Reprinted from my Blogger post:
One of the biggest programs the NBA pushes is the NBA Cares initiative. They claim many beautiful and heart warming things but in actual practice, they care little about anything but PR. Now I agree that some of the players care and have their hearts in the right place, but the league itself? I’ve yet to see signs of that.
A little backstory is in order here. The NBA in the 60s and 70s was floundering and struggling financially. it was considered a league that was way below Major league Baseball (MLB) and the National Football League (NFL). It was so bad that they couldn’t even have their actual CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS on prime time in the 70s, having been forced to put it on tape delay. I remember watching the Bullets and Sonics play at 11:30 at might in their finals series. The league was just not in a good place.
Sensing an opportunity, an upstart league was formed in 1967, the American Basketball Association (ABA) with NBA legend George Mikan as the first Commissioner. Believing rightfully so that there was far more basketball talent in the US and few opportunities available. And so the league started to come together culminating in the most successful alternative professional sports league in history.
They were the founders in many ways of the modern NBA, having brought to life the 3-point shot (first instituted professionally by Abe Saperstein (founder of the Harlem Globetrotters) for his failed American basketball league (ABL). The ABA made it their own and opened up the game to showcase the athletic talents of their players. They played above the rim and the fans loved it.
Sensing an opportunity, both to do the right thing and to continuously improve the talent level, the ABA realized that there was no logical reason why an adult had to wait 3-4 years of college to start earning a living in their profession. At 18 a kid could go to war and die for his country, but couldn’t play basketball professionally. Many African Americans believe(d) that there was a racial basis to this inequity, as MLB and the NHL both allowed HIGH SCHOOL graduates go right from school to the minors and begin their professional careers. Both of which were predominantly white with families that were far better off. Some say it was pure greed, enabling the NCAA to serve as their FREE minor league de-facto. Whatever the reason, the uppity NBA had no desire to change things. They fought integration for a long time and even instituted quotas to prevent all black teams. So why would they care if a poor kid had the opportunity to change his family’s life by using his talents. But the ABA saw something wrong here and changed the rules, much to the anger of the NBA. They allowed kids to apply for the draft citing hardship, and the kids began to jump ship from school to play pro ball with the ABA. And the talent level began to equal (some believe surpassed) the NBA’s.
The ABA brought us such legends as Dr. J, Roger Brown (the greatest unknown player in basketball history in my opinion), David Thompson (who played higher than Jordan and was at least equal to him) and others. 7-footer Artis Gilmore, who proved he could hold his own against the greatest centers of all time like Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Mel Daniels, the ABA’s very own Willis Reed. I could go on and on.
The ABA proved their skill level by often beating the NBA teams in exhibitions, including championship teams like the Celtics, much to Red Auerbach’s chagrin, who HATED the ABA. Well when the fans started to notice and wanted to watch this other league that had Dr. J, who many thought was the best player in the world at that time, and if not, the most exciting, the NBA had to do something. They could not make a claim to being the best basketball league in the world, if the beat players were elsewhere. So they proposed a merger. The first attempt was not allowed, too lengthy and not relevant to get into today.
Four teams went into the NBA, two were basically paid off not to fight the merger. At the time, promises were made to treat the ABA players just like NBA veterans, especially when it came to benefits and pension. However once the battle was over, and the ABA helped the NBA grow in to the success it is today, the greed resurfaced and they could care less about these annoying players. And none of the promises were kept. The ABA players formed a petition which goes into this in far greater detail and I have attached a link below for anyone to read, as well as a picture of the kiss-off letter from the NBA.
The bottom line is this. These players are not modern spoiled millionaire athletes. many of them can barely feed themselves or pay their medical bills. They are also not shrewd in the corporate world and even if they were, don’t have the funds to fight the NBA in court. And so the list of athletes dying without justice continues to grow. Maybe this is all part of the NBA plan, waiting until they all die. To allow this is despicable.
The sad thing is, having spoken to many of these players, they are not even asking for the same money as their peers from that era, which is their right. They just want some keeping of the promises with a lousy cost of living increase. $300 per month per year of eligibility. The NBA recently settled a pension issue with the pre-1965 players (coincidentally mostly white), bragged about it every chance they can get, and yet refuse to do the same with the more recent ABA players, again coincidentally mostly African American. Maybe it’s not racially motivated, maybe it’s pure greed. However let’s look at the numbers.
The NBA recently received a 9 year 24 BILLION dollar tv deal. Divided by 30 teams and each team will almost make a billion over the length of the contract. To fund the pension for these poor players, would cost 1.2 MILLION per year. If each team donated a lousy 1 million dollars (one time), to put into some kind of annuity, the interest alone would take care of everything. And would probably be a charitable deduction. Don’t tell me you can’t afford to take 30 million our of 24 BILLION to do the right thing. You claim the NBA cares. PROVE IT.
Below are links where you can read more and help sign the online petition. Please spread the word everywhere you can think of.
