American Basketball League (1961–1963)

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The American Basketball League was a professional American basketball league that only existed for a season and a half between 1961 and 1963 before it was disbanded on December 31, 1963 for financial reasons. The league's brief history was marked by relocations and the dissolution of individual teams, but includes a number of significant sporting events such as the introduction of the three-point line in basketball and the hiring of the first African-American coach in US sports .

history

Throwing attempt behind the semicircular three-point line, first introduced in the ABL in 1961.

Under the name "American Basketball League" there was an ABL from 1925 to 1955 . The 1961 organization took up the name and started the premiere season with eight teams. In the second season only six started and of these three had a city move behind them. The first (and only) full season of the ABL was divided into two halves, with subsequent play-offs . The 1961/62 final series won the Cleveland Pipers with three to two wins against the Kansas City Steers . When the 1962/63 season had to be canceled in the middle of the season, the team from Kansas City was unceremoniously named champions because they had the best win rate of all teams at that time.

founding

In 1960, the Minneapolis Lakers professional team moved from Minneapolis , Minnesota to Los Angeles . The Lakers played in the NBA , which had a marketing deal with Abe Saperstein , owner of the famous Harlem Globetrotters show team . In order to increase the audience's interest, the Globetrotters played regularly at the opening before an NBA game was actually scheduled. Saperstein disapproved of the Minneapolis Lakers move because he believed they had promised him to be allowed to locate an NBA team in Los Angeles. He fell out with the NBA and decided to create a competitive league. He was able to convince representatives of the National Alliance of Basketball League and the Basketball Association of the Amateur Athletic Union to found the new "American Basketball League" with the best teams from both leagues. Saperstein himself named himself president of the league.

Well-known players and coaches

John McLendon

The owner of the Cleveland Pipers hired John McLendon as the team's head coach in 1959 . His successor George Steinbrenner , later owner of the New York Yankees , acquired an ABL franchise for the Pipers in 1961. This made McLendon the first Afro-American coach who was ever hired in a US professional league. McLendon later moved to the American Basketball Association , where he was also the first African-American coach.

Bill Sharman

After the NBA star Bill Sharman resigned as a player after many years as a supporter of the master teams of the Boston Celtics , he planned a coaching career in the same league. When there was no way to do this, Sharman was hired by Abe Saperstein to train the LA Jets , which Saperstein had newly founded in Los Angeles. During the first season, however, the team got into such financial difficulties that it had to be dissolved. Sharman then moved to Cleveland in the middle of the season, where McLendon had thrown in the towel due to tensions with the team owner. Sharman finally won the first ABL championship with Cleveland at the end of the season. This makes him the only coach to date who has won titles in three different US professional leagues (NBA, ABA and ABL).

Connie Hawkins

Like Bill Sharman, Connie Hawkins' career was to be crowned with an induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame . It began, however, with a college basketball-level betting scandal with which Hawkins was linked. Hawkins denied any involvement, but was expelled from his college and blocked by the NBA for gaming. Hawkins therefore signed the new ABL with the Pittsburgh Rens . He was the top scorer of the league and voted the most valuable player of the 1961/62 season. After the ABL ended, Hawkins first signed with the Harlem Globetrotters before he got a contract with the NBA. He was one of a number of players who played in the ABL because they weren't allowed to work in the NBA.

Jerry Lucas

After Cleveland won the ABL's first championship, their manager George Steinbrenner signed the nationwide college star Jerry Lucas to a two-year contract for $ 40,000 . The signing was so spectacular that it sparked talks about a merger of the ABL and the NBA. Steinbrenner actually wanted to position his team better with the addition of Lucas for a change to the competitive league. In fact, he came to an agreement with the NBA, but the ABL filed a lawsuit to prevent the Pipers from joining the NBA. Instead of returning to the ABL, Steinbrenner finally dissolved the team without a league.

Dissolution of the OJ

Without further notice, the ABL announced on December 31, 1962 that it would cease gaming with immediate effect. The reason given was financial difficulties, said to have been $ 1 million in the first season and $ 250,000 by the middle of the second season.

In retrospect, a number of circumstances affected the downfall of the ABL. The moves of different teams were bad for the audience's interest, as was the complete withdrawal of two teams. When George Steinbrenner pulled Cleveland out of the ABL, so did the potential star Jerry Lucas. Fundamental problems caused the lack of new funds among the owners of the ABL teams, as well as the fact that Saperstein was also one of the team owners.

Sporting importance

Two rules from the ABL's game operations survived the end of the league and were adopted by other leagues. The three-point line was first used here. It later gained popularity as a game-making tool through its use in the ABA, so that it was also introduced in the NBA - 18 years after its use in the ABL. The broadening of the free throw line also goes back to the ABL statutes.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Adam Spencer: 1961: The year pro basketball changed forever (January 10, 2011, in English) ( Memento of January 14, 2011 in the web archive archive.today )
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Association for Professional Basketball Research website , accessed June 1, 2011.
  3. ↑ a b c d Paul Ladewski: The Forgotten League: The ABL (1961-63) (in English) ( Memento from February 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive )