List of American Basketball Association broadcasters

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In early-1970s, the CBS television network aired American Basketball Association (ABA) games, specifically league's annual All-Star Game[1][2][3][4][5]/selected playoff games.[6][7] Pat Summerall[8][9] served as the CBS analyst on some ABA games alongside Don Criqui[10] on play-by-play. Game 5 of the 1970 ABA Finals (Indiana vs. Los Angeles) was nationally televised by CBS[11] on Saturday, May 23 at 3 p.m Eastern Time. The broadcast was however, blacked out in Indiana. After that league's 1972-73 season, CBS lost its TV airing rights as they started airing National Basketball Association (NBA) games in its 1973-74 season onward.

The 1973 ABA All-Star Game was a syndicated telecast with Andy Musser[12] and Alex Hannum providing the play–by–play and color commentary respectively.

For the 1973–74 season, the ABA signed a television contract with the Hughes Television Network[13]. The first game under Hughes' contract was the 1974 ABA All-Star Game on January 30. Ray Scott and Wilt Chamberlain provided the play–by–play and color commentary for the All-Star Game respectively.

Had there been a seventh game of the 1975-76 season's championship playoff series it would've been televised by NBC,[14][15] because that network signed contract to a potential seventh game on Sunday, May 16, 1976. Since the ABA Finals ultimately ended in six games, with the New York Nets triumphing over the Denver Nuggets in what would become the ABA's final game of its nine year existence, NBC's contract was void.

1960s[edit]

1967–68[edit]

Team Radio station Radio announcers Television station Television announcers
Anaheim KTTV 11[16] Dick Schad[17][18]
Dallas
Denver Dick Carlson[19]
Houston KNUZ[20] Gary DeLaune[21]
Indiana WIRE Jerry Baker[22] WLWI 13 Brian Madden
Kentucky
Minnesota WLOL Rod Trongard[23]
New Jersey WJRZ Spencer Ross[24]
New Orleans
Oakland KPAT Chuck Hinkle[25] and Rick Barry
Pittsburgh WEEP Jack Fleming[26]

When the American Basketball Association began play in 1967, Terry Stembridge broadcast the Dallas Chaparrals games on radio. Stembridge continued as the team's announcer after it became the San Antonio Spurs and when the Spurs moved into the NBA as part of the ABA-NBA merger. Stembridge broadcast 1,252 consecutive Chaparrals/Spurs games and served as their announcer for fifteen years.[27]

1968–69[edit]

Team Radio station Radio announcers Television station Television announcers
Dallas KRLD Terry Stembridge KDTV 39 Frank Filesi
Denver KTLN Bob Martin and Dick Carlson
Houston
Indiana WIRE Jerry Baker WLWI 13 Brian Madden
Kentucky WHAS[28][29][30] WAVE Ed Kallay[31]
Los Angeles KBIG Bob Rhodes KTTV 11 Chuck Benedict[32]
Miami WOCN[33] Dick Kumble
Minnesota KSTP Rod Trongard WTCN 11 Ray Scott
New York WBAB Spencer Ross
New Orleans WDSU 6 Bruce Miller and Lynn Cole
Oakland KEMO 20[34] Hal Peterson

1969–70[edit]

Team Radio station Radio announcers Television station Television announcers
Carolina WSOC Bill Currie and Bob Lamey
Dallas KRLD[35] Terry Stembridge
Denver KOA Bob Martin and Dick Carlson
Indiana WIRE Jerry Baker WLWI 13 Don Hein
Kentucky WAVE Ed Kallay
Los Angeles XERB[36] Sam Balter[37]
Miami WGBS Bob Martin[38]
New Orleans Bruce Miller and Lynn Cole WDSU 6
New York
Pittsburgh
Washington WDCA 20 John Sterling

WGBS broadcast the Miami Floridians of the American Basketball Association for three of their four seasons of existence, taking over from WOCN (1450 AM) in 1969.[39]

During the New York Nets' ABA years, announcers included Marty Glickman,[40] Marv Albert's brothers Al Albert and Steve Albert, baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson, Bob Goldsholl, as well as John Sterling and Mike DiTomasso. The latter two joined the club's move into the NBA.

WDCA 20 continued to promote itself as a sports station, airing 10 games of the Washington Caps of the American Basketball Association in the 1969–70 season[41] and serving as the originating station for Baltimore Bullets basketball even though the team had not yet moved to Washington.[42]

1970s[edit]

1970-71[edit]

Team Radio station Radio announcers Television station Television announcers
Carolina WSOC WSJS 12 Bill Currie[43] and Bob Lamey
Denver KOA Bob Martin, Dick Carlson, and Bob Rubin
Floridians WGBS WAJA 23 Bob Martin
Indiana WIRE Jerry Baker
Kentucky WHAS Cawood Ledford and Van Vance[44] WLKY Larry Goodridge
Memphis
New York
Pittsburgh
Texas KRLD Terry Stembridge
Utah KUTV 2 Bill Howard[45]
Virginia WTAR WAVY Marty Brennaman[46]

WHAS was the original radio home to locally produced coverage of American Basketball Association games involving the Kentucky Colonels during that league's 1967–1976 existence.[47][48][49]

Van Vance appeared on WHAS radio as the announcer for the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association, often with Cawood Ledford. After the Colonels folded as part of the ABA-NBA merger in June 1976, Vance was best known for broadcasting University of Louisville basketball games (including the 1986 NCAA National Championship Team) on the same station. Vance worked on the air for WHAS from 1957 through 1999.

1971–72[edit]

Team Radio station Radio announcers Television station Television announcers
Carolina WSOC Bob Lamey and Bones McKinney WSJS 12 Gene Overby
Dallas WRR Terry Stembridge KDTV 39 Terry Stembridge and Brad Sham
Denver KOA[50] Bob Martin, Bob Rubin and Larry Zimmer KOA 4 Bob Rubin
Floridians WGBS WCIX 6 Sammy Smith
Indiana WIRE Jerry Baker WLWI 13 Don Hein[51]
Kentucky WHAS Van Vance WLKY 32 Howard Hoffman, Alex Groza and Bud Olsen
Memphis WREC Dick Palmer WMC 5 Terry Lee
New York WHN Al Albert WPIX 11[52] Marty Glickman and Bob Gibson[53]
Pittsburgh WEEP Dick Overdorf
Utah KALL Bill Howard KUTV 2 Bill Marcroft[54]
Virginia WTAR Marty Brennaman WAVY 10 Bud Kaatz

Marty Glickman joined the radio station WHN in 1939 and was its sports director by 1943. Glickman was also the first announcer for the New York Nets before the ABA-NBA merger, when they played in their first home, the Island Garden in Nassau County. Many feel he became the voice of the New York Nets as a favor to Lou Carnesecca, who left a successful stint as the basketball coach of St. John's University to be the first coach of the New York Nets.

1972–73[edit]

Team Radio station Radio announcers Television station Television announcers
Carolina WSOC Bob Lamey WSJS 12 Gene Overby and Bob Lamey
Dallas WRR Terry Stembridge KDTV 39 Terry Stembridge and Verne Lundquist
Denver KOA Larry Zimmer
Indiana WIBC Joe McConnell[55] WLWI 13 Don Hein
Kentucky WHAS Van Vance and Cawood Ledford WLKY 32 Howard Hoffman
Memphis WREC Dick Palmer
New York WHN WOR 9 Al Albert
San Diego
Utah KALL Bill Howard KUTV 2 Bill Marcroft
Virginia WTAR WTAR 3 Marty Brennaman

1974–75[edit]

Team Radio station Radio announcers Television station Television announcers
Denver KHOW Mike Wolfe
Indiana WIBC Joe McConnell WTTV 4 Jerry Baker
Kentucky WHAS WHAS 32 Van Vance
Memphis WLOK Dick Palmer
New York WMCA Dom Valentino[56] and Mike DiTomasso WOR 9 Al Albert and Bob Goldsholl
St. Louis KMOX Bob Costas[57] and Bill Wilkinson (home games) KPLR 11
San Antonio KKYX Terry Stembridge and Gary DeLaune WOAI 4 Terry Stembridge and Steve Grad
San Diego KOGO Frank Sims
Utah KALL Bill Howard
Virginia WTAR Warner Fusselle[58] WAVY 10 Dave Sullivan and Bobi Boecker

WTTV served as the television flagship for the Indiana Pacers from the team's days in the original American Basketball Association (except in 1984–85, when those rights were held by present-day sister station WXIN due to Pacers owner Melvin Simon's part-ownership of the station) to 2006. WTTV lost the rights to the Pacers telecasts after the 2005–06 season,[59] when the NBA team moved their local game telecasts to Fox Sports Indiana.

After leaving school in 1974, Bob Costas joined KMOX radio in St. Louis. He covered games of the American Basketball Association (ABA).[60] Costas would call Missouri Tigers basketball and co-host KMOX's Open Line call-in program.

1975-76[edit]

Team Radio station Radio announcers Television station Television announcers
Denver KOA Al Albert[61] and Bob Martin KWGN 2 Al Albert and Tom Jorgensen[62]
Indiana WIBC Joe McConnell WTTV 4
Kentucky WHAS WHAS 11 Van Vance[63]
New York WMCA John Sterling[64] and Mike DiTomasso WOR 9 Steve Albert[65][66] and Bob Goldsholl[67]
St. Louis WIL Bob Costas KPLR 11 Bob Costas and Arlene Wellman
San Antonio WOAI Terry Stembridge and Gary DeLaune KMOL 4 Terry Stembridge and Steve Grad
San Diego KSDO Ralph Lawler[68]
Utah KALL[69] Jack Briggs[70] KSL 5 Jack Briggs

During the mid-1970s, HBO[71] aired several basketball games from the National Basketball Association and the American Basketball Association (notably, the last ABA Finals game[72] in 1976, prior to the latter league's merger with the NBA, between the New York Nets and the Denver Nuggets).

In 1976, CBS sought to establish a postseason playoff between the ABA and NBA, and to win the rights to broadcast those games.[73]

Following the ABA–NBA merger[edit]

In June 1976, the remaining ABA owners agreed to a merger with the National Basketball Association, in return for the Spirits of St. Louis folding, to pay the St. Louis owners $2.2 million in cash up front in addition to a 1/7 share of the four remaining teams' television revenues in perpetuity. As the NBA's popularity exploded in the 1980s and 1990s, the league's television rights were sold to CBS and then NBC, and additional deals were struck with the TNT and TBS cable networks; league television revenue soared into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Ozzie and Daniel Silna continued to receive millions of dollars in television revenue from the NBA until reaching a revised agreement in April 2014, which included a $500 million payment to the Silnas from the four former ABA teams.[74][75]

The NBA imposed one of the following terms on the four ABA refugees—the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets and San Antonio Spurs:

  • The four ABA teams would receive no television money at all during their first three seasons in the NBA (1976–1979), and were to pay one seventh of their annual television revenues after that to the owners of the defunct Spirits of St. Louis in perpetuity.

During the 1976–77 season, the NBA's first after the ABA–NBA merger brought the American Basketball Association into the league, CBS held a slam dunk contest that ran during halftime of the Game of the Week telecasts. Don Criqui was the host of this particular competition. The final, which pitted Larry McNeill of the Golden State Warriors against eventual winner Darnell "Dr. Dunk" Hillman of the Indiana Pacers, took place during Game 6 of the 1977 NBA Finals. At the time of the final, Hillman's rights had been traded to the New York Nets, but he had not yet signed a contract. Since he was not officially a member of any NBA team, instead of wearing a jersey, he competed in a plain white tank top. Then for the post-competition interview, Hillman donned a shirt with the words "Bottle Shoppe" – the name of an Indianapolis liquor store, which is still in existence, and was the sponsor of a city parks softball league team for which Hillman played left field (and the only team he was a member of at the time).[76] Other players to compete in the slam dunk tournament included Julius Erving, George Gervin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Moses Malone. CBS, anxious for star power, also gave David Thompson the opportunity to be eliminated three times.[77][78]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Sarmento, Mario R. "The NBA on Network Television: Historical Analysis".
  2. ^ "Newer basketball loop getting into network TV" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 29, 1969.
  3. ^ "RED-WHITE-AND-BLUE BALL GAME". Sports Illustrated. January 5, 1970.
  4. ^ Bodenhamer, Barrows, David J., Robert G. (1994-11-22). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press. p. 310. ISBN 0253112494.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Pluto, Terry (2011-07-19). Loose Balls. Simon and Schuster. p. 126. ISBN 9781439127520.
  6. ^ 1973 ABA Playoffs Utah Stars at Indiana Pacers (part 1) on YouTube
  7. ^ "Kentucky Holds on, Rips Utah, 116-110". San Bernardino Sun. May 8, 1971.
  8. ^ Haggar, Jeff (May 6, 2015). "Athlete/analyst from one sport who worked as a TV analyst in a different sport". Classic TV Sports.
  9. ^ "Rare Sports Film – 1971 & 1973 "ABA ALL-STARS"". Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  10. ^ Haggar, Jeff (October 21, 2013). "Firsts and lasts from the NFL TV career of Pat Summerall". Classic TV Sports.
  11. ^ Montieth, Mark (April 15, 2014). "Hidden Gems of the Pacers' Playoff History: #2 - 1970 ABA Finals, Game 5". NBA.com.
  12. ^ "Total Time. - Page 6". The Free Lance-Star. January 31, 1973. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  13. ^ "Hughes Signs Aba To Television Pact. - Page 13". Star-News. December 21, 1973. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  14. ^ "New York Nets - Remember the ABA". Remember the ABA.
  15. ^ "Middlesboro Daily News - Page 7". Middlesboro Daily News. April 8, 1976. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  16. ^ Lowery, Steve (July 14, 1988). "AFTER ONLY ONE YEAR . . . ADIOS, AMIGOS : Anaheim's Days in ABA Were So Forgettable, They Weren't Painful". Los Angeles Times.
  17. ^ "1967 KTTV ABA BASKETBALL AD~ANAHEIM AMIGOS~BOB BEDELL~VS OAKLAND OAKS~DICK SCHAD #ANAHEIMAMIGOS". Pinterest.
  18. ^ "Los Angeles Stars Fan Memories (Page 1)". Remember the ABA.
  19. ^ "WCCO's Dick Carlson Dies". RADIOWORLD. October 14, 2004.
  20. ^ "Gary DeLaune". San Antonio Radio Hall of Fame.
  21. ^ "Houston Mavericks". Remember the ABA.
  22. ^ "ABA Pacers Fan Memories (Page 1)". Remember the ABA.
  23. ^ "Rod Trongard, sports broadcaster, dies at 72". Associated Press. June 17, 2005.
  24. ^ "New Jersey Americans (Page 2) - Remember the ABA". Remember the ABA.
  25. ^ "Oakland Oaks Fan Memories". Remember the ABA.
  26. ^ Zeise, Paul (January 7, 2001). "Jack Fleming remembered as a broadcasting perfectionist". Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on May 6, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  27. ^ Griffin, Tim (June 11, 2007). "Stembridge reminisces about days as Spurs' first announcer". San Antonio Express News. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  28. ^ "Colonels Fan Memories (Page 1)". Remember the ABA. April 28, 1976. Archived from the original on May 15, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  29. ^ "Colonels Fan Memories (Page 2)". Remember the ABA. Archived from the original on May 15, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  30. ^ "Colonels Fan Memories (Page 3)". Remember the ABA. Archived from the original on May 15, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  31. ^ "Kentucky Colonels Fan Memories (Page 1)". Remember the ABA.
  32. ^ "The voice behind roller derby". Los Angeles Times. January 21, 2000.
  33. ^ "Floridians Fan Memories (Page 1)". Remember the ABA.
  34. ^ "CHANNEL 44, UHF, AND BAY AREA TV'S GREAT LEAP FORWARD". The Daley Planet. March 22, 2012.
  35. ^ "Terry Stembridge Sr bio.pdf" (PDF). Kilgore College Hall of Fame 2014.
  36. ^ Kahn, Barbara Balter (2010-02-18). Sam Balter: His Life and Times. iUniverse. ISBN 9781450204583.
  37. ^ Los Angeles Stars Team Memories at RememberTheABA.com
  38. ^ "Floridians Fan Memories (Page 2))". Remember the ABA.
  39. ^ King, Larry (September 18, 1969). "If We All 'Turned On' Would the Kids Turned Off?". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 7-G. Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ^ "Marty Glickman". NEW YORK STATE BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION. 2018.
  41. ^ "Channel 20 To Show Caps Starting Nov. 21". The Washington Post. November 14, 1969. p. D2. ProQuest 143569053.
  42. ^ Asher, Mark (July 10, 1971). "20 Bullets Games Set on Channel 20". The Washington Post. p. C3. ProQuest 148087692.
  43. ^ Durham, Andy (August 20, 2018). "Former Voice of the Carolina Cougars(ABA) on local WBIG 1470 radio hanging up the headphones, after 31 years as the Play-by-Play man for the Indianapolis Colts". Greensboro Sports.
  44. ^ Vance, Van (February 7, 2010). "Van Vance | No place like this home". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  45. ^ Rock, Brad (January 22, 1994). "LONGTIME SPORTSCASTER HOWARD DIES". Deseret News. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  46. ^ Story, Mark (September 26, 2019). "In Kentucky, we were never sure baseball was Marty Brennaman's best sport". Lexington Herald Leader.
  47. ^ "Colonels Fan Memories (Page 1)". Remember the ABA. April 28, 1976. Archived from the original on May 15, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  48. ^ "Colonels Fan Memories (Page 2)". Remember the ABA. Archived from the original on May 15, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  49. ^ "Colonels Fan Memories (Page 3)". Remember the ABA. Archived from the original on May 15, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  50. ^ Baker, Don (March 2016). Renegade Fan. Lulu.com. p. 15. ISBN 9781329886292.
  51. ^ "Catching Up With: Don Hein". Fox Sports 1260 - Indy's Sports Station. July 31, 2019.
  52. ^ "New York Nets Fan Memories (Page 2)". Remember the ABA.
  53. ^ "New York Nets Fan Memories (Page 3)". Remember the ABA.
  54. ^ Walker, Jensen, Sean, Jeremiah (June 11, 2016). "Here Come the Stars: the making of Utah's 1st pro sports championship". KSL.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  55. ^ "DOCUMENTARY OF THE PACERS' 1973 ABA TITLE". Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  56. ^ "Dom Valentino, Sportscaster for Many Teams, Dies at 83". New York Times. April 18, 2012.
  57. ^ Ballantini, Brett (April 20, 1999). "Bob Costas". Remember the ABA.
  58. ^ Pluto, Terry (2011-07-19). Loose Balls. Simon and Schuster. p. 14. ISBN 9781439127520.
  59. ^ "Pacers Announce Fox Sports Partnership". National Basketball Association. August 15, 2006.
  60. ^ "Bob Costas (Interview)". April 20, 1999.
  61. ^ Saunder, Dusty (May 23, 2010). "Longtime Nuggets voice Al Albert back in Denver, his "true home"". Denver Post. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  62. ^ "Microsoft Word - Tom Jorgensen.docx" (PDF). Heather Ridge Colorado.
  63. ^ Ballantini, Brett (April 20, 1999). "Van Vance Interview". Remember the ABA.
  64. ^ "New York Nets Fan Memories (Page 4)". Remember the ABA.
  65. ^ Boivin, Paola (October 27, 2012). "Steve Albert joins Phoenix Suns hoping to forge new memories". azcentral.
  66. ^ Halberstam, David J. (July 7, 2020). "The NBA's second wave: Marv Albert, Joe Tait, Al McCoy atop the dozen voices who started between 1961-76". Sports Broadcast Journal.
  67. ^ Kilpatrick, Curry (March 29, 1976). "THEY RUN AND THEY GUN-AND THEY'RE A MILE HIGH". Sports Illustrated.
  68. ^ Barron, David (October 25, 2018). "On TV/Radio: Longtime Clippers voice Ralph Lawler reflects on 40-year career". Houston Chronicle.
  69. ^ "Utah Stars Fan Memories (Page 1)". Remember the ABA.
  70. ^ Associated Press site page with Jack Briggs biography
  71. ^ Sandomir, Richard (June 10, 1997). "Documentary Brings To Life Crazy World That Was Aba". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  72. ^ 1976 ABA Finals Game 6 Denver Nuggets at New York Nets Thursday May 13, 1976 on YouTube
  73. ^ CBS's Super Ball, New York Magazine, May 3, 1976, p.65
  74. ^ "Silna Settles Longtime NBA Dispute for $500M". The Malibu Times. April 16, 2014. Archived from the original on December 19, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  75. ^ "THE BEST DEAL EVER". Sports Illustrated. April 14, 2014. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  76. ^ "The Victoria Advocate - Google News Archive Search". Google News.
  77. ^ "Dr. Dunk Rates His Competition". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
  78. ^ Steve Kroner (February 18, 2005). "Enjoying 'Mile High' should be a slam dunk". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 29, 2011.

External links[edit]

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