1976 ABA All-Star Game

Exhibition basketball game August 2023 1976 ABA All-Star Game Denver ABA All-Stars 144 138 32 23 37 52 31 25 41 41 January 27, 1976 McNichols Sports Arena Denver, Colorado Norm Drucker Ed Middleton 17,798 David Thompson 1975 none The 1976 ABA All Star Game was the ninth and final American Basketball Association All-Star Game, played at McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado, on January 27, 1976. This time, the league abandoned the usual East vs. West format it used from the 1967–68 season onward and instead had the league's first-place team at the All Star break face off against a team of ABA All Stars.Hollander Zander Sachare Alex The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia 1989 Villar Books 232 https://archive.org/details/officialnbabaske00holl/page/232/mode/1up registration May 21, 2023 Internet Archive 0394580397 The change was decided given the league's reduction from ten to seven teams and from two divisions to only one.Erving, Gilmore head ABA's All-Star team January 20, 1976 12 Fort Collins Coloradoan AP https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-collins-coloradoan/125112600/ May 21, 2023 Newspapers.com By the time the ABA entered the All-Star break, the Denver Nuggets were in first place within the entire league, which was convenient for the ABA and secretly what they were hoping for as the Nuggets had also been selected to host the game at the McNichols Arena back when the ABA was projected to have ten competitive teams in two divisions yet again. Kevin Loughery of the New York Nets coached the All-Stars while Larry Brown led the Denver Nuggets. This was the second year in a row that Loughery and Brown coached against each other in the ABA All-Star Game. (The Nuggets went on to finish the regular season in first place at 60-24 (.714), but after beating the Kentucky Colonels 4 games to 3 in the ABA Semifinals the Nuggets lost in the 1976 ABA Finals to the New York Nets, 4 games to 2.)Remember the ABA: 1975-76 Regular Season Standings and Playoff Results https://web.archive.org/web/20101129194323/http://remembertheaba.com/PlayoffPages/1976Playoffs.html 2010-11-29 The 12 All-Stars originally selected included the Nuggets' David Thompson, Bobby Jones, and Ralph Simpson. Coaches replaced them on the all-star squad with Maurice Lucas of Kentucky, Larry Kenon of the San Antonio Spurs, and Don Buse of the Indiana Pacers. Pre-game entertainment was provided by Glen Campbell and Charlie Rich.Remember the ABA: American Basketball Association All-Star Games https://web.archive.org/web/20081221221458/http://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAAllStarGames/AllStar.html December 21, 2008 Halftime of the All Star Game saw the first-ever Slam Dunk Contest, which was won by Julius Erving of the New York Nets (who took off from the free throw line for one of his dunksDr. J dunks) over Denver's Thompson, Artis Gilmore of Kentucky, and both George Gervin and Larry Kenon of San Antonio.The One That Started It All The National Basketball Association later adopted the Slam Dunk Contest as part of its All-Star Game events starting in 1984 (also hosted by the Denver Nuggets). Denver's 52 fourth quarter points was a record for an ABA All-Star Game and capped a 144–138 comeback win. It was the highest-scoring game in ABA All-Star history. Thompson was named the MVP. This was the final ABA All Star Game, due to the ABA–NBA merger in June 1976. All-Stars Player, Team MINFGMFGA3PM3PAFTMFTAREBASTSTLBLKPFSPTS Brian Taylor, NYN 29 3 9 0 1 0 0 4 8 0 0 3 6 Artis Gilmore, KEN 27 5 7 0 0 4 6 7 1 0 0 6 14 Julius Erving, NYN 25 9 12 0 1 5 7 7 5 0 0 4 23 James Silas, SAS 23 6 10 0 0 8 8 0 5 0 0 6 20 Billy Knight, IND 23 9 14 0 1 2 2 10 2 0 0 3 20 Billy Paultz, SAS 20 4 6 0 0 2 2 2 1 0 0 1 10 Larry Kenon, SAS 20 5 7 0 0 0 0 6 2 0 0 5 10 Ron Boone, SSL 16 5 11 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 1 10 George Gervin, SAS 16 3 13 1 2 1 2 6 1 0 0 1 8 Maurice Lucas, KEN 14 2 5 0 0 1 1 5 3 0 0 1 5 Don Buse, IND 14 2 5 1 2 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 5 Marvin Barnes, SSL 13 3 5 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 3 7 Team Totals 240 56 104 2 7 24 29 51 34 0 0 34 138 Denver Nuggets Player MINFGMFGA3PM3PAFTMFTAREBASTSTLBLKPFSPTS Ralph Simpson 37 8 15 0 0 3 3 7 5 0 0 0 19 David Thompson 34 9 18 0 0 11 13 8 2 0 0 4 29 Dan Issel 31 6 16 0 0 7 9 9 5 0 0 3 19 Bobby Jones 29 8 12 0 0 8 11 10 3 0 0 2 24 Claude Terry 25 5 12 1 3 3 5 3 3 0 0 2 14 Chuck Williams 22 2 6 0 0 3 5 1 4 0 0 2 7 Byron Beck 20 6 11 0 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 3 14 Gus Gerard 17 5 14 0 0 2 2 9 1 0 0 5 12 Monte Towe 11 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 Roger Brown 9 2 2 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 1 4 James Foster 5 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Team Totals 240 52 112 1 3 39 50 55 28 0 0 23 144 Score by period Score by Periods: 1234Final Denver 32 23 37 52 144 All-Stars 31 25 41 41 138 Halftime — All-Stars, 56–55 Third Quarter — All-Stars, 97–92 Officials: Norm Drucker and Ed Middleton Attendance: 17,798 References The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia Villard Books 1994 260 0-679-43293-0 basketball-reference.com 1976 ABA All-Star Game https://www.basketball-reference.com/allstar/ABA_1976.html 2013-09-11 Sports External links Category:1975–76 ABA season Category:Denver Nuggets games Category:1975 in sports in Colorado Category:January 1975 sports events in the United States