The Impact Of The NBA-ABA Merger On The Knicks And Nets

In the summer of 1976, the red, white, and blue basketball turned orange, as the American Basketball Association merged into the National Basketball Association. The landmark ABA-NBA deal was supposed to promise stability, but instead it brought some disruption to pro basketball in New York City. This disruption led to a shift to the "Battle of New York," and you can still feel this tension today.

On June 17, 1976, the NBA took over four ABA franchises: the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, and the New York Nets. The positive of the merger was that it brought Julius Erving into the NBA. The negative was that it set back one franchise for decades, while the other franchises still maintained decent success. Let's take a closer look at the impact of this basketball merger.

The New York Nets took a big-time hit from the merger. They had just won the final ABA championship, and a huge reason for that win was "Dr. J," Julius Erving. The merger forced the team to sell their best player to the Philadelphia 76ers for $3 million.

The Nets' owner at the time, Roy Boe, was facing a $3.2 million entry fee to join the NBA. Then the Nets were hit with a $4 million indemnity penalty that was payable to the New York Knicks because the Nets were going in on their territory. With money tight, the Nets tried to offer Erving to the Knicks, and hopefully, that would save the $4 million fee, but the Knicks turned down the offer. Erving's departure set the franchise back decades and turned league champions into a cellar team with one move.

The Knicks won titles in 1970 and 1973, emerging as the basketball kings of NYC. The NBA was treating the merger as a bad takeover instead of a merger that would bring equal opportunity to all the teams involved in the deal. The Knicks opposed the Nets moving within their 75-mile territory. The dispute led to a sanction of the Nets for a $4 million payment to the Knicks.

The fee was officially termed compensation for "invading" the New York area, even though the Nets played at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island for years. The Nets were forced to pay a massive fee to the Knicks for being allowed to join the NBA. This penalty left the Nets hurting in the financial department. From day one of the merger, these fees created a rivalry between the two franchises.

The post-merger reality hit the Nets hard. After their title run in 1976, the team entered the next season with no identity and no stars to build around. They ended 1976-77 with the worst record in the NBA at 22-60. It was a brutal decline, and the team ended up moving to New Jersey in 1977. The Erving trade left the team in shambles. However, the Nets did have a new star in Nate "Tiny" Archibald, but he ended up breaking his foot. This team could not catch a break with their new NBA life.

It took almost a decade for the Nets to become a respectable NBA team. The team just kept finding themselves in an endless cycle of rebuilding. The Nets didn't win a playoff series again until the early 1980s. Their journey back to being a decent playoff team was slow, and they finally got back to the NBA Finals in 2002, a full 26 years after the merger.

That 2002 team finally had a star: Jason Kidd. Having a player to build around again was nice, but it definitely highlighted the decades-long damage caused by the initial financial issues.

A half-century later, the merger was a huge positive for the Knicks and a nightmare for the Nets. The Knicks were able to retain their superior status in the league and in the city as well. However, even though the Knicks showed dominance and seemed to benefit from the merger, neither they nor the Nets have won a title since this big move happened.

The Battle of New York has mostly been about which team can be the most relevant. The Nets moved to Brooklyn in 2012. A few times, they put together more exciting teams than the Knicks did, but they still have no rings to show for them. The fact is that, yes, the 1976 merger was a financial success for the league, but it ended up being a championship drought for the city's two teams.

The merger revolutionized professional basketball by uniting talent, saving the NBA from financial instability, and incorporating flair into the game. It also brought the three-point shot, a faster, more exciting style of play, and a showbiz flair that saved the league from a stagnant, half-court reputation.