The first North American Basketball League (NABL) was an American professional basketball league that played from 1964 to 1968. The league played four full seasons, until the league folded after the 1967–1968 season.

History

The North American Basketball League began play in 1964–1965 with five charter franchises, some of whom had been members of the

Midwest Professional Basketball League The Midwest Professional Basketball League was a professional American basketball league. The six–team league existed for three seasons, playing from 1961–1962 through 1963–1964 until the league folded after the 1964 season. History ...

from 1961 to 1964. The Chicago Bombers, Grand Rapids Tackers, Muskegon Panthers, Pontiac Nationals and Twin City Sailors began play in 1964 as charter members. The Chicago and Grand Rapids franchises had been members of the MWL. In 1965–1966, the Holland Carvers replaced the Pontiac Nationals and the North American Basketball League remained at five teams. The 1966–1967 North American Basketball League expanded from five to eight teams, adding the Battle Creek Braves, Columbus Comets and Lansing Capitals franchises. In 1967–1968 the North American Basketball League lost the Muskegon Panthers and the Twin City Sailors teams. Pontiac returned to play and the league played in two divisions. Columbus, Battle Creek, Lansing and Pontiac were the Eastern Division. Chicago, Grand Rapids and Holland comprised the Western Division. Chicago finished last in each of the four seasons, with Grand Rapids taking three of the four league championships.

Porter Meriwether Porter Louis Meriwether (March 16, 1940 – November 13, 2009) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Syracuse Nationals after a collegiate career at Tennessee State Universi ...

(Chicago) led the league in Scoring in the first three seasons, averaging 28.1, 28.3 and 29.9 points. Art Crump (Battle Creek) averaged 29.6 in 1967–68 to lead the league.

American Basketball League Franchises (1964–68)

* Battle Creek Braves (1964–1968) * Chicago Bombers (1964–1968) * Columbus Comets (1964–1968) * Grand Rapids Tackers (1964–1968) * Holland Carvers (1965–1968) * Lansing Capitals (1965–1968) * Muskegon Panthers (1964–1967) * Pontiac Nationals (1964–65, 1967–1968) * Twin City Sailors (1964–1967)

Notable alumni

Bud Acton Charles R. "Bud" Acton (born January 11, 1942 in Troy, Michigan) is an American former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a 6'6" 210 lbs small forward and played collegiately for Alma College and Hillsdale ...

, Twin Cities * M. C. Burton Jr., Grand Rapids *

Bill Chmielewski William Chmielewski (born December 12, 1941) is an American former professional basketball player. He was born in Detroit, Michigan and attended Holy Redeemer High School, graduating in 1960. As a senior he helped Holy Redeemer capture the Class ...

, Muskegon, Battle Creek *

Gary Bradds Gary Lee "Tex" Bradds (July 26, 1942 – July 15, 1983) was an American basketball player. After a successful college career at Ohio State, where he was the 1964 College Player of the Year, he played an integral role with the 1968–69 Oakland O ...

, Twin Cities, Columbus *

Bill Buntin William L. Buntin (May 5, 1942 – May 9, 1968) was an American basketball player. He played collegiately for the University of Michigan and in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Buntin died of a heart attack at age 26. College career Bun ...

, Twin Cities *

Ed Burton Edward Burton (August 13, 1939 – May 28, 2012) was an American basketball player from Muskegon Heights, Michigan. In 2016, he was voted the best high school basketball player to come out of Muskegon County. He played collegiately for Michiga ...

, Muskegon *

Larry Comley Lawrence Robert Comley (August 17, 1939 – January 21, 2006) was an American professional basketball player.Johnny Cox Johnny W. Cox (born November 1, 1936) is a retired American basketball player. A 6'4" guard from Hazard High School in Kentucky, Cox starred at the University of Kentucky from 1956 to 1959. He scored 1,461 points in 84 career games and won an ...

Holland, Battle Creek, Muskegon *

Jimmy Darrow James K. Darrow (September 25, 1937 – June 8, 1987) was an American basketball player. He was born in Akron, Ohio. A 5'10" (178 cm), 170 lb (77 kg) guard, Darrow starred at Bowling Green State University. He was drafted by the St. ...

, Coach, Muskegon *

Bill Dinwiddie Rashid K. Shabazz (born William E. Dinwiddie; July 15, 1943) was an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He started the 1966–67 season playing for the Columbus Comets of the No ...

, Columbus *

Sonny Dove Lloyd "Sonny" Dove (August 16, 1945 – February 14, 1983) was a Native American professional basketball player. As a star at St. John's University in New York, in his last season of 1967, Dove won the Haggerty Award. That year he was part o ...

, Pontiac * Ron Dunlap, Chicago *

Boo Ellis Alex "Boo" Ellis (February 11, 1936 – May 6, 2010) was an American professional basketball player for the Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Ellis played in the league for just the and seasons and averaged 5 ...

, Chicago *

Charles Hardnett Charles "Charlie Red" Hardnett (September 13, 1938 – July 6, 2019) was an American basketball player who played three seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6' 8" power forward played for Carver High School Atlanta. He play ...

, Grand Rapids *

Jerry Harkness Jerald B. Harkness (May 7, 1940 – August 24, 2021) was an American professional basketball player. He played for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Indiana Pacers of the American Basketball Association (ABA ...

, Twin Cities * Bob Hogsett, Lansing * Les Hunter, Twin Cities * Ollie Johnson, Grand Rapids *

Stew Johnson Stewart "Stew" Johnson (born August 19, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'8" (2.03 m) tall forward/center from Murray State University, that was born in New York City, Johnson was selected by the New York Knicks in the ...

, Twin Cities *

Willie Jones Willie Jones may refer to: Sports *Willie Jones (American football) (born 1957), former American football player with the Oakland Raiders *Willie Jones (third baseman) (1925–1983), American Major League Baseball player * Willie Jones (catcher) ( ...

, Grand Rapids *

Arvesta Kelly Arvesta Kelly (born November 20, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player. A combo guard, he played four seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA), winning the title with the Pittsburgh Pipers in 1968. College career ...

, Columbus *

Jim Ligon Jim "Goose" Ligon (February 22, 1944 – April 17, 2004
Association for Professional Basketball Research. Retrieved on October 20, 2008.) was a ...

, Holland *

Lonnie Lynn Lonnie Lynn Jr. (May 24, 1943 – September 12, 2014), nicknamed "Pops", was an American basketball player. Life and career Lynn was born on May 24, 1943 in Chicago, the son of Mabel and Lonnie Lynn, a construction worker. At 6'7" and 215 ...

, Columbus *

Billy McGill Bill "The Hill" McGill (September 16, 1939 – July 11, 2014) was an American basketball player best known for inventing the jump hook. McGill was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1962 NBA draft out of the University of Utah, with whom he led the N ...

, Grand Rapids, Holland *

Guy Manning Guy Manning, born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England is an English multi-instrumentalist and singer, best known for his own album releases (Manning (Band), Manning) and for his membership of progressive rock bands Parallel or 90 Degrees, The Tangent ...

, Battle Creek *

Nick Mantis Nicholas Mantis (December 7, 1935 – August 13, 2017) was an American-Greek professional basketball player.Porter Meriwether Porter Louis Meriwether (March 16, 1940 – November 13, 2009) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Syracuse Nationals after a collegiate career at Tennessee State Universi ...

, Chicago *

Gene Michael Eugene Richard Michael (June 2, 1938 – September 7, 2017), known as Stick, was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout, manager and team executive. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from 1966 to 1975, most promine ...

, Columbus *

Mel Nowell Melvyn P. "Mel" Nowell (born December 27, 1939) is an American former basketball player. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Nowell played for the Ohio State Buckeyes basketball team that won the 1960 NCAA championship. He played with three Hall of Famers an ...

, Muskegon, Columbus * Bob Pelkington, Muskegon *

Bill Reigel William Ernest Reigel (May 3, 1932 – October 17, 1993) was an American basketball player and coach. He played college basketball at Duke University and McNeese State University, leading McNeese to the 1956 NAIA championship. Reigel went on t ...

Coach, Holland, * Joe Roberts, Muskegon, Columbus * Tom Thacker, Muskegon *

Skip Thoren Duane W. "Skip" Thoren (born April 5, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player. At a height of 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) tall, he played at the center position. High school A native of Rockford, Illinois, Thoren attended Rockfor ...

, Twin Cities *

Horace Walker Horace Walker (1838–1908) was an English mountaineer who made many notable first ascents, including Mount Elbrus and the Grandes Jorasses. Alpinism Born in 1838, Walker was the son of Liverpool lead merchant and mountaineer Francis Walker ( ...

, Lansing * Jim Ware, Muskegon * Bob Wilkinson, Coach, Grand Rapids * Bob Woollard, Twin Cities

References

External links

Association for Professional Basketball Research NORTH AMERICAN BASKETBALL LEAGUE 1964–65 TO 1967–68
{{DEFAULTSORT:North American Basketball League (1964-68) Defunct basketball leagues in the United States Sports leagues established in 1964 Sports leagues disestablished in 1968 1964 establishments in the United States 1968 disestablishments in the United States