By Jamie H. Vaught
KySportsStyle.com Magazine
If you are looking for a new basketball book from a business perspective, especially during the late 1960s, this is the remarkable hardcover for you.
The title of the 487-page book is Balls of Confusion: Pro Basketball Goes to War (1965-1970) and the author is Bob Kuska, a basketball historian from West Virginia who has written three previous books on basketball.
“It’s a book that really needed to be written,” said Kuska in a recent interview. “What the Civil War is to American history, the NBA-ABA War is to modern pro basketball. Until now, just about all that’s been published on the topic was told either from ABA’s perspective only or offered a general rehash of the conflict. Balls of Confusion takes the first deep dive into the war, exploring the conduct of both leagues during this seminal era in pro basketball history. I’ve assembled so much information -- a lot of it previously unknown -- that I chose to publish the book in two parts.”
The current volume, subtitled Pro Basketball Goes to War (1965-70), is the first of a two-book series.
The author says the second book, subtitled Pro Basketball Finds Peace (1970-76), is already “half-written and should be finished next year.”
Asked about his favorite story about the now-defunct American Basketball Association, which included the popular Kentucky Colonels franchise, “That’s a tough one. I have a lot of favorites, so I defer to readers,” said Kuska. “One mentioned to me the other day that he really enjoyed the tidbit about the Miami Floridians opening its front office without phone service (then just a landline). To reach staff, callers had to dial a nearby pay phone and hope a passerby would answer and relay the message. I must say, though, that for every quirky story like that one, there are several more real findings, important factual stuff about how the leagues interacted. That’s what I’m most proud of with this book.”
Growing up in California during the 1960s, Kuska was fascinated by the colorful nicknames of ABA teams even though he didn’t see the games in Oakland or Los Angeles.
“I was just a young kid who saved his allowance, sent away for an official ABA ball, and got caught up following teams nicknamed the Floridians, the Chaparrals, the Tams, and the Spirits of St. Louis,” the author recalled. “My ABA fandom was almost strictly a print experience. I remember every Thursday, rain or shine, walking up to a local grocery store—Bel Air Market—to crack open the latest issue of The Sporting News with Jim O’Brien’s invaluable ABA column. I hung on O’Brien’s every rumor of a college star considering an ABA career. Every day thereafter, I scoured the local newspaper to see if the rumors were true.
“Like most kids, I boggled over players who did things a little differently. For example, New York’s ‘Super’ John Williamson had played, at least in college, with a toothpick in his mouth. Or Virginia’s Ticky Burden reportedly took the floor with a fishhook or two stuck in his socks.”
Kuska’s book discussed in depth the bidding wars between both leagues for top college basketball players, including two-time All-American Wes Unseld of Louisville, who finally chose NBA’s Baltimore over ABA’s Kentucky. Unseld said the Colonels offered more money but he signed with the Bullets (now Washington Wizards).
“That was during the era of Watergate,” Kuska said. “The ABA had its own Deep Throat who spilled about the NBA’s war plans. This really shows that the division between the NBA and ABA was artificial in many ways. Both leagues lived, breathed, and spoke the language of business. It just so happened that the ABA businessmen had to try a few more tricks than their NBA counterparts to stay out of bankruptcy court.”
The second volume will begin with the 1970-71 season, according to the author, who also interviewed then-former NBA commissioner David Stern.
“Part two will tell the story of the so-called Oscar Robertson case that led to NBA free agency and the collective forces that prompted the merger, really incorporation, of the four surviving ABA franchises into the NBA,” he said. “Again, it’s a story that needs to be told, and I’ve got what amounts to a mountain of information at my fingertips. I always tell this story to make my point.
“I was fortunate to interview the late-NBA commissioner David Stern about a year before he died. Stern, before becoming commissioner, had litigated the Robertson case for the NBA. As our phone conversation wound down, I asked whether he’d done many interviews about the Robertson case. ‘No, this is the first,’ he answered. Assuming that’s correct, now you know why I need to publish part two.”
Kuska pointed out the fans shouldn’t forget the players from the NBA-ABA era.
He added, “Today, we tend to start our conversations paying homage to Magic, Larry, Michael, Kobe, and Lebron. That’s fine but remember: They walk in the footsteps of Wilt, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, John Havlicek, Julius Erving, Kareem, Elgin, and hundreds of others. That includes Wes Unseld, Butch Beard, Dan Issel, and even Bird Averitt. Without this generation, without this war of the leagues, today’s game would have evolved differently.”
In conclusion, Balls of Confusion, which is available online at Amazon and other outlets, is a highly recommended addition for every basketball fan’s library. It is an enjoyable read and I can hardly wait for the second volume.
Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime sports columnist in Kentucky, is the author of six books about UK basketball, including recently-published “Forever Crazy About The Cats: An Improbable Journey of a Kentucky Sportswriter Overcoming Adversity.” Now a retired college professor who taught at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro., he is the editor and founder of KySportsStyle.com Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter @KySportsStyle or reach him via email at KySportsStyle@gmail.com.
Comments