To attract fans, the ABA encouraged its teams to fill rosters with former NBA players and past college basketball stars that had local ties. A proposed merger with the International Basketball League fell through in December 2000, which would have allowed the inaugural season to begin with additional teams. Joe Newman founded the Indiana Legends to replace the Jacksonville Jackals, who were removed from the league after failing to secure a venue. The league began its inaugural 2000–01 season with eight teams: the Chicago Skyliners, Detroit Dogs, Indiana Legends, Kansas City Knights, Los Angeles Stars, Memphis Houn'Dawgs, San Diego Wildfire and Tampa Bay ThunderDawgs. The lawsuit was unsuccessful since the NBA had failed to actively use the ABA trademark, and the new league entered an agreement with the NBA to license the name for $50,000. The National Basketball Association (NBA), owner of the ABA trademark after absorbing many of the original league's teams, sued Tinkham and Newman in December 1999. Tinkham had previously co-founded the Indiana Pacers in the original American Basketball Association, and Newman had been an advertising executive for the Pacers. The league was originally co-founded by Dick Tinkham and Joe Newman in 1999 as ABA 2000. See also: 2000–01 ABA season and 2001–02 ABA season Darryl Dawkins, head coach of the Tampa Bay ThunderDawgs during their 2000–01 season. History Launch and suspension, 1999–2002 The league licenses its name and use of ABA trademarks from the National Basketball Association, which absorbed the American Basketball Association (1967–1976) during the ABA–NBA merger. The Women's American Basketball Association has operated as a sister league to the ABA since 2017. League management infamously maintains low requirements for franchise ownership, and hundreds of ABA teams have either folded or defected to rival leagues. Traveling teams from countries such as China and Japan have also played in the ABA. The American Basketball Association ( ABA) is an American semi-professional men's basketball minor league that was founded in 1999.ĪBA teams are based in the United States, and the league previously had international teams based in Canada and Mexico. ![]() American Basketball Associationīurning River Buckets and Indiana Lyons (2023) For the 1967–1976 basketball league that merged into the National Basketball Association, see American Basketball Association.
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