The ABA-NBA Merger
Four ABA franchises and the three-point shot's future in the NBA both trace back to this 1976 agreement.
Facing mounting financial losses across the league, ABA owners negotiated a merger agreement with the NBA in the summer of 1976. Four franchises -- the New York (later Brooklyn) Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs -- joined the NBA, while the remaining ABA teams folded or were bought out.
The merged league initially left the ABA's three-point line behind, only adopting it league-wide in the 1979-80 season -- a shot that would go on to reshape offensive strategy decades later during the three-point revolution.
The merger also ended a costly bidding war for college talent between the two leagues, consolidating professional basketball into a single top league in North America for the first time since the 1949 BAA-NBL merger.
Connected moments
Where this story leads next, in the same era or a related thread.
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Julius Erving's dunks and aerial creativity gave the ABA its signature style and its biggest star.
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Stephen Curry's volume and range from three-point range forced the entire league to rethink shot selection.