The
American Basketball Association (ABA) Finals were the championship series of the ABA, a professional basketball league, in which two teams played each other for the title. The
ABA was formed in the fall of 1967, and the first ABA Finals were played at the end of the league's first season in the spring of 1968.
The league ceased operations in 1976 with the
ABA–NBA merger
The ABA-NBA merger was a major pro sports business maneuver in 1976 when the American Basketball Association (ABA) combined with the National Basketball Association (NBA), after multiple attempts over several years. The NBA and ABA had entered ...
and four teams from the ABA continued play in the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
.
All ABA Finals were in best-of-seven format and were contested between the winners of the Eastern Division and the Western Division finals. The only teams to win the championship more than once were the
Indiana Pacers and the
New York Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
. The Indiana Pacers initially played in the ABA Finals in 1969, which they lost to the
Oakland Oaks, but they won the championship the next year against the
Los Angeles Stars
LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to:
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* Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers
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.
They won in the ABA Finals again in 1972, their first after moving to the Western Division, against the
New York Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
and won their final ABA championship against the
Kentucky Colonels in 1973.
The New York Nets won their first championship in 1974 against the
Utah Stars
The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround.
History prior to moving t ...
, and their second against the
Denver Nuggets in 1976.
The last ABA Finals were in 1976, after which the
ABA–NBA merger
The ABA-NBA merger was a major pro sports business maneuver in 1976 when the American Basketball Association (ABA) combined with the National Basketball Association (NBA), after multiple attempts over several years. The NBA and ABA had entered ...
took place; three of the four teams that continued into the NBA made it to or won the ABA Finals.
Key
Champions
With the ABA cut down to seven teams by the middle of its final season, the league abandoned divisional play.
Results by teams
Notes
* The Indiana Pacers moved from the Eastern Division to the Western Division between the 1969–1970 and 1970–1971 seasons.
See also
*
American Basketball Association
*
ABA Playoffs MVP
References
External links
Professional Basketball Championships
{{ABA seasons
*
American Basketball Association lists