The Rise & Fall Of The American Basketball Association Chronicled In Amazon Docuseries
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EXCLUSIVE: The story of the American Basketball Association (ABA), which was responsible for stars such as Julius Erving, is to be told in a new docuseries for Amazon.
Prime Video has ordered a multi-part docuseries, currently untitled, about the the rise and fall of the league, which defined one of America’s most turbulent eras and shaped the NBA as we know it today.
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The series comes from Prime Video Sports, George Karl’s Truth+ Media, Todd Lieberman’s Hidden Pictures, and Kenan Kamwana Holley’s Holley Films. It comes after former Mandeville Films and Television co-chief Lieberman recently launched his own film and TV company Hidden Pictures.
The ABA, which was in existence between 1967 and 1976, was responsible for the addition of teams including the New York Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs to the NBA as well as the introduction of the three-point shot. It ceased to exist after the merger with the NBA in 1976.
In addition to Dr. J, who played for the ABA’s Virginia Squires and New York Nets as well as the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, it was also responsible for players such as Moses Malone, Spencer Haywood, George Gervin, Rick Barry, and George Karl.
The ABA also helped professional basketball tap into markets in the southeast, that had been big college basketball towns such as North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky at a time when the NBA was focused on the northeast, Midwest and west coast.
The move comes after an agreement was reached in July between the NBA and the NBA Players Association to fund a $24M lifetime benefit that recognizes the contributions made by former American Basketball Association players to professional basketball.
It also comes as executive producer and former-ABA player and NBA coach George Karl will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 10th, as part of the 2022 enshrinement ceremony.
It is exec produced by Lieberman, Karl, Brett Goldberg, and Kamwana Holley with support from Scott Tarter, founder of Lana Sports and CEO of the Dropping Dimes Foundation, which has helped provide for the financial and health needs of retired ABA players over the past decade. Holley will also serve as director.
The docuseries is the latest project announced by Prime Video Sports, which in August greenlit Good Neighbors, a three-part docuseries about the intense competition between the Mexican and American national men’s soccer teams. Good Neighbors will debut this fall around the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
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