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Monday, April 13, 2026
The 2026 NBA Play-In Tournament, Featuring the Worst of the Non-Tankers
The 2025-26 season will long be remembered for the NBA de facto becoming two leagues: a 20 team league in which teams competed to qualify for the playoffs or at least for the Play-In Tournament, and a 10 team league in which teams competed to lose as many games as possible. The standings reflect this sharp divide; instead of wins and losses being distributed relatively evenly, the 10th seeded team in the Eastern Conference finished 11 games ahead of the 11th seeded team, and the 10th seeded team in the Western Conference also finished 11 games ahead of the 11th seeded team. The 10th seeded team in each conference qualifies for the NBA Play-In Tournament, while the teams finishing below 10th head straight to the NBA Draft Lottery. Last season, the Eastern Conference's 10th seeded team finished seven games ahead of the 11th seeded team, and the Western Conference's 10th seeded team finished just three games ahead of the 11th seeded team. During the 2023-24 season, the margins were four games and five games respectively, and in 2022-23 the margins were five games and two games respectively. In 1995-96, when the Chicago Bulls won a then-record 72 regular season games and eight teams from each conference qualified for the playoffs without an NBA Play-In Tournament, the margins between eighth place and ninth place in each conference were one game and three games respectively.
In short, to the extent that tanking existed historically it was much more limited in scope than it was this season: fewer teams tanked, and they did so for a smaller portion of the season. NBA fans can thank "stat gurus"--who act like they have figured out the mathematical solution to every problem--and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver for the "tank-tacular" NBA, a league that charges full ticket prices and hefty streaming fees for the "privilege" of watching a third of the teams race to the bottom. Have any of the "stat gurus" noticed that many of the same teams are tanking each year, which would suggest to a sensible person that tanking is not the optimal way to build a winning team?
Most of the 2026 Play-In Tournament teams are not as good or as intriguing as the NBA's media partners assert, but four of these teams--two from the Eastern Conference and two from the Western Conference--will survive to participate in the NBA playoffs, which begin on April 18.
Last season, five of the eight Play-In Tournament teams had losing records. Not surprisingly, when movable forces face resistible objects the result is not scintillating basketball; the 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament began with the 41-41 Orlando Magic eviscerating the 40-42 Atlanta Hawks, 120-95. This season, rampant tanking in the bottom third of the standings enabled seven of the eight Play-In Tournament teams to avoid having losing records.
The
2026 NBA Play-In Tournament starts tomorrow night with the 44-38 Charlotte Hornets hosting the 43-39 Miami Heat. ESPN's Charles Barkley has been calling the Hornets "The Dream Team" for months, and he was only half-joking: after starting the season 6-16, the Hornets went 38-22 the rest of the way, including a nine game winning streak featuring wins over San Antonio and Houston. The Hornets ranked first in three point field goals made as Kon Knueppel set the single season rookie record for three point field goals made, and his league-leading 273 were just one more than his teammate LaMelo Ball's 272. The Hornets ranked third in three point field goal percentage (.378) but they are not as adept at making other shots, ranking 25th in overall field goal percentage (.460) and 13th in scoring (116.0 ppg). They finished fifth in rebounding, seventh in points allowed, and 11th in defensive field goal percentage. Brandon Miller (20.2 ppg), Ball (20.1 ppg), and Knueppel (18.5 ppg) lead a balanced scoring attack. The Hornets have not made the playoffs since 2016, and their top nine players have combined to participate in zero career playoff games.
The Heat boast about their "culture" and their championship aspirations, but they have not advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2023. They used to be known for being a slow tempo team that played tough defense, but this season they ranked second in scoring and 22nd in points allowed. The Heat scored at least 135 points in 15 games, and they won 14 of those contests. First-time All-Star Norm Powell led the team in scoring (21.7 ppg) but he played in just 58 games. Tyler Herro averaged 20.5 ppg in 33 games. Bam Adebayo averaged 20.1 ppg, the second highest mark in his career--boosted by his 83 point outburst versus the defenseless, tanking Washington "Wheeze-hards." The Heat have been the unofficial kings of the Play-In Tournament: in 2025, they became the first 10th seeded team to qualify for the playoffs, and in 2023 they emerged from the Play-Tournament to make an improbable run to the NBA Finals before losing to the Denver Nuggets.
The Heat won the first two matchups with the Hornets before getting smoked 136-106 on March 17. Adebayo missed that game due to right calf tightness. I expect the Hornets' defense and three point shooting to cause problems for the Heat, so I am picking the Hornets to beat the Heat. The loser of that game will be eliminated from playoff contention, while the winner will face the loser of Wednesday night's Philadelphia-Orlando game to earn the Eastern Conference's eighth seed.
In Tuesday's nightcap, the 45-37 Phoenix Suns host the 42-20 Portland Trail Blazers. The Suns seemed to be rebuilding after trading Kevin Durant to Houston in a seven team deal last summer, but instead they won nine more games sans Durant this season than they won with him in 2024-25. The Suns' top players missed a lot of games in both seasons, so health does not explain the improvement. Not surprisingly, the Suns are worse offensively without Durant, ranking 26th in scoring and 28th in field goal percentage this season after ranking 18th and 11th respectively in those categories last season. The difference is on defense, where the Suns improved from 22nd in points allowed to sixth while also inching up from 21st to 15th in defensive field goal percentage. Devin Booker led the Suns in scoring (26.1 ppg) and assists (6.0 apg), while two of the players acquired in the Durant deal have been major contributors: Dillon Brooks averaged a career-high 20.2 ppg and Jalen Green chipped in 17.8 ppg.
The Portland Trail Blazers have not made the playoffs since 2021 and have not advanced past the first round since their fluky 2019 run to the Western Conference Finals, but Deni Avdija's emergence as a first-time All-Star helped this young team improve just enough to at least contend for postseason play. Avdija led the team in scoring (career-high 24.2 ppg) and assists (career-high 6.7 apg) while also averaging 6.9 rpg. Shaedon Sharpe contributed a career-high 20.8 ppg, while Jerami Grant bounced back from an awful 2024-25 season (14.4 ppg on .373 field goal shooting) to score 18.6 ppg on solid .453 field goal shooting. First year head coach Tiago Splitter did an admirable job replacing Chauncey Billups at the last minute after Billups was placed on leave by the NBA because of his alleged role in a two-pronged illegal gambling scandal. As is often the case with teams that finish around .500, the Trail Blazers have mediocre rankings in many statistical categories, but they finished sixth in rebounding and seventh in blocked shots, numbers that hint at their youth and athleticism.
The Suns won the first two head to head matchups in high scoring games at Portland, and then the Trail Blazers won 92-77 at Phoenix. Booker and Brooks did not play in that game, and Avdija played less than a minute, so that contest does not say much about these teams at full strength. I expect Avdija to have a great all-around game, but Booker and Brooks will each score 25-plus points in a Phoenix win. The loser of that game will miss the playoffs, while the winner will face the loser of Wednesday night's L.A. Clippers-Golden State game to claim the Western Conference's eighth seed.
On Wednesday night, the 45-37 Philadelphia 76ers will host the 45-37 Orlando Magic. The tanking teams should stop hiring "stat gurus" and instead take a graduate course on "The Process": after the 76ers reached the second round of the playoffs in 2012, and then missed the playoffs by four games in 2013, the 76ers hired Sam Hinkie as their general manager and embarked on a four year tanking program. As a result, the 76ers chose Joel Embiid with the third overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. Embiid missed his first two seasons due to injury, but in the next nine seasons he failed to advance past the second round--and he is currently sidelined after appendicitis surgery. Since "stat gurus" claim to love numbers, let the record show that the 76ers lost on purpose for four years--and a decade later all of that intentional losing has yet to produce a better playoff team than their 2012 squad. I realize that some "stat gurus" are as slow as they are stubborn, but objectively the numbers prove that tanking does not work.
First-time All-Star Tyrese Maxey had a breakout season, leading the 76ers with a career-high 28.3 ppg. He does not shrink in the playoffs like Embiid does, but he also has not proven that he can carry a team very far. Rookie VJ Edgecombe averaged 16.0 ppg, and he is the only one of the 76ers' top five scorers who played in at least 75 games. Injuries and a 25 game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs limited Paul George to just 37 games, during which he averaged 17.3 ppg. Insert joke about the drugs not actually enhancing George's play very much--and his playoff resume is nothing to write home about.
The Magic were considered to be a team on the rise after going 47-35 in 2023-24, but something has just not clicked since then. Injuries have not helped, but even when this team is at or near full strength it does not strike fear into the hearts of legit contenders. All they had to do to host Philadelphia in the Play-In Tournament was beat a Boston team that rested its key players in the last regular season game, but instead the Magic fell flat on their faces. Paolo Banchero made the All-Star team in his second season (2024) and has not been back since. He led the Magic in scoring (22.2 ppg) and rebounding (8.4 ppg), but the initial thought/hope that he could develop into a franchise player now seems to be unrealistic. Offseason acquisition Desmond Bane did his part, averaging 20.1 ppg while being one of just 18 NBA players who participated in all 82 games.
With the 76ers at home and the Magic floundering around, it is tempting to pick Philadelphia, but the 76ers are 24-14 with Embiid this season, and 21-23 without him; in other words, new year but same old story: with Embiid, the 76ers are a 50 win regular season team that is just good enough to lose early in the playoffs, and without Embiid the 76ers are not good at all. If the 76ers were completely healthy, I would not pick them to advance past the second round this season, and in their current state I expect even the enigmatic Orlando Magic to beat them.
Wednesday's action will conclude with the 42-40 L.A. Clippers hosting the 37-45 Golden State Warriors. The Clippers started the season 6-16 before cutting ties with Chris Paul. They soon went on a six game winning streak, and their 11-4 January record lifted them above the tanking teams and into fringe playoff contention. The Clippers did some more addition by subtraction in early February by jettisoning 36 year old James Harden in exchange for 26 year old Darius Garland. This is just the second season since 2017 that Kawhi Leonard played in at least 65 games; he conveniently landed exactly on the number that keeps him eligible for postseason award consideration, and he will likely make one of the All-NBA Teams after averaging a career-high 27.9 ppg with shooting splits of .505/.387/.892. Garland has been a dependable second scoring option, averaging 19.9 ppg in 19 games with the Clippers.
After Jimmy Butler played just 38 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury, and injuries limited Stephen Curry to 43 games, future Hall of Famer Draymond Green picked up the slack--and led Golden State to the last Play-In Tournament slot after Dallas, New Orleans, Memphis, Utah, and Sacramento decided to abandon even the pretense of trying to win. We have seen this Draymond Green experience before: in 2019-20 with Curry and Klay Thompson sidelined by injuries, Green led the Warriors to a 15-50 record. Green's fans describe him as essential member of four Golden State championship teams, but a credible argument could be made that his flagrant fouls, suspensions, and negative impact on team chemistry cost the Warriors almost as many championships as he helped them win--and the word "helped" is used advisedly: as the third and sometimes fourth best player on championship teams, Green was not as dominant as Dennis Rodman--a lock down defender and seven-time rebounding champion--nor was he as clutch as Robert Horry.
This season, the Warriors were 24-19 with Curry, and 13-26 without him, with Green along for the ride in either scenario. The Warriors ranked 14th in points allowed, 22nd in scoring, 23rd in defensive field goal percentage, 24th in field goal percentage, and 25th in rebounding; some of those numbers are skewed a bit by Curry's extended absences, but the reality is that the Warriors are what their record says they are: not very good. The Clippers are not the second coming of the 1996 Chicago Bulls, but with Leonard scoring an efficient 30 points and Garland adding 25 points the Clippers will put the Warriors out of their misery.
In Friday's Play-In Tournament games, I expect Charlotte to beat Philadelphia and L.A. to defeat Portland. As noted above, Charlotte is inexperienced but the Hornets are stout defensively, while the 76ers are the predictable product of years of tanking. The Clippers sans Harden and Paul will complete their rise from the basement to the penthouse (or at least the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs).
Thus, if
my predictions are correct, the Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns will claim the
seventh seeds in their respective conferences, and the eighth seeded
teams will be the Charlotte Hornets and the L.A. Clippers.
Watching a third of the NBA tank into oblivion this season was not enjoyable, and even finding the games may be challenging for the casual fan, so it should be noted that all of the 2026 NBA Play-In Tournament games are being shown exclusively on Amazon Prime.
The Play-In Tournament has yet to cure tanking or provide consistently high quality basketball, but maybe we will be fortunate to have at least a few entertaining games as appetizers before the playoffs begin.
The 2026 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class Includes Mike D'Antoni, Doc Rivers, and Amare Stoudemire
The 2026 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class includes eight individual inductees, four of whom have NBA ties: Joey Crawford, Mike D'Antoni, Doc Rivers, and Amare Stoudemire. The other four individual inductees are men's college basketball coach Mark Few, and women's players Elena Delle Donne, Chamique Holdsclaw, and Candace Parker. The 1996 United States Women's National Team that won the Olympic gold medal is also being inducted; six members of that team--Teresa Edwards, Lisa Leslie, Rebecca Lobo, Katrina McClain, Dawn Staley, and Sheryl Swoopes--have already been inducted individually.
This website focuses primarily on the NBA, so this article will focus on the Hall of Fame inductees who have NBA connections.
Joey Crawford served as an NBA referee from 1977-2016, officiating in 2561 regular-season games, a record 374 playoff games, and 50 NBA Finals games. In 2005, he became the sixth referee to officiate in at least 2000 games, joining Mendy Rudolph, Jake O'Donnell, Dick Bavetta, Earl Strom, and Tommy Nunez. O'Donnell's career ended in disgrace after he openly had a vendetta against Clyde Drexler--culminating in ejecting Drexler from a 1995 playoff game for no good reason--and Crawford nearly met a similar fate, being suspended by Commissioner David Stern in 2007 after ejecting Tim Duncan without just cause. After the suspension, Crawford showed contrition, sought help, and was reinstated by Stern without missing any regular season games--but 2007 was the only year between 1986 and 2015 that Crawford did not officiate a game in the NBA Finals. The NBA was better off when it had a Commissioner who made decisions based on the best interest of the game, and not based on trying to be popular with media commentators (many of whom criticized Stern for suspending Crawford, and for other actions that they deemed to be too harsh). Crawford had a quick "hook" in terms of technical fouls/ejections, but in general he was respected as an excellent referee who was not swayed by the crowd; referees who are impacted by crowds are one reason that home court advantage exists, so players and coaches prefer referees like Crawford who do not pay attention to crowd reactions.
Mike D'Antoni won the NBA Coach of the Year award in 2005 with Phoenix and in 2017 with Houston. He ranks 22nd all-time in NBA regular season coaching wins (672), 32nd in regular season winning percentage (.560, minimum 400 regular season games), and 24th in NBA playoff coaching wins (54). He did not reach the NBA Finals in 16 seasons as a head coach, and he only reached the Conference Finals three times (2005 and 2006 with Phoenix, 2018 with Houston). D'Antoni's teams posted a .491 playoff winning percentage.
I enjoyed interviewing D'Antoni in 2007 and having a conversation about that year's MVP race featuring Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kobe Bryant. D'Antoni unsurprisingly advocated for his player, Nash, but he acknowledged that the Suns would win at a high level if they had Bryant instead of Nash; that seems obvious in retrospect, but many media "experts" at that time questioned if then three-time NBA champion Bryant could lead a team as well as Nash, who won two regular season MVPs without reaching the NBA Finals during his career. Bryant finally won the regular season MVP in 2008, and he led the Lakers to two more NBA titles (2009, 2010).
D'Antoni received praise for his "Seven Seconds or Less" offense in Phoenix, as his Suns pushed the ball up the floor and shot as quickly as possible. He was lauded for his innovative offenses, but those offenses tended to sputter when it mattered most in the playoffs, and seemed better suited to pumping up individual players' statistics as opposed to generating championship level team success, as I noted in 2020 after D'Antoni's Rockets fizzled against the Lakers in the second round:
One might argue that D'Antoni is a master at developing players, but if
that were the main story here then the players he "developed" would
presumably retain what they had learned even after they no longer played
for D'Antoni. No, the pattern above suggests that D'Antoni installs an
offensive system that generates impressive individual statistics for his
guards. It must be noted that D'Antoni has yet to reach the NBA Finals.
In contrast, Phil Jackson's Triangle Offense did not elevate Michael
Jordan's statistics but rather improved the team's offensive efficiency,
resulting in six championships. Jackson's Triangle Offense had the same
effect for the L.A. Lakers--the team improved (after failing to reach
the Finals under previous coaches), as opposed to the individual players
running amok outside of the context of playing championship level
basketball...
Under D'Antoni, average point guards put up All-Star numbers, and
All-Star point guards get vaulted into the MVP conversation. Steve Nash
is a more durable Mark Price--and
that is no slight: Price was a great player, but no one gave him
serious MVP consideration during his career, and no one gave Nash
serious MVP consideration before or after the time he played for
D'Antoni.
Doc Rivers is a favorite target for casual fans on social media and for media members who don't understand basketball, but his coaching resume is impressive: 1192 regular season wins (sixth most all-time), 114 playoff coaching wins (fourth most all-time), and two Eastern Conference titles with the Boston Celtics (2008, 2010). He led the Celtics to the 2008 NBA title. Rivers' teams have reached the playoffs 22 times in his 27 coaching seasons. In 2022, Rivers was selected as one of the 15 greatest coaches in NBA history. Rivers' critics point out that he is the only coach in NBA history whose teams have blown multiple 3-1 playoff series leads, but they leave out the fact that Rivers' teams were the underdogs in two of those three series. Those who assert that Rivers can only be successful with stacked team forget or ignore that Rivers won the 2000 NBA Coach of the Year award after leading the "heart and hustle" Orlando Magic to a 41-41 record with Darrell Armstrong, a young Ben Wallace, Bo Outlaw, John Amaechi, and Tariq Abdul-Wahad as the five primary starters.
Amare Stoudemire was the high-flying, rim-running center for D'Antoni's Phoenix Suns. Stoudemire won the 2003 NBA Rookie of the Year award, and averaged 21.4 ppg and 8.9 rpg while shooting .544 from the field in 516 regular season games with the Suns. As a Sun, Stoudemire earned four All-NBA Team selections (including First Team honors in 2007) and made the All-Star team five times. Stoudemire earned his fifth All-NBA Team selection and made his sixth All-Star team in 2011 while playing for D'Antoni in New York. Injuries limited his availability and productivity--he did not play in more than 65 games in a season or average more than 18 ppg after the age of 29--but during his prime years he was a force in the paint on offense.
The Groaning and Grumbling About the NBA's 65 Game Rule is Unfounded
Media members, players, and fans are groaning and grumbling about the NBA's rule that a player must participate in at least 65 games to be eligible for most regular season awards, including regular season MVP. The main complaint is that it is somehow unfair that a player who misses at least 22% of the season (at least 18 games out of 82) is barred from winning the regular season MVP. It should be emphasized that this rule was collectively bargained and agreed upon by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association.
The NBA's regular season has lasted 82 games since 1967-68, with the only exceptions being the lockout shortened seasons in 1998-99 (50 games) and 2011-12 (66 games), and the COVID-19 shortened seasons in 2019-20 (64-75 games) and 2020-21 (72 games).
In 1982-83--when Moses Malone and Julius Erving led the Philadelphia 76ers on a glorious, record-setting 12-1 playoff run culminating in a 4-0 NBA Finals sweep of the defending champion L.A. Lakers--39
NBA players played in all 82 regular season games, and Clemon Johnson
played in 83 regular season games (51 with Indiana, followed by 32 with
Philadelphia). An additional 22 players played in 81 regular season
games. Those numbers were typical for that era; in 1981-82, 42 players
played in all 82 regular season games, and three players played in more
than 82 games, while an additional 21 players played in 81 regular
season games.
It was a given during that era that MVP level
players rarely missed games. From 1967-82, the NBA regular season MVP
played in 81 or 82 games every year except for 1978, when 1977 NBA
Finals MVP Bill Walton captured the regular season MVP despite being
limited to 58 games due to injuries--and Walton was not "load managing":
he was legitimately injured. Erving won four regular season MVPs during
his ABA/NBA career; in those MVP seasons, he played in 84, 84, 84, and
82 games (the ABA regular season lasted 84 games). Malone won three
regular season MVPs during his ABA/NBA career; in those MVP seasons, he
played in 82, 81, and 78 games.
Playing all 82 games used to be a badge of honor for NBA players.
From 1983-98, every NBA regular season MVP played in at least 76 games, 11 regular season MVPs played in at least 80 games, and six regular season MVPs played in all 82 games. In the lockout shortened 1998-99 season, regular season MVP Karl Malone played in 49 of 50 games. From 2000-11, every NBA regular season MVP played in at least 71 games, and six of them played in 81 or 82 games. In the lockout shortened 2011-12 season, regular season MVP LeBron James played in 62 of 66 games. From 2013-2019, every NBA regular season MVP played in at least 72 games, and three of them played in at least 80 games. In the COVID-19 shortened 2019-20 season, regular season MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo played in 63 of 73 games. In the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season, MVP Nikola Jokic played in all 72 of his team's games. In the past three regular seasons, 2023 MVP Joel Embiid played in 66 games, 2024 MVP Nikola Jokic played in 79 games, and 2025 MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played in 76 games.
The 65 game rule was not needed previously because (1) it was a given that players tried to play in as many games as possible, and (2) it was a given that the regular season MVP would play in the vast majority of that season's games. If the rule had existed in the past, the only MVP race that would have had a different outcome is 1978, when George Gervin would have won because Bill Walton would have been disqualified. I am fine with the voters choosing Walton--who dominated during the 1977 season (when he played in 65 games and finished second in regular season MVP voting) before dominating during the 1977 playoffs (leading Portland to the NBA title while winning the Finals MVP) and then dominating during the first part of the 1978 season before getting injured--but I would also be fine with the voters choosing Gervin based on Gervin playing at a very high level while participating in all 82 games.
The 65 game rule is needed now because (1) it is no longer a given that players try to play in as many games as possible and (2) the league, the players, and the MVP voters are so soft that without a firm rule in place an award for full season excellence might be given to a part-time player. Specifically regarding this season, it is unfortunate that several MVP caliber players may fall below the 65 game threshold, but if that happens then the MVP award should go to the best player who performed on a full-time basis. Contrary to the groaning and grumbling, that would not represent an injustice or some kind of dramatic break with history; it would maintain the correct way that MVP voting has consistently been done: a big part of being an MVP is being available for most of your team's games, and the voting trends from before the 65 rule game existed demonstrate this.
Kawhi Leonard is a good example. He is a two-time NBA Finals MVP (2014, 2019) because he was the best performer on the winning team while playing in every game of both of those series. It would have been illogical to give the Finals MVP to a player who missed several games in those series. During Leonard's 14 season career, he has played in at least 65 games four times (he still has a chance to reach the 65 game mark this season if he plays in at least nine of the Clippers' remaining 10 games). In those two seasons, he finished second and third in regular season MVP voting, and he won a Defensive Player of the Year award. His only other top five finish in regular season MVP voting happened in 2020, when he ranked fifth after playing in 57 out of 72 games. Leonard won the 2015 Defensive Player of the Year award in 2015 despite playing in just 64 games, but Draymond Green (who played in 79 games that season) had more first place votes (45-37). Under the current rule, Leonard would not have won the 2015 Defensive Player of the Year award, and that would have been a fair result: if you are not available to your team for a substantial portion of the season, then your "value" is diminished accordingly and it is difficult to argue that you are the "most valuable."
The 65 game rule is not harming any players because from a practical standpoint it is not eliminating from award consideration anyone who would have likely won an award based on the way that voting has been done historically. The rule merely codifies the unwritten rule that existed for decades and it does so in a way that emphasizes to players the importance of being available. Players get paid guaranteed money whether they play or not, but they should not be guaranteed consideration for awards during seasons when they miss a substantial number of games. The number 65 is no more arbitrary or punitive than any other number, and having a defined rule in place is a sad necessity considering how soft the NBA has become; the alternative would be a farcical situation in which a player is named MVP despite playing barely half the season.
The regular season MVP award is named after Michael Jordan, who played in all 82 games in four of his MVP seasons and who played in 80 games in his other MVP season; if the NBA gets rid of the 65 game rule and a player who plays in 50 or 60 games wins the regular season MVP then the award should be renamed for Joel Embiid or Adam Silver or perhaps the "Advanced Basketball Statistics Load Management MVP Award."
Bam Adebayo's Scoring Outburst Highlights Why Tanking is Terrible
On April 9, 2023, I declared, "The toxic combination of tanking and load management cheats the fans who
buy tickets to see their favorite players, compromises the integrity of
playoff seeding, devalues individual and team statistics, and creates a
host of issues regarding legalized wagering" (emphasis added).
There are many examples of inflated/devalued statistics, but the tragicomical farce perpetrated by the Miami Heat--and their partners in crime, the perpetually tanking Washington "Wheeze-hards"--tonight is Exhibit A: Bam Adebayo scored 83 points on 20-43 field goal shooting and 36-43 free throw shooting as Adebayo's Heat won, 150-129. Adebayo made just seven of the 22 three pointers that he jacked up, and he scored six points--all on free throws--in the final two minutes with the Heat leading by 25 or more points. Officially, Adebayo now owns the second highest single game scoring output in NBA history, surpassing Kobe Bryant (81 points) and trailing only Wilt Chamberain's legendary 100 point game. Unofficially, this travesty--this "traveshammockery" (travesty, sham, and mockery)--should have a giant asterisk next to it, and that asterisk should include a picture of Adam Silver's face wearing clown makeup.
The "Wheeze-hards" gave up 40 first quarter points on .542 field goal shooting, with Adebayo scoring 31 points on 10-16 field goal shooting; their only goal is to lose, and they achieved that goal in a spectacularly disgraceful manner. Perhaps the Wizards assumed that the Heat would call off the dogs once the outcome was no longer in doubt, but by that point Adebayo was so close to surpassing Bryant that the Heat began force-feeding him the ball. Even tanking teams apparently have some standards, so the "Wheeze-hards" began focusing all of their meager efforts on not letting Adebayo score, and then the Heat began fouling to get the ball back and missing non-Adebayo free throws on purpose to generate more shot attempts for Adebayo.
The "Wheeze-hards" have been tanking for several years and have made the playoffs just once since 2018 (2021, when Russell Westbrook averaged a triple double for the fourth time in his extraordinary and often underrated career. Adam Silver should relegate the "Wheeze-hards" and other tanking teams to the G League and should forbid the tankers from receiving the national TV revenue that teams share. I know that he will not do that--for a variety of reasons--but drastic measures must be taken to prevent the NBA from degenerating into a complete farce.
How absurd is it that Adebayo scored 83 points in an NBA regular season game? Adebayo's
previous career high was 41 points in a 128-124 Heat loss versus
the Brooklyn Nets on January 23, 2021; that was one of just four times
that he scored at least 35 points in a game in the first 624 regular
season games of his NBA career.
Regular season NBA games are starting to resemble the NBA All-Star
Game in terms of lack of defense/lack of competitive effort, and last
year's NBA All-Star Game may have been the worst basketball game ever.
Prior to Monday, there had been one day in ABA/NBA history during which
two players had 60 point games--and now that has happened twice in five
days. Pointing out such facts is not "hating." The NBA powers that be
have drastically altered the game, and not for the better: instead of
featuring the best athletes in the world competing at the highest level,
the NBA has degenerated into a glorified skills exhibition. I have
attended dozens if not hundreds of NBA games in person as a credentialed
media member or as a fan, and I have seen firsthand that even "non
shooters" in the NBA can shoot an absurd percentage on uncontested
warmup shots; this helped me to understand how great NBA defense is (or
was). With all due respect to Doncic, in his 73 point game he shot .850
from the field on shots that were not much more difficult than warmup
shots.
The modern NBA has lowered the bar competitively, which devalues each game and cheapens the record book.
The rules changes and style of play changes from the past 20 years
suggest that the NBA decided that fans have such short attention spans
and so little appreciation for the nuances of the game that the only way
to keep them interested is to transmogrify the sport from a game of
ball movement and player movement featuring diverse offensive strategies
into a one dimensional game during which teams jack up as many three
pointers as possible; three point field goal percentages have not
improved in the past 20 years, but the volume of three point shooting
has more than doubled. "Stat gurus" may
believe that high volume three point shooting is inherently efficient,
but shooting twice as many treys at less than a .360 clip while
eschewing midrange shots and shots in the paint does not add up to
efficient basketball, nor does it create aesthetically pleasing
basketball.
At its best, basketball is an all-around game featuring skillful offense balanced by shrewd, physical defense. The step back move as
utilized by Adrian Dantley, Larry Bird, and Dell Curry was a thing a of
beauty. I used to practice it in my driveway while being careful to not
take an extra step. In contrast to that technical artistry, what is
called a step back move today is a travel and/or an offensive foul if
basketball's rules were enforced as written. Commentators and fans scoff
that old school players "had no bag" (did not have a bag of fancy ball
handling moves), but the reality is that what is called a "bag" today
includes traveling, carrying, palming, and flopping and flailing
to bait referees into calling fouls against defensive players. No
player epitomizes the NBA's emphasis on elevating offense over defense
more than James Harden, who literally "traveled" through the NBA's record book thanks to the generous whistle that he received during his prime years.
Bryant
scored 81 points in a game and averaged 35.4 ppg at a time when most
NBA teams struggled to score 100 points per game; it is easy to picture
prime Bryant averaging at least 40 ppg in today's NBA, and the same
should be said of Michael Jordan. Julius
Erving's hands are so big that when he played he could catch a
basketball with one hand and go up for a shot without touching the ball
with his other hand; it is tantalizing to dream about the wonders that Erving would perform in today's game
when defensive physicality on the perimeter has been eliminated while
offensive players are permitted to do just about anything with the ball
short of running from one end of the court to the other with no
dribbles. Erving shot .343 from three point range in his final three ABA
seasons, so it is easy to picture Erving becoming a successful, high
volume three point shooter if that had been a point of emphasis during
his career--and that would have made him impossible to guard in today's
NBA, leaving defenders with the unenviable choice of watching him bury
three pointers or watching him fly to the hoop to dunk without facing
rim protectors.
I often think about Erving, and I lament how much the game has deteriorated since the era when he ruled the court (and the airspace above the court). Erving shares the ABA playoff single game scoring record (53 points) with Roger Brown, and Erving scored a career-high 63 points in a four overtime loss in 1975, but his NBA single game career high was a relatively modest 45 points. He could have scored a lot more points, but Erving did not chase personal glory or individual statistical achievements. I asked Erving about that, and he replied, "Putting your second team in when you're up a lot of points is really
what you should do. I mean, those guys want to play, too. To just run it
up to 125 so the crowd can get hamburgers or whatever, that’s not
good," and then he added, "Yeah, putting a guy back in the game so he can get an assist for a triple double or whatever, that’s crass. It's just crass."
"Crass" is the perfect description for Bam Adebayo jacking up 22 three pointers and scoring 83 points in a 21 point blowout win versus the tanking "Wheeze-hards."
Russell Westbrook Exposes the Low Barriers to Entry for Media Members
If you believe the headlines--and I would caution against believing any headline from any source--Russell Westbrook "goes off," "blasts" the media in an "agitated" way, makes "fiery" comments, and "fires back" at media members. After Westbrook's Sacramento Kings lost 133-123 to the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night, Westbrook spoke to the assembled media for a little more than six minutes. You can judge for yourself the tone and tenor of Westbrook's comments by watching this video (and if the video does not play on your device or if the video is subsequently taken down, you can find another
link to the video without much difficulty):
Note that Westbrook did not raise his voice, did not use profanity, and did not personally insult anyone. He asserted that media members who cover the Kings make unfounded statements about him, his teammates, and his team without proper "context," and he challenged specific media members to repeat those unfounded statements to his face. One of the media members singled out by Westbrook is Matt George, who does a Kings podcast. George declined to address Westbrook's concerns at the press conference, and then after the press conference he did a podcast about the situation followed by making the rounds at various media outlets to defend himself and repeat his hope that Westbrook is not on the team next season. There are many words to describe a man who declines to address another man face to face only to speak about him behind his back, but I'll stick with a family-friendly word: coward.
It is not Westbrook's fault that the Kings are having a horrible season. He is playing hard, and he is playing well. The Kings have been a dysfunctional organization for quite some time.
Mike Brown won the Coach of the Year award in 2023, and then the Kings fired him in 2024 to
hire Doug Christie, who had no prior head coaching experience at any
level and who is coaching the Kings about as well as one would expect
from someone who has no prior head coaching experience.
Westbrook is an all-time great being covered by hacks who accuse him of padding his stats by "stealing" rebounds, a false notion that is unsupported by the numbers. Justin Termine admits that he is "an entertainer, not a journalist,"
and after listening to him I agree that he is not a journalist but I question how entertaining he is. Termine recently asserted that
Westbrook has spent his career accumulating individual statistics that
do not correlate with team success. Termine calls himself a basketball
historian, but he apparently does not realize how rare it is for a team to reach the Western Conference Finals four times,
as the Oklahoma City Thunder did (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016) with Kevin
Durant and Westbrook leading the way. Westbrook was an All-NBA Team
member in three of those four seasons, and would have made it in all
four had he not been limited to 46 games in the 2014 season (he averaged
26.7 ppg, 8.1 apg, and 7.3 rpg during that playoff run to reaffirm his
All-NBA status).
A major cause of the low quality of media coverage is the low barrier to entry for the profession, a topic that I have mentioned before but is worth discussing in greater depth. I speak from personal experience because I spent seven years as a credentialed reporter in NBA media rooms, so I
saw firsthand how news is gathered, how narratives are manufactured, and
how often incompetent media members ask ridiculous questions. Before I became a credentialed reporter, I devoted myself to learning the NBA game, learning pro basketball history, and honing my writing skills, but I found out--to my horror--that obtaining credentials and getting writing assignments has much less to do with what you know than who you know. This is in marked contrasted to other professions and endeavors. For example, in the 1990s, I was an ACE-certified personal trainer, in 1995 I earned the U.S. Chess Federation's Expert title, and in 2016 I became an actively licensed attorney.
To become a certified personal trainer, you must pass a certification exam.
To become a chess Expert (top 3% of all chess players in the United States), it is necessary to earn 2000 rating points in officially sanctioned tournaments.
To become an actively licensed attorney, you must score high enough on the LSAT to be admitted to law school, you must graduate law school, and you must pass the bar exam. To maintain actively licensed status, you must earn continuing education credits.
You cannot become a certified personal trainer, a chess Expert, or an
attorney based on your connections; to achieve each of those status
levels, you must meet objective standards.
In contrast, anyone who knows the right person can show up at a sports event as a credentialed reporter. There is no education requirement and no competency requirement. Reread those two sentences, and then you will understand why the quality of media coverage is generally low--and I am not just speaking about NBA media coverage: the Wall Street Journal's chess coverage is embarrassingly bad, the general coverage of the World Chess Championship is pathetic, and political coverage is riddled with agenda-driven bias and misinformation.
The media members who hate Westbrook and slander Westbrook do so not only because they are incompetent but because they are outraged that he is not afraid to expose them as unqualified hacks. Westbrook is not feuding with Hubie Brown or Tim Legler or Doris Burke or any competent NBA commentator; he is feuding with people who are unqualified to do their jobs. There is a major
difference between objectively being one of the greatest basketball
players of all-time versus having a media platform because you know a
guy who knows a guy; deep down, these media members know their real
value and their real level, and they resent being reminded of those
truths.
Russell Westbrook is a real man who works hard every day without making excuses. He is loyal to his team and to his teammates, even when that loyalty is not returned. He is not afraid to call out anyone's nonsense. There is a cliche suggesting that one should never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel (or, in today's parlance, have unlimited access to multimedia platforms)--but Westbrook does not think about his protecting his image or trying to be popular: he protects his teammates, and he challenges media members who ask dumb questions and who make unfounded assertions.
Westbrook deserves better media coverage than he receives--and, as the listening and viewing public, we deserve better media coverage than the slop that is provided to us.
NBC's NBA "Throwback Tuesday" Hit All the Right Notes
NBC's "Throwback Tuesday" doubleheader telecast took viewers on a sentimental journey complete with the old NBA on NBC graphics and music. I grew up with the NBA on CBS in the 1970s and 1980s, but the NBA's run on NBC from 1990-2002 was very memorable both for the quality of play and the quality of the broadcasts. During those dozen seasons, the Michael Jordan-Scottie PippenChicago Bulls bagged a pair of three-peats (1991-93, 1996-98) bracketed around the Houston Rockets' back to back championships. Then, the San Antonio Spurs ushered in the Tim Duncan era by winning the 1999 NBA title in the wake of Michael Jordan's (second) retirement and a lockout that shortened the regular season to 50 games. Phil Jackson came out of a short-lived retirement from the Chicago Bulls to coach the Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant L.A. Lakers to three straight titles (2000-02). During that era, NBC also covered the exploits of the 1992 Dream Team in the Barcelona Olympics, an epic event that inspired many of the international players who have dominated the NBA in recent seasons.
Thus, the NBA on NBC covered one of the most consequential eras in NBA history, a period that featured three three-peats, Houston's repeat, the first of Tim Duncan's five NBA titles, and the debut of NBA players performing for Team USA in the Olympics, which planted the seeds for the emergence of European stars such as Dirk Nowitzki, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and Luka Doncic.
Hannah Storm, Isiah Thomas, and P.J. Carlesimo hosted the "Throwback Tuesday" pregame show, fittingly called "NBA Showtime" in a nod to the NBA on NBC's original pregame show. Throughout the night, Storm, Bob Costas, and others made a point of acknowledging key members of the NBA on NBC family who have passed away or were not able to join "Throwback Tuesday" for other reasons, including Bill Walton (passed away in 2024), Steve "Snapper" Jones (passed away in 2017), Dick Enberg (passed away in 2017), Marv Albert, Ahmad Rashad, Julius Erving, and Matt Guokas. I did not hear Peter Vecsey's name mentioned; he has always been a divisive figure so perhaps his omission is not surprising--but the "Viper" was a memorable participant in the old NBA on NBC broadcasts.
The first game of the doubleheader was a dud on the scoreboard as the San Antonio Spurs routed the Philadelphia 76ers 131-91, but the telecast provided a great opportunity for Bob Costas, Doug Collins, Mike "Czar of the Telestrator" Fratello, and sideline reporter Jim Gray to reminisce not just about their shared time at NBC but their careers in general.
Costas mentioned the numerous great 76ers who started their careers in the ABA--including George McGinnis, Julius Erving, Bobby Jones, and Moses Malone--and he gave a plug to the recently released ABA-themed documentary "Soul Power." Costas began his broadcasting career as the play by play announcer for the ABA's Spirits of St. Louis, and he proudly calls himself an "ABA guy." His historical knowledge and his reverence for sports history add much value to every broadcast that he does.
Collins recalled scheming with his teammate Julius Erving to miss a free throw on purpose in a late game situation so that Erving could slam home the game-winning putback. It was very meaningful to Collins to return to Philadelphia, where his NBA playing career began and where he served as the team's coach from 2010-13.
Fratello talked about broadcasting games with play by play partner Marv Albert, who for decades was the witty, wry, and knowledgeable voice of the NBA. When Albert called a national game, his presence made it seem like a big event.
As the Spurs put the game out of reach, Costas referenced Marv Albert's line about "extended garbage time," but Doug Collins gently countered by noting that Hubie Brown would get upset if NBA Draft
coverage returned to air late after a commercial and missed announcing a draft pick; that moment was special for one of the 60 best players in the world, Brown would lament. Collins' point was that "garbage time" may seem insignificant, but it is important to the players who get on the court after not getting much action for most of the season. Collins also said that Hubie Brown is the "gold standard" for NBA color commentators, and Collins mentioned that he learned a lot from Brown. Brown is the best, but Collins is one of a select few who rank right behind Brown.
While the 76ers absorbed a blowout loss--something that 76ers' fans have often suffered through during the seemingly endless "Process"--Collins noted that he was not coaching the 76ers when they started tanking 13 years ago. Fratello wisely pointed out that some teams tank and never get out of the tank--a sentiment that applies to the 76ers, who advanced to the second round in 2012 with Collins as their coach, and have not advanced past the second round since going into the tank in 2013. The 76ers have not "tanked to the top," nor has any other team; the 2025 NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder obtained franchise player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander not by tanking but by shrewdly acquiring him via a trade with the L.A. Clippers--and in that same trade, the Thunder also acquired the draft pick that became Jalen Williams, their second best player. The Thunder then tanked to obtain more draft picks, but they acquired the two centerpieces of their championship team from one trade, not from tanking.
Near the end of the game, NBC ran a graphic comparing the NBA in 1990 with the NBA in 2026: in the 1990-91 season, NBA teams averaged 106.3 ppg and 7.1 three point field goal attempts per game, while in the 2025-26 season so far NBA teams are averaging 115.3 ppg and 37.0 three point field goal attempts per game. In 1990-91, the Denver Nuggets led the league with 12.9 three point field goal attempts per game, while in 2025-26 the Sacramento Kings rank last in the league with 30.1 three point field goal attempts per game. "Stat gurus" insist that NBA teams are optimizing possessions by jacking up so many three pointers, but there is no way to prove that to be true when every single team is jacking up three pointers; when every team jacks up dozens of three pointers per game then of course the championship team will be a team that jacks up dozens of three pointers per game--but high volume three point shooting is a high variance approach to the game, so it would be fascinating to see a team like the 1986-87 Showtime Lakers face any of the recent NBA championship teams. The 1987 Lakers averaged 117.8 ppg on .516 field goal shooting while attempting just 5.5 three point field goals per game. Would the Lakers' ability to relentlessly attack the paint wear down a modern team, or would a modern team's three point bombing shoot the Lakers out of the gym? I would pick the Lakers in such a matchup, and it would be fascinating if a modern NBA team had the courage to buck the trend of high volume three point shooting in favor of efficient shooting from all areas of the court.
Prior to the second game of the doubleheader, Isiah Thomas talked about the Spurs' sound organization (a marked contrast with how the 76ers have been run in recent years, though he did not say that), and he mentioned that when he visited Gregg Popovich he noticed that there was just one picture in the office: John Havlicek. Carlesimo said that he had not known in advance that Thomas would mention this, but that it brings to mind a story from when Carlesimo worked as an assistant coach for Popovich. Carlesimo recalled that Popovich was thrilled when Havlicek presented a trophy to the Spurs, and that is when Carlesimo learned that Havlicek was Popovich's favorite player. Carlesimo knew Havlicek, and he was able to arrange for Popovich to meet Havlicek.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Phoenix Suns defeated the Sacramento Kings, 114-103. The game telecast did not feature throwback broadcasters, but Grant Hill and Noah Eagle ably called the game while Storm, Carlesimo, and Thomas did the halftime show and the postgame show. During the game, NBC showed some highlights of Grant Hill playing for the Detroit Pistons in the 1990s when NBC broadcast his games--and then NBC showed a picture of Eagle as a child during the 1990s, reminding us how quickly time passes!
At the end of the telecast, Storm, Carlesimo, and Thomas talked frankly--and lovingly--about how much it meant to them to be back together on air again. As Thomas said, you never know when they will all be in the same place at the same time again, so this was a moment to cherish.
I have seen wry social media comments prior to last night's telecast making fun of the people who suggest that NBA basketball was better back in the day; such comments argue that it would be odd that basketball is the only sport where basic evolution has not happened. I won't comment about other sports in this article, but I strongly feel that the NBA game was better in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s than it is now, and after watching a retro telecast it is evident that NBA telecasts--from the studio shows to the game broadcasters to the graphics (which were clearer and more readable on the retro telecast than on modern telecasts)--were better back in the day, too. It was refreshing to watch an NBA doubleheader devoid of screaming, hot takes, and general foolishness--and it was wonderful to listen to broadcasters who know and respect the history of the game, in marked contrast to uninformed and ungrateful commentators who disrespect the players who laid the foundation for the modern NBA: J.J. Redick is making millions of dollars per year now not because he is so intrinsically special, but because Bob Cousy and the other great NBA players from the league's early years laid the foundation for what has become a multi-billion dollar business in which even average players and average coaches become millionaires. Billy Martin once said that George Steinbrenner was born on third base but thought he hit a triple, a sentiment that applies to Redick and many others who now benefit from the hard work (and superior talent) of those who came before them.
"Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association" Examines the ABA's Impact on Sports and Society
"Time has marched on, but the memories are forever."--Julius Erving speaking about the ABA
George Karl, Julius Erving, and Common are the executive producers for Amazon Prime's four part documentary "Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association."
Episode one begins with some quotes that place the ABA's significance in historical context. Gervin declared, "The ABA was the first integrated workplace in America." Bob Costas--who began his broadcasting career as a play by play announcer for the ABA's Spirits of St. Louis--noted, "A legend is something that has an element of mystery. The ABA may be the last significant legend in American sports." Erving said, "[There is a] responsibility for those who come to the other side of this to tell the story."
George Mikan, who was honored as the greatest basketball player of the first 50 years of the 20th century, served as the ABA's first commissioner, and he minced no words about the ABA being in a money war versus the NBA. Much of the narrative arc of episode one is framed around "ABA Attack," the league's plan to seize market share from the NBA to force a merger between the two leagues, much as the AFL rose to prominence a few years earlier and eventually forced a merger with the NFL. The first prong of the attack was "Steal a Star."
Rick Barry was the NBA's Rookie of the Year in 1965-66 after averaging 25.7 ppg and 10.6 rpg, and he won the NBA scoring title in 1966-67 (35.6 ppg) en route to leading the San Francisco Warriors to the NBA Finals, where they lost to a dominant Philadelphia team featuring Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, Chet Walker, and Billy Cunningham.
Barry jumped to the ABA after the 1966-67 season even though a court upheld the reserve clause in his contract with the Warriors, which meant that he would have to sit out the 1967-68 season before suiting up for the ABA's Oakland Oaks.
Barry scoffed at the notion that today's players are better than players from his era, noting that when he played he did not have access to strength coaches, agility coaches, or dieticians the way that modern players do. He said that one would have to "be on drugs or something" to not understand how much better players from his era would do in today's era than they did in their era when they had no access to modern sports science. Barry said that he was not arrogant, but that he was--and is--confident because confidence "is the key to great success."
With Barry ineligible for the 1967-68 ABA season, the ABA activated the second prong of its attack: "Welcome Castoffs."
Connie Hawkins was blackballed by the NBA after being falsely implicated for being associated with infamous college basketball fixer Jack Molinas. Hawkins played in the American Basketball League and then for the Harlem Globetrotters before the ABA welcomed him in the league's inaugural season. As I noted in my obituary for Hawkins, he "led the Pittsburgh Pipers to the 1968 ABA title, averaging 30.7 ppg in
seven games versus the New Orleans Buccaneers. Hawkins averaged 29.9
ppg, 12.3 rpg and 4.6 apg during the 1968 playoffs after averaging 26.8
ppg, 13.5 rpg and 4.6 apg during the regular season. Hawkins was the
league's top scorer during the regular season, playoffs and Finals." Hawkins soon settled his lawsuit versus the NBA, after which he signed with the Phoenix Suns and made the All-NBA First Team in 1970.
One of my few quibbles with "Soul Power" is that Roger Brown's story of exile and redemption was not told in parallel with Hawkins' story. Like Hawkins, Brown was blackballed by the NBA before being embraced by the ABA. Brown won the 1970 ABA Playoff MVP after leading the Indiana Pacers to the first of their record three ABA titles (1970, 1972-73), and he remained loyal to the Pacers even after the NBA lifted its ban against him. Brown is the quintessential ABA player: he was cast aside by the NBA, he played his entire pro career in the ABA, and his accomplishments were ignored for far too many years before he was finally inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. "Soul Power" included highlights of Brown's play and cameo appearances by his daughter and grandson, but did not explain that Brown had overcome significant obstacles just like Hawkins did. Erving was one of many Hall of Famers who spoke highly of Brown to me, so I am surprised that Brown's story was not done justice in "Soul Power." I understand that every documentary has space/time limitations that inevitably cause some good material to end up on the cutting room floor, but the story of the ABA cannot and should not be told without prominently mentioning Brown.
Barry had an immediate impact in his first ABA season, leading the league in scoring in 1968-69 (34.0 ppg), but he only appeared in 35 games due to injury. The Oaks won the 1969 ABA title thanks to the efforts of Warren Jabali, who earned the 1969 ABA Playoff MVP award after averaging 28.8 ppg, 12.9 rpg, and 2.9 apg as the Oaks went 12-4 during the postseason. Episode one devotes significant coverage to not only Jabali's basketball prowess but also his militant attitude (or what was perceived to be his militant attitude). Jabali passed away on July 13, 2012, so in death as in life he seems condemned to have other people speak for him and define him. I strongly encourage anyone interested in learning about Jabali to read my tribute to him, including a full-length interview from 2005.
The ABA suffered a setback when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor) chose the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks over the ABA's New York Nets; he told each league to make their best offer, and the Bucks made the better offer. The ABA subsequently tried to offer more than the Bucks had offered, but Abdul-Jabbar kept his word to take the best first offer.
With Barry injured, Hawkins jumping to the NBA, and Abdul-Jabbar spurning the ABA for the NBA, the ABA desperately needed a flagship player. Episode two ("Growing Pains") begins by focusing on the third prong of the ABA's attack: "Draft Underclassmen." The NBA had a rule against signing any player before his college class graduated, but the ABA's Denver Rockets drafted and signed 20 year old Spencer Haywood in 1969 after he led Team USA to the 1968 Olympic gold medal and excelled as a sophomore for the University of Detroit in 1968-69 (32.1 ppg, 22.1 rpg). Haywood's family picked cotton in Mississippi, and the ABA created a "hardship" exception for drafting underclassmen.
Haywood authored one of the most dominant rookie seasons in pro basketball history, winning Rookie of the Year, All-Star Game MVP and regular season MVP
honors in 1969-70 after leading the ABA in scoring (30.0 ppg) and
rebounding (19.5 rpg). He joined Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld as the only players in pro basketball history to win Rookie of the Year and regular season MVP in the same season.
Haywood's contract with the Rockets proved to be worth far less than the advertised value of $1.9 million. After the team refused to make things right, Haywood jumped to the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics in 1970. Haywood's college class had not yet graduated, so rival NBA teams sought an injunction to prevent Haywood from playing in the NBA. This set off a legal battle that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Haywood won in court, and this changed the game forever on the court. "Hardship" is now called "early entry," as the modern NBA has done away with the pretense
that teenagers are only being drafted if they can prove that their
families are suffering financial hardship. Seven subsequent "early
entry" players became members of my basketball Pantheon: Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James.
With Connie Hawkins and Spencer Haywood both jumping to the NBA, the ABA desperately needed a new, young superstar. This led to the fourth prong of the ABA's attack: "Draft the Doctor Now."
Julius Erving (also known the Doctor or Dr. J) won three ABA regular season MVPs (1974-76), three ABA scoring titles (1973-74, 1976), and two ABA championships (1974, 1976) while establishing himself not only as the greatest player in ABA history but one of the greatest players in pro basketball history--but he did not look like a superstar as a high school player: Erving arrived at the University of Massachusetts in 1968 as a 6-3, 165 pound forward before growing three inches and gaining at least 30 pounds. Like many players who reached their final height later in life, Erving developed multi-positional skills: he could handle the ball and pass like a guard, but he could also rebound and play inside.
After the Supreme Court compelled the NBA to permit Spencer Haywood to play, the league still was not drafting underclassmen, so the ABA had an opportunity to swoop in and obtain the Doctor's services. The Virginia Squires signed Erving in April 1971, after he completed his junior year at UMass.
As a young player, Erving's most dominant skill was rebounding, and he already had an unselfish mindset well beyond his years: he had the ability to be a dominant scorer, but he was not obsessed with scoring. Charlie Scott was the Squires' primary scoring option during Erving's rookie season (1971-72), and it was obvious that Scott was chasing the scoring title, so Erving averaged 15.7 rpg (third in the league) while scoring 27.3 ppg as the second option. Scott jumped to the NBA's Phoenix Suns late in the season after he had clinched the scoring title (34.6 ppg, setting the ABA single season scoring record), and then Erving averaged 33.4 ppg in the final 10 games of the regular season, with three games of at least 40 points. In the playoffs, Erving averaged 33.3 ppg, 20.4 rpg, and 6.5 apg, one of the most dominant state lines ever posted by a rookie in postseason play.
In "Soul Power," Costas explained Erving's impact: "With all due respect to other great ABA players, Dr. J is what gave the league credibility outside league cities and outside the core of ABA fans because even the franchises that did consistently well operated outside the notice of most American sports fans. So, a lot of it took place, relatively speaking, in the shadows."
If there had been any doubt about the quality of the ABA initially, by 1971 it was clear to any objective observer that the ABA's best players could match up with the NBA's best players, as demonstrated in the two ABA-NBA Supergames played in 1971 and 1972. Although the NBA All-Stars won the first game 125-120 and the second game 106-104, it was eye-opening for the casual fan (and for the NBA itself) to see just how competitive the interleague matchups were.
After the NBA was forced to realize how good the ABA players were, the NBA began a counter-attack to the ABA's attack, and the first prong of that counter-attack was "Poach the Players." The NBA shifted from a haughty position of asserting that ABA players were not that good to an aggressive position of trying to sign ABA players to NBA deals.
Rick Barry and Julius Erving only faced each other once in a playoff series, and Barry's New York Nets prevailed 4-3 over Erving's Squires in the 1972 ABA Eastern Division Finals. The Nets faced the Indiana Pacers in the ABA Finals. Roger Brown outscored Rick Barry 32-23 in game six as the Pacers won the series, 4-2. Brown led the Pacers in playoff scoring (20.5 ppg) in 1972, but Freddie Lewis (19.2 ppg) was named the 1972 ABA Playoff MVP. "Soul Power" noted that the Pacers were not only successful on the court, but they proved to be a unifying force within an Indianapolis community that had previously been divided along racial lines. The Pacers' players comprised a close-knit group that remained close-knit decades after they retired. Larry Brown, who was a three-time ABA All-Star before becoming a Hall of Fame coach, said, "I wish our world was like the Pacers' locker room. It's all about can you play and are you a decent human being. Do you care about the people that sit next to on both sides. That's the only thing that matters."
Barry jumped back to the Warriors after the 1971-72 season, making it all the more imperative for the ABA to not lose Erving, which led to the second prong of the NBA's counter-attack: "Steal the Doctor."
Episode three ("Icarus") shines the spotlight on Erving, one of the greatest and yet most underrated players in pro basketball history. Five-time ABA All-Star Ralph Simpson made a bold statement early in the episode: "I don't never think there will be another Dr. J. I think there will be another Michael Jordan. Doc did things that were just incredible, that defied human nature." Simpson echoed what many players who played with and/or against Erving have told me: Erving, particularly when he showcased his full talents in the ABA, had something that no other player ever had. The respect, even awe, that fellow professional basketball players have for Erving is rare. I have spoken with many professional basketball players, and I cannot think of a player who is more revered by other players than Erving.
Larry Brown, who coached against Erving in the ABA and in the NBA, said, "When he went to the NBA, Julius was great. Everybody recognized him as being one of the great players ever. They didn't really see the true Julius when he was in the ABA."
After his sensational rookie season, Erving took a closer look at his Virginia contract and--much like Spencer Haywood did--realized that the deal was not quite as good as it had seemed at first. Erving and his representatives disputed the validity of the contract with the Squires, and Erving signed a contract with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks--but then the Milwaukee Bucks selected Erving (whose college class had now graduated) with the 12th pick in the 1972 NBA Draft. Erving joined forces with Pistol Pete Maravich in some preseason games with the Hawks before a three judge panel ordered Erving to return to the Squires. Erving had a sensational second season with the Squires, averaging a career-high 31.9 ppg to win the first of his three scoring titles. After the 1972-73 season, the cash-strapped Squires traded Erving and Willie Sojourner to the New York Nets for George Carter, Kermit Washington, and cash considerations. The Nets then signed Erving to an eight year contract reportedly averaging $350,000 per season, making Erving one of the highest paid pro basketball players at that time.
In his three seasons with the Nets, Erving won three regular season MVPs, two ABA titles, two ABA Playoff MVPs, and two scoring titles. Erving led the Nets to the 1974 ABA championship, averaging 28.2 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.8 spg and 1.4 rpg during the Finals in a 4-1 win over the Utah Stars. "We won the first time we went to the Finals," Erving said. "And most teams don't win the first time they go to the Finals. It was one of my greatest thrills in my whole career." The 1973-74 Nets had the youngest starting lineup in pro basketball (average age: 22.6 years old), and they are perhaps the most underrated championship team in pro basketball history: the Nets went 22-3 down the stretch--10-1 to finish the regular season and
12-2 in the playoffs. The Nets tied the 1971 Milwaukee Bucks' pro
basketball record for best
playoff winning percentage (.857), a mark that stood until Erving's 1983
Philadelphia 76ers went 12-1 (.923); in an expanded playoff format, the 2001 Lakers went 15-1 (.938), and then the 2017 Warriors went 16-1 (.943).
The fifth prong of the ABA's attack was "Unconventional Leadership." The Spirits of St. Louis, the team that hired young broadcaster Bob Costas straight out of Syracuse and that dethroned the Nets 4-1 in the 1975 playoffs, were owned by the Silna brothers, who were barely older than the squad's star players. Kentucky Fried Chicken owner John Y. Brown and his wife Ellie owned the Kentucky Colonels. Ellie led an all-female board of directors that ran the team; at that time, it was unprecedented for women to have an active and controlling role in the operation of a professional sports franchise. Ellie hired Hubie Brown (no relation), and that proved to be the key move for a team that had repeatedly fallen short despite having a talented roster. The Colonels won the 1975 ABA Finals versus the Pacers in yet another chapter of that storied rivalry. Hubie Brown used a 10 man rotation, installed a strong defense, and got the most out of Hall of Famers Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel, and Louie Dampier.
The Colonels challenged the 1975 NBA champion Golden State Warriors to a winner take all game, but the Warriors declined, which speaks volumes about the relative strength of each league at that time; the sixth prong of the ABA's attack was "Just Kick Their Ass," which is what ABA teams did to NBA teams in preseason games that were played with great intensity. Any pretense about the NBA's alleged vast superiority over the upstart ABA falls apart when considering that the ABA teams beat the NBA teams more often than not in head to head play: in 1974, the ABA went 15-10 versus the NBA, followed by a 16-7 edge in 1975 and a 31-17 advantage in 1976.
Episode three ended by cramming in a lot of information in the last five minutes, with scant details. The seventh prong of the ABA's attack was "Steal the Refs," and the eighth prong of the ABA's attack was "Steal Their Biggest Legend," referring to Wilt Chamberlain, who the San Diego Conquistadors signed in 1973 as a player/coach. Chamberlain's player rights were still owned by the L.A. Lakers, so Chamberlain coached the Conquistadors in 1973-74 but did not play for them. The ninth prong of the ABA's attack was "Secret Drafts." ABA executives signed college players to secret contracts so that the players could maintain their college eligibility while also being legally bound to play for a particular ABA team. The episode concluded by noting that in 1975 the New York Nets and Denver Nuggets--two of the league's most stable and successful franchises--had petitioned the NBA for membership without informing the other ABA teams. Dan Silna, co-owner of the Spirits of St. Louis, stated that he had been "betrayed by my partners," and Erving called it "Mutiny on the Bounty."
Episode four ("Party's Over") chronicled the end of the ABA, culminating in the ABA-NBA merger during which four ABA teams (Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets, San Antonio Spurs) joined the combined league while the players from the remaining ABA teams were placed into a dispersal draft.
Before the ABA's demise, the league tried everything it could do to survive. The 10th prong of the ABA's attack was "Draft High Schoolers." The Utah Stars signed Moses Malone straight out of high school in 1974, and he had an immediate impact as a rookie, averaging 18.8 ppg and 14.6 rpg (fourth in the league), including a league leading 5.5 offensive rebounds per game--the first of nine times that Malone led the ABA or NBA in that category.
The 11th prong of the ABA's attack was "Find New Basketball Fans." The league struggled financially overall, but Denver and San Antonio developed loyal fan bases, and that carried over after both teams joined the merged league in 1976.
The 12th prong of the ABA's attack was "The First Slam Dunk Contest." The ninth and final ABA All-Star Game featured the hometown Denver Nuggets--who had the best record in the league--facing All-Stars from all of the other teams. The Nuggets won, 144-138. The halftime show was the first official Slam Dunk Contest, with Julius Erving, David Thompson, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin, and Larry Kenon squaring off for the crown. Thompson was an incredible leaper and he did some spectacular dunks, but Erving stole the show with his last dunk: he trotted from one free throw line to the other end of the court, cradling the basketball like a softball in his huge hands, and then he turned around, ran back where he came from, took off with his foot straddling the free throw line, and threw down the clinching dunk. Erving had previously dunked from the free throw line in games, but this particular free throw line dunk became an iconic symbol of his special talents and of how he embodied the free spirited nature of the ABA.
Erving's Nets captured the 1976 ABA title in the league's
final season. In The Ultimate "Five Tool" Players, I explained why Erving's 1975-76 campaign is one of the greatest single season performances in pro basketball history:
Julius Erving put up the first--and most impressive--five-tool season.
In 1975-76, he led the ABA in scoring (29.3 ppg) and ranked in the top
seven or better in the league in each of the other four categories. He
also placed eighth in two point field goal percentage and seventh in
three point field goal percentage. Erving actually came very close to
being a five-tool player in each of the three previous seasons, missing
by just .6 apg and .2 spg in 1972-73, .8 rpg in 1973-74 and .6 spg in
1974-75. All of that was just a warm-up for Dr. J’s final dramatic
operation in the ABA, when he led the New York Nets to the 1976
championship over the Denver Nuggets, topping both teams in all five
statistical categories during that series: 37.7 ppg, 14.2 rpg, 6.0 apg,
3.0 spg and 2.2 bpg. Performances like that inspired the two quotes that
best summarize Erving’s impact on the game: ABA Commissioner Dave
DeBusschere once said, "Plenty of guys have been ‘The Franchise.’ For
us, Dr. J is ‘The League’"; Pat Williams, the 76ers General Manager who
acquired Erving shortly after the 1976 ABA Finals, later said of Erving,
"There’s never been anyone like him, including Michael. If Julius was
in his prime now, in this era of intense electronic media, he would be
beyond comprehension. He would blow everybody away."
After the Nets celebrated in their locker room, Erving decamped to the shower, and there is a striking series of photos of him sitting in the shower by himself, still wearing his uniform. Sitting on a couch looking at those photos nearly 50 years later, Erving said, "I think basketball has always been an escape from the real world. So I think sitting in the shower on the floor, that was like the preparation for going back to reality. Knowing this is the swan song of the ABA, it was like just looming over you. With all the joy and excitement of playing basketball, and winning trophies and all that, there is this flip side--the sadness associated with the ABA being done."
The 13th prong of the ABA's attack was "Surrender." The league had fought the good fight for nine seasons, but had never obtained a national television deal or any other revenue source large enough to keep battling against the NBA. The ABA started the 1975-76 season with nine teams, but the Utah Stars and San Diego Sails folded before the end of the campaign while the Virginia Squires limped to the finish line with a 15-68 record and then folded after not being able to make payroll. The NBA refused to accept more than four ABA teams in the merged league. The Kentucky Colonels accepted a little more than $3 million compensation from the surviving ABA teams. The Silna brothers owned the Spirits of St. Louis, and they had some leverage as the last ABA team left out of the merger, because the merger could not proceed until all underlying claims had been resolved. The Silnas negotiated a deal to receive $2.2 million in compensation for their players who were signed by NBA teams, plus a 1/7th share of each of the surviving ABA teams' visual media revenue in perpetuity. "In perpetuity" is the key concept here; based on the buyout the Colonels accepted, it appears that the NBA valued the media rights portion of this deal at around $1 million--but as the NBA became more popular and the league's media rights soared in value, the Silnas and their lawyer Donald Schupak pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars before the Silnas reached a confidential settlement with the NBA in 2014 to end the payments. That settlement was reportedly worth $500 million.
Each of the four surviving teams paid $3.2 million to join the NBA. The Nets also paid over $4 million to indemnify the New York Knicks. Erving claimed that Nets' owner Roy Boe had promised to renegotiate his contract if a merger took place, but Boe (1) asserted that he had not made such a promise and (2) did not have sufficient financial resources to pay more to Erving. Thus, the Nets sold Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers for around $2.5 million, and the 76ers then signed Erving to a six year deal worth around $3.5 million. Steve Austin was the fictional "Six Million Dollar Man," but Erving had become a real life $6 million man at a time when $6 million was a lot of money to pay to acquire any athlete--even an athlete as extraordinary as Erving, who 76ers' General Manager Pat Williams termed the "Babe Ruth of basketball" to convince the team's owner Fitz Dixon to acquire Erving. In the first post-merger season, Erving won the 1977 All-Star Game MVP and led the 76ers to the NBA Finals, where they took a 2-0 lead versus the Portland Trail Blazers before dropping four straight games. Erving won the 1981 NBA regular season MVP award--becoming the only player to win a regular season MVP award in both leagues--before teaming up with Moses Malone to lead the 76ers to the 1983 NBA title.
"Soul Power" concludes by focusing on the shameful way that the NBA shortchanged ABA players regarding pension payments. The NBA may not have a legal obligation to pay any more money than it has already paid to retired ABA players, but the NBA has abrogated its moral responsibility in a manner that is a blot on the league's name that can never be wiped out. For decades, the NBA dragged its feet, clearly waiting for as many retired ABA players to die off as possible to limit the amount that the league would pay out. In 2022, the NBA finally took some minimal steps to help retired ABA players, but the limited benefits provided are a drop in the league's vast bucket of money and not nearly enough to make up for decades of neglect. "NBA Cares" is an empty slogan papering over the reality that the NBA cares most about maximizing its profits; the NBA not only failed to credit ABA players with their years of service in the ABA, but it shortchanged the "pre-65ers," the players who laid the groundwork for the NBA to become a multi-billion dollar business.
Scott Tarter, an attorney from Indianapolis who grew up watching the Pacers and later got to know many of the retired ABA players, is the CEO of Dropping Dimes Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping retired ABA players.
Other than the unnecessary disrespect directed toward the great NBA players of the 1960s and the omission of the details of Roger Brown's story, "Soul Power" provides a compelling narrative tracking the ABA from its humble beginnings to its on court greatness to its sad demise--but it should be noted that the ABA did not really die: the legacies of Connie Hawkins, Mel Daniels, Roger Brown, Spencer Haywood, Julius Erving, Artis Gilmore, Moses Malone, George Gervin, and other great players who began their professional careers in the ABA are interwoven into basketball history, and the modern game borrowed/stole a lot from the ABA, including the three point shot, the Slam Dunk Contest, and a wide open style of play.
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Supplementary Materials
Those interested in learning more about the ABA should check out NBA TV's 2006 documentary "The Last Night of the ABA" focusing on game six of the ABA Finals but also providing a lot of meaningful background and context about the ABA.
For many years, I vigorously advocated for Roger Brown to be inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, an honor that he received posthumously in 2013. Here is more information about Roger Brown:
"A work of art contains its verification in itself: artificial, strained concepts do not withstand the test of being turned into images; they fall to pieces, turn out to be sickly and pale, convince no one. Works which draw on truth and present it to us in live and concentrated form grip us, compellingly involve us, and no one ever, not even ages hence, will come forth to refute them."--Alexander Solzhenitsyn (Nobel Lecture)
"The most 'popular,' the most 'successful' writers among us (for a brief period, at least) are, 99 times out of a hundred, persons of mere effrontery--in a word, busy-bodies, toadies, quacks."--Edgar Allan Poe
"In chess what counts is what you know, not whom you know. It's the way life is supposed to be, democratic and just."--Grandmaster Larry Evans
"It's not nuclear physics. You always remember that. But if you write about sports long enough, you're constantly coming back to the point that something buoys people; something makes you feel better for having been there. Something of value is at work there...Something is hallowed here. I think that something is excellence."--Tom Callahan
