The American Basketball Association (ABA) was founded in 1967, hitting the professional hoops scene with a flashy brand of entertainment. The ABA, with its trippy tri-colored balls and players with giant afros, provided a more colorful alternative to the traditional NBA style. A wild, liberated league by nature, the ABA created the 3-point shot and the slam dunk competition, now NBA staples. One could argue that a great deal of the NBA’s current popularity, which employs a run-and-gun format, spawned from ABA play.
The desperado league was finally forced into a merger with the NBA in 1976. Four of the strongest teams were absorbed: The New York Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs. However, many pioneering players from the glory days of the ABA were left behind, almost forgotten entirely.
Some of the same players who contributed directly to the evolution of the multi-billion-dollar-per-year business of basketball, now struggle to survive. Many of these men and their families are suffering hard times, struggling to pay basic bills.
Attorney Scott Tarter and former two-time ABA MVP Mel Daniels decided to take action on behalf of these disregarded hardwood warriors. They reached out to Dr. John Abrams to join as a co-founder and split start-up expenses equally. The Dropping Dimes Foundation was created in 2014 with the purpose of identifying former ABA players, personnel and families who have encountered difficult circumstances, and providing them with financial assistance and support.
Daniels, elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012, was the driving force of this homegrown initiative, but passed away in 2015. Tarter has since taken the torch and blazed a trail to the finish line. After several years of lobbying the NBA, $24.5 million will be paid to 115 eligible former ABA players.
“In many cases, the players that didn’t make the jump from the ABA to the NBA with the merger, they had to start selling insurance, working in factories, etc. and their basketball life was over very quickly,” Tarter told OSDB Sports. “Many of these guys are now in their 70s and 80s, and unfortunately several eligible people have passed away during the course of this lengthy negotiation with the NBA.”
“It took a long time, and I think George Carter’s death becoming a national story elevated the discussion and allowed us a seat at the table with the NBA.” Tarter added.
Former ABA star George Carter was an out-of-work limo driver in Las Vegas when he died penniless at the age of 75 in 2020. Carter was a phenomenal athlete and was drafted by three professional sports teams: The NFL’s Buffalo Bills, MLB’s New York Mets, and the NBA’s Detroit Pistons. Carter was selected by Detroit with the 81st pick in the 1967 NBA Draft, played one game, then left to serve two years in the military.
The “Dirty Dingus” tore up the ABA when he returned from military service, averaging 18.2 PPG and 6.8 RPG over his nine-year career. However, following the dissolution of the ABA, Carter struggled with eviction notices, throat cancer, mounting bills, and the ill effects of isolationism until the bitter end of his life. He died alone and broke, and would have been without a proper burial if not for the efforts of Dropping Dimes.
The Dropping Dimes Foundation worked closely with St. Bonaventure, Carter’s alma mater, to secure a plot in a cemetery across the street from the campus.
Had the NBA acted sooner to get these “recognition payments” on track, people like George Carter would have had a chance to live under more agreeable conditions. The same goes for Bird Averitt, Frank Card, and Sam Smith, all of whom died before these pseudo-pension payments could make an impact on their quality of life.
Averitt won the ABA championship with the Kentucky Colonels in 1975, but when he died on December 12, 2020, he was unable to pay his electric bill. Card once said that the NBA was just waiting for the collective former ABA players to “die off,” and then passed away on April 14, 2021. Smith won a title with the Utah Stars in 1971, but constantly had to borrow money while waiting for the NBA to acquiesce.
He died on May 18 of this year, before the NBA made its official settlement offer. Smith left a spine-tingling photo behind, in an effort to assist posterity from beyond the grave.
At least these deaths are not in vain, and there are 115 former ABA players who are in a better position today. Dropping Dimes has offered some of the eligible individuals a “bridge loan” until the official payout structure has been finalized.
“It’s been a really cool ABA brotherhood group effort,” Tarter mused. “It all started with Mel Daniels, and having people like Julius Erving, George McGinnis, Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel, George Gervin, and Rick Barry involved really has helped. Bob Costas was also active in reaching out to Adam Silver and the NBA, which made a real impact. It’s been a team endeavor.”
The battle rages on for Dropping Dimes, which must stay on top of the most recent settlement, while trying to help the remaining 150+ former ABA players who were deemed ineligible this time around. Now a precedent is in place.
(Bird Averitt, Darnell Hillman and Ron Thomas)
“We are 100% committed to taking care of the guys who didn’t qualify for this deal.”, Tarter stated. “We here at Dropping Dimes wish that this idea was embraced more by the NBA and NBA players. The hope is that the league and the current NBA players will see the moral and historic obligation they have to this very small group of men who did so much to change the game of pro basketball, and did so much to increase the overall value and position of the NBA.”
(Dropping Dimes board of directors from L to R, John Abrams MD, Ted Green and Scott Tarter.)
“I would have liked to have seen more NBA players tweeting and making social media posts mentioning the ABA players. Maybe that will happen now. It would be great to see some of these young guns throwing props out to these older guys, because it would really mean a lot to them.”
In the meantime, classic ABA sports memorabilia and products can be viewed and purchased at Lana Sports. All of the proceeds go directly to Dropping Dimes.
“Thanks to Lana Sports, the ABA ball is back and available
