Richard P. Tinkham (June 24, 1932 – October 14, 2018) was an American sports executive who was the co-founder of the American Basketball Association with Joe Newman.

Biography

Tinkham grew up in Hammond, Indiana. He graduated from

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the ...

, where he was on the varsity basketball and relay teams, before earning his law degree from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

law school in 1957. He later served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, where he reached the rank of captain and served as

general court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

counsel. Afterwards, he started a legal practice in Indianapolis, and chaired 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 ...

. In 1967, he co-founded the original ABA and the Indiana Pacers franchise, serving for two years as President of the ABA Board of Trustees. Tinkham was also owner and executive of the Pacers franchise, and was responsible for its early success. He hired

Mike Storen Mark "Mike" Storen Jr. (September 14, 1935 – May 7, 2020) was an American sports executive in basketball, baseball, and American football, football. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame and a stint in the US Marines, he be ...

, then business manager of the

Cincinnati Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

, as the first

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the Pacers. Tinkham and Storen had first met while serving in the Marines together. In 1972-75, he was instrumental in the creation of

Market Square Arena Market Square Arena was an indoor arena in Indianapolis. Completed in 1974, at a cost of $23 million, it seated 16,530 for basketball and 15,993 for ice hockey. Seating capacity for concerts and other events was adjusted by the use of large cu ...

in Indianapolis. Tinkham died on October 14, 2018 from muscular dystrophy at the age of 86.

References

1932 births 2018 deaths American Basketball Association executives Deaths from muscular dystrophy DePauw Tigers men's basketball players Indiana Pacers executives Sportspeople from Hammond, Indiana University of Michigan Law School alumni American men's basketball players {{1930s-US-basketball-bio-stub