unsung "stars" of this league that few people got to appreciate. If you like basketball and fascinating people, this book is a real treasure. Check it out!

In Their Own Words

This book is a sports gem. The wild ride of the American Basketball Association from inception to its eventual collapse and NBA absorption of the San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets and New Jersey Nets. The book is divide into 3 parts.Opening Gambits, Middle Game and Endgame. The first part deals with the origins of the league from the hiring of its first Commisioner, George Mikan and the idea behind the red, white and blue basketball and the struggles of early ABA teams to stock their rosters to a great section on The Indiana Pacers, one of the leagues best organizations. Everything is told in a series of stories told by the people involved. It is a credit to author Terry Pluto's reporting skills and ability to edit that makes this so enjoyable. Part 2 deals includes a lengthy section about the greatest player to come out of the ABA, Julius Erving. The Doctor must have been a wonder to behold in his early years as he is spoke of in awe by teammates, opponents, and coaches. Also the many stories of the often bizarre characters that inhabited the ABA are priceless in and of themselves.Of which the reader will often find themself laughing out loud. The section on The San Antonio Spurs is enjoyable in that you learn the humble origins of the current NBA dynasty. Part 3 covers such franchises as the Kentucky Colonels who were considered underachievers until they finally won an ABA championship in 1975. Probably the most entertaining section of the book chronicles the story of the Spirits Of St. Louis. The tales told of this franchise often boggle the mind if one has any isea how professional athletes are expected to act. The antics of Spirits star Marvin "bad news" Barnes are some of the most outrageous I've ever heard of in my life and I've been a sports fan for decades. Great stories of All time great coach Larry Brown and so many others they are too numerous to name. In the end the massive contracts the ABA gave out became their undoing and eventually forced capitulation to the rival NBA. It is a fun read and you learn so much about so many unheralded ABA players and coaches.

The best sports book ever written?

If you remember the ABA, and loved the red, white and blue ball, the original 3-point line, and what it all brought to the game of basketball, then consider this required reading.I cannot remember when I have laughed so hard while reading a documentary. The depictions of the players, and the unusual antics the owners tried to get people to come watch is simply too funny to describe here. Whether it was making a big deal out of $100,000 contracts (really just "very" long annuities) or getting the whole crowd to move to one side of the arena (the side shown on TV) the league went to new lengths to promote the product. Cow milking at halftime? Whatever the means, there is no doubt that the ABA changed the game forever. The first slam dunk contest, the 3-point line, and the creativity of the play itself were brand new.While the league may have been a circus act compared to the classic NBA who had the Laker's, Celtic's, Wilt, Russell, West, Oscar and others, make no mistake that some of the best to ever play came not out of the NBA but the ABA. Connie Hawkins was MJ long before MJ himself followed in the footsteps of another ABA great; Dr. J. The ABA started the early college exodus with the legal decision "hardship" rule applied to the great Spencer Haywood. If you think Rasheed Wallace with his 28 technicals a season is a strange act to follow, he pales in comparison with some of the bruisers in the "other" league. One story about a player/coach, who had benched himself for fighting, ends with the coach putting himself in as a player and decking someone not 30 seconds into the game! Who can forget the famous Marvin Barnes? Here was a guy so talented he could arrive at the game 5 minutes before tip-off wearing nothing but his uniform and a full length mink coat and carrying a sack full of take out hamburgers. His coach is so mad he benches him for the start of first quarter. Marvin gets in the game, yet manages to pay his charter pilot from his checkbook during a time-out! Final stat line for the game for the late arriving Barnes: 49 points and 19 rebounds.If the stories and no-way-you-can-make-this-up depictions are not enough, then how about a chapter written by Bob Costas on his first assignment - the announcer for the ABA's "Spirit's of St. Louis". The chapter about the wild antics and totally undisciplined plays, including some of the classic on-air gaffes that Costas makes, will leave you laughing until your sides hurt. Who can forget "Fly" Williams? A street player so out of control he tried a 360 dunk on a fast break all by himself and ended up so spun around he threw the ball over the backboard. It was a close game at that! If you are at all a fan of basketball, you have to read this book. 10 stars!!

Excellent "oral history" about the late, great ABA

Like many others who grew up in the late 60s/early 70s, I wondered about what was really going on behind the scenes of this "upstart league" that wound up ultimately changing the way pro basketball is played (and not just the 3 pointer either!). Pluto took a great approach with this book, letting the former players, coaches and execs tell their own stories of what really happened. From the league's start to its ultimate merger with the "enemy," (ie the NBA) it also showcases the successful (Indiana, Denver, Kentucky, San Antonio, NY Nets) and the "flameouts" (Spirits of St Louis, LA/Utah Stars and esp the ill-fated Baltimore Claws and San Diego Sails). It talks about the bidding wars for players, the personalities from each team, and what ultimately led to the merger with the NBA.This book contains a wealth of humorous and virtually unbeleivable stories about the ABA. What little I did see on TV of the ABA I always enjoyed and finally sitting down to read this book brought back some memories.There is a "new ABA" now called "ABA 2000," but it's strictly a developmental league. While at times the ABA could be "rinky dink," it was never a "minor league" for the NBA.If you want to know what the ABA was really like in its heyday, get this book. It's a keeper!

great book

the aba was ahead of it's time.everything the nba is doing now was taboo back in the 70's.i'm a firm believer that another league can challenge the majors.this league paved the way for others in different sports.if the aba had the media that the nba has today it might not have been the same.cuz what you see nightly was done a 100% times better 25 years back.this book was great.and a book i couldn't put down.