The American Basketball Association (ABA) began play as a rival major professional league, offering new markets a top-level team and competing directly for players and fans. From the start, the ABA positioned itself as a faster, more entertainment-focused alternative to the older NBA. This new competition set the stage for later rule changes and business decisions that shaped pro basketball beyond the ABA’s short life.
NBA players, led by Oscar Robertson, filed an antitrust lawsuit challenging key league rules that limited player movement and bargaining power. The case also threatened to block an NBA-ABA merger while the legal fight continued. This lawsuit became a major pressure point pushing pro basketball toward modern free-agency rules.
The NBA draft began selecting international players who had not played U.S. high school or college basketball, signaling early steps toward a more global talent pipeline. Atlanta drafted Manuel Raga and Dino Meneghin, both playing professionally in Italy at the time. Neither played in the NBA then, but the moment marked a shift in how teams scouted talent.
The Robertson lawsuit was settled in 1976, and it is widely linked to the creation of the NBA’s later free-agency framework. The settlement also removed a key legal barrier that had delayed the NBA’s merger plans with the ABA. This resolved uncertainty that had hung over both leagues’ business futures.
During the ABA’s final season, the league staged what is commonly cited as the first slam dunk contest at its All-Star Game, won by Julius Erving. The event fit the ABA’s strategy of spotlighting above-the-rim play and showmanship to attract attention. It later influenced how the NBA packaged and marketed its own marquee entertainment events.
At NBA league meetings, the two leagues completed a deal that brought four ABA franchises into the NBA: the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets, and San Antonio Spurs. The merger ended the ABA as a separate league but carried over elements of its style and innovation into the NBA’s future. It also reshaped team markets, player contracts, and league economics for years.
The NBA adopted the three-point line for the 1979–80 season, initially as a trial, bringing a major ABA-associated innovation into the NBA rulebook. The rule rewarded long-range shooting with an extra point, changing spacing and strategy over time. This decision would later become central to the NBA’s modern offensive style.
Chris Ford of the Boston Celtics made the first recorded three-point field goal in NBA history. The moment gave a clear starting point for a rule that would grow from a novelty into a major part of game planning. Over the following decades, teams increasingly built offenses around creating three-point shots.
The NBA created NBA Entertainment as a production arm to develop league-controlled films and video programming. This helped the league shape its public image and preserve highlights and championship stories in a consistent way. It was part of a broader shift toward building the NBA as a media and marketing brand, not only a sports competition.
David Stern took office as commissioner and emphasized marketing, licensing, and long-term business growth, including international outreach. His tenure is widely associated with a more centralized league strategy built around star players and global media. This leadership change mattered because it aligned the NBA’s rules, marketing, and broadcasting plans with worldwide expansion goals.
At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, the United States fielded a team of NBA players (often called the “Dream Team”), drawing unprecedented global attention to the NBA’s top talent. The team’s games became a widely watched showcase of NBA-style play. The Olympics acted as a powerful advertisement that helped accelerate worldwide interest in the league.
By the 1990s, the NBA increasingly combined star-driven marketing with wider international scouting and broadcasting, building on changes that followed the ABA merger and later league leadership decisions. International players became more visible, and global audiences grew through expanding media distribution. This period set the conditions for the NBA’s next phase as a truly international sports league by the end of the decade.
National Basketball Association: ABA Merger and Globalization (1967–1999)