Some pictures:
Spoiler:
So, via Wikipedia:
Intro
The NBA–ABA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball match organized by the players associations of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA) where a selection of the best players from each league played in a game against each other. The players organized the all-star game against the wishes of the owners, who refused any interleague play without a merger of the leagues. Billed as a "Supergame", it was held in 1971 and 1972.
After a costly four-year battle between the NBA and ABA, the two leagues agreed on May 7, 1971, to pursue Congressional approval to allow the merger of the two rivals. They also agreed to permit preseason games between the leagues in the upcoming fall. Days later, the players responded by organizing the all-star game without consent from the owners or consulting with either league commissioner. Teams from the two leagues had never played each other before.
National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) president Oscar Robertson said that the all-star game would show that the two leagues could play against each other without an "illegal merger". The players associations opposed a merger, as they would lose another potential employer. In April 1970, the NBPA had filed the lawsuit Robertson v. National Basketball Ass'n to prevent the leagues from merging due to antitrust arguments. Four months after the first all-star game in 1971, NBA and ABA teams started playing preseason exhibition games against each other.
1971
On May 28, 1971, the first interleague all-star game between the best players of both American professional leagues was held. It was played at the Houston Astrodome with a crowd of 16,364. The NBA team coached by Bill Russell won by 125–120 against Larry Brown's ABA team, in a very competitive match. The NBA's Walt Frazier scored a game-high 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting and was named the game's most valuable player (MVP).
The game was played with a mixture of rules from both leagues. In the first half, the NBA's 24-second shot clock and its conventional ball were used. The shot clock changed to the ABA's 30 seconds in the second half, when the ABA's red-white-and-blue ball and three-point field goal were in effect.
Nine out of ten NBA players that participated in that match were later inducted in 50 Greatest Players in NBA History: Frazier, John Havlicek, Dave DeBusschere, Nate Thurmond, Oscar Robertson, Dave Bing, Elvin Hayes, Earl Monroe, Billy Cunningham. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was originally scheduled to play in the game, even though he was getting married earlier in the day, but changed his mind after the wedding. His absence made the game more competitive.
The NBA objected to the game, but no fines or suspensions of players were reported. Astrodome publicity director Wayne Chandler said he unofficially heard that "the owners will not raise a hand to help. But on the other hand, they are not trying to prevent the game from being played." According to Sports Illustrated, Kentucky Colonels' management reportedly dissuaded their player Dan Issel from playing. The game was televised nationally by independent network Television Sports on about 200 stations.
NBA roster
John Havlicek, Dave DeBusschere, Nate Thurmond, Oscar Robertson, Dave Bing (starters)
Walt Frazier (MVP), Elvin Hayes, Earl Monroe, Lou Hudson, Billy Cunningham (reserves)
Bill Russell (coach)
ABA roster
Rick Barry, Willie Wise, Zelmo Beaty, Larry Jones, Charlie Scott (starters)
Mel Daniels, John Brisker, Roger Brown, Steve Jones, Donnie Freeman, Bill Melchionni (reserves)
Larry Brown (coach)
1972
On May 25, 1972, the second match was played at Nassau Coliseum with a crowd of 14,086 people. The NBA team (that had players like Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson) won 106–104, overcoming a 19-point deficit. The different numbers of free-throws between the two teams conceded by the NBA's referee in both games was decisive: 70–45 in the first match and 47–32 in the second. The NBA's Bob Lanier, who was a late replacement for Abdul-Jabbar, scored 15 points, had seven rebounds, and was named the MVP.
The all-stars were voted for by players in each league. Game rules were blended again. The NBA's ball was used in the first half and the ABA's in the second. The NBA's 24-second shot clock was used for the game, as was the ABA's 3-pointers. The game was again televised by Television Sports. Some NBA players did not participate because the league threatened them with fines and suspensions. Conversely, ABA owners and their commissioner, Jack Dolph, supported the game.
NBA roster
John Havlicek, Connie Hawkins, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Archie Clark (starters)
Bob Lanier (MVP), Nate Archibald, Bob Love, Gail Goodrich, Paul Silas (reserves)
Elgin Baylor (coach)
ABA roster
Rick Barry, Dan Issel, Artis Gilmore, Jimmy Jones, Donnie Freeman (starters)
Julius Erving, Ralph Simpson, Willie Wise, George Thompson, Roger Brown, Mel Daniels (reserves)
Al Bianchi (coach)
1974
A third all-star game was scheduled for May 18, 1974, at the Providence Civic Auditorium in Providence, Rhode Island, to be televised on ABC's Wide World of Sports. The network had been the league's broadcaster from 1964 until 1973, when CBS was awarded the NBA contract. The all-star game was cancelled when the NBA owners won a binding arbitration blocking their players from taking part. Larry Fleisher, who was the NBPA's general counsel, believed that television considerations led to the NBA's block, with CBS being unhappy that the game was to be on ABC.
Wikipedia link with boxscores included (sadly, not full, complete boxscores)
Original New York Times article from 1972
UNIONDALE, L.I., May 25—Amid the usual abundance of spectacular individual plays and with plenty of running in both directions, the National Basketball Association's all‐star team defeated the American Basketball Association's stars, 106‐104, tonight before a crowd of 14,086 and a national television audience.
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The game itself, from which Bab Lanier emerged with an outstanding‐player trophy and all participants with respect for their skills, was only part‐of the story. The circumstances of the promotion have more significance in the tangled pro basketball picture, and the absence of Kareem Abdul‐Jabbar (known in advance), Jerry West (known earlier in the day) and Walt Frazier (with no explanation) received much attention.
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The player associations of the two leagues have been opposing a merger which would leave each player with only one potential employer instead of two. They have fought the merger in court and before a committee of the United States Senate. Last year, they arranged this type of all‐star game, in the Houston Astrodome, claiming it showed that there could be competition between the leagues without a merger. (Subsequently, there were interleague exhibition games). The N.B.A. players won, 125‐120.
The N.B.A. clubs, on the other hand, oppose the game. They insist the player contract forbids a player to take part without permission, and they notified their players that they didn't have permission. (A.B. A. clubs, apparently, are content to gain the recognition their players bring it by doing well against N.B.A. players).
It became, therefore, a test of strength between the players, as a group, and the N.B.A. clubs. The N.B.A. line‐up was supposed to be the one elected by the players as the league all‐star team at the end of the season.
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Abdul‐Jabbar, for his own reasons, refused to play several days ago. West went on record, in the form of a telegram to the association, that he approved of the game but couldn't come from California because his wife and two children were ill. Gail Goodrich, his Los Angeles Laker teammate, came at a moment's notice to take his place.
And Frazier, unsure about what to do, consulted his agent and was last reported, at 5 P.M., on his way to the game. He never got there.
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But Wilt Chamberlain, Lanier, Clark, John Havlicek, Connie Hawkins, Oscar Robertson, Bob Love, Paul Silas, Nate Archibald and Dave DeBusschere did. DeBusschere, unable to play because of the side he injured during the playoffs, suited up and sat on the bench as a gesture of solidarity. The others, coached by Elgin Baylor, saw service that ranged from 15 minutes to 35 minutes.
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Al Bianchi, coach of the Virginia Squires, coached the A.B.A. squad.
The N.B.A. team seemed sluggish at the start, and the A.B.A. ran up a 49‐30 lead. But a 15‐0 spurt during which the N.B.A. played the best defense of the night, evened matters and the A.B.A. led, 56‐50, at half‐time.
In the third quarter, the N.B.A. got the upper hand, came out with an 63‐S1 lead and got it up to 91‐33 in the first two minutes of the final period, But from 93‐85, the A.B.A. started to hang tough, and the margin narrowed. Both teams missed frequently down the stretch, having no organized plays to depend upon.
Amazing blog post with some anecdotes from the game (btw, I highly recommend this blog, the guy is a machine)
The 1992 U.S. Olympic “Dream Team” is considered to be the best basketball team ever assembled; ten of its twelve members are on the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players list.
In 1971 and 1972, two ABA All-Star teams comprised mostly of unheralded players nearly beat NBA All-Star teams whose rosters contained some of basketball’s most legendary figures—nine of the ten NBA participants in the 1971 NBA-ABA All-Star Game are on the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players list.
The 1992 "Dream Team" is perhaps the most famous basketball squad ever.
Most accounts of basketball history do not mention the NBA-ABA Supergames and very little footage exists of them. This is the story of the two Supergames and the great players who participated in them.
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NBA and ABA players organized the first Supergame as a fund raiser for the Whitney Young Foundation, an organization that helped prepare underprivileged students for college. The Foundation received the net gate receipts, while the television proceeds were divided between the participating players and each league’s Players Association pension funds. The members of the respective Players Associations selected 11 man rosters from the previous season’s All-Star teams.
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Mel Daniels, who won two ABA MVPs and three ABA titles as an Indiana Pacer, recalls that the ABA players looked forward to the game: “We weren’t intimidated by the (NBA) guys. We figured that they did everything that we would do in the locker room in terms of putting on your shoes and your uniform and playing basketball. The climate was that the ABA guys were not as good as the NBA basketball players, so we had a few things on our minds that we had to prove to society, to the basketball world in general, that we were as good as the NBA, if not better.”
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The game used NBA rules in the first half (24 second shot clock, no three point shot) and ABA rules in the second half (30 second shot clock, three point shot). Walt Frazier came off the bench to make seven of his eight field goal attempts in the first half and the NBA led 66-64 after Elvin Hayes’ first half buzzer beater. The game went back and forth until the NBA took a 108-98 lead in the fourth quarter. Barry and Charlie Scott rallied the ABA to within a point with 47 seconds left, but Oscar Robertson drained two free throws to put the NBA up 123-120 with 32 seconds left. Frazier closed out the scoring with two more free throws at the 11 second mark. Frazier finished with a game-high 26 points and won a car as the game MVP.
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Even after such a strong showing the ABA players still had to fight an uphill battle to receive recognition. Daniels still recalls one slight: “One thing that I remember is that I blocked Elvin Hayes’ shot and the next day in the newspaper it came out that Hayes had blocked my shot.”
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Clearly, the NBA-ABA All-Star Game was much more fiercely contested and much more closely officiated than contemporary All-Star Games are. For example, in the 2004 NBA All-Star Game both teams combined for 32 free throw attempts in the entire game. Daniels says, “This was a serious business. Not only was that game a very serious endeavor, when we started playing exhibition games (against the NBA), those weren’t exhibition games per se. They were played with all the energy and verve of a regular season game.”
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The NBA threatened to fine and/or suspend any NBA player who participated in Supergame II, but this did not stop the NBA Players Association from assembling another powerhouse team: seven Hall of Famers, six of whom are on the Top 50 List. Hall of Famer and Top 50 player Jerry West was unable to play because his kids were sick and his spot was filled by his Los Angeles Lakers’ teammate, fellow Hall of Famer Gail Goodrich. Paul Silas replaced injured Hall of Famer Dave DeBusschere. The 1972 ABA team featured three Hall of Famers—Barry, Erving and Dan Issel. Before the game Larry Fleischer, NBA Players’ Association counsel, said the two teams were “the finest collection of basketball talent ever assembled on one floor.” Elgin Baylor coached the NBA and Wilt Chamberlain was the team captain; Al Bianchi and Daniels filled those roles for the ABA.
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(Julius) Erving was not fazed by the prospect of competing against the NBA: “For me, coming off my rookie season, I was kind of feeling my oats and feeling like I could play against anybody, anywhere, at any time. I had played in and around New York in the pro summer leagues, so I had a lot of confidence in my ability.”
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The only existing tape of the 1972 game consists of 90 minutes of black and white footage from the TVS national broadcast. There are technical problems throughout the recording, mainly with the audio. Don Criqui handled the play by play, while Hot Rod Hundley and Hall of Famer Cliff Hagan provided color commentary. The ABA ball was used in the first half and the NBA ball was used in the second. The ABA’s three point shot was only in effect in the second half.
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Supergame II showcased a defensive intensity that differed completely from the way All-Star Games are generally played: in the first quarter alone Donnie Freeman drew a charge on Archie Clark and the ABA nearly forced a shot clock violation before a foul call bailed out the NBA.
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Sadly, the fourth quarter footage is missing and presumed to be destroyed. The game closed in dramatic fashion. Barry hit a three pointer with 13 seconds left to cut the NBA lead to one. The ABA fouled Clark, who made the first and missed the second attempt. A wild scramble for the rebound ensued. Barry emerged with the ball and launched a desperation three pointer. His game winning attempt fell short and the NBA won 106-104. Lanier scored 15 points and was selected game MVP.
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Silas will never forget a particular fourth quarter play from the 1972 game: “The one defining moment was, I had the ball and Doc stole the ball from me and went down and slammed this thing harder than I had ever seen anybody slam the ball in my life.”
Prior to the game Silas knew little about Erving: “Zelmo Beaty, who I had played with in St. Louis and Atlanta, had jumped leagues and when I saw him he was telling me about Doc—that he wasn’t a good shooter but he just went by everybody. He just took up the slack, penetrated around and dunked on everybody. And I’m wondering how that happened. How could it happen? He developed a consistent shot, but it took time for him to do that. He was special.”
Daniels had seen some great dunks before, including one by Hawkins over Daniels’ Minnesota Muskies’ teammate Sam Smith in the 1968 ABA playoffs, but nothing quite like Erving’s flight in the 1972 Supergame: “He leapt from behind the free throw line, hung in the air for two or three seconds it seemed and dunked it. It was an absolutely amazing dunk and you had to see it to really appreciate it. Telling you about it does not do it the justice it deserves.”
Erving recalls, “I stole the ball and got Oscar Robertson and Archie Clark caught back on defense and Archie went for the steal, which made me pick the ball up. I was around the top of the key, coming in transition…I took a step and a half and went airborne from somewhere around the foul line, just inside the foul line. I noticed Oscar Robertson was there and just looking at me like, ‘What does this kid think he is going to do?’ He figured that I was going to come out of the air before I made it to the basket, but I got all the way to the basket and I dunked the ball and the ball bounced up into his hands and there was a certain expression on his face at the time—as well as Archie’s—almost like it was a moment. And I just ran back downcourt, but later on a lot of people talked about that play.”
In many ways Erving’s dunk symbolizes the ABA and the Supergames in one spectacular athletic flourish—it was amazing and yet no footage of it exists. Fortunately, Erving’s free throw line dunk to win the 1976 ABA Slam Dunk contest was captured for posterity.
And last but not least...