1. 
Public Appeal of Basketball over time
By JH
In order for the NBA to thrive a rivalry
between players, or teams is
necessary

2. The ABA/NBA Merger
In 1967 the American Basketball Association (ABA)
was founded and proved to be quite big competition
for the NBA. The ABA allowed players to be drafted
right after completing high school, while the NBA
needed players to complete college. This lead to a
price war for new NBA rookies effectively increasing
starting salaries to more than one million dollars a
year. In 1976 the NBA merged with the ABA and
helped to form the high intensity, extremely
entertaining basketball play styles we see today.
Players such as Wilt Chamberlain and play styles such
as slam dunks helped to make the NBA the extremely
popular company it is today.

3. The Late 1970’s Downward Slide
With the league losing popularity due to ABC
refusing to sign another T.V. contract, cocaine being
used by more players, and with racism still
prevalent in society it seemed as if everything bad
that could happen, did. In 1977 the L.A. Lakers
were playing the Houston Rockets when a fight
broke out and (white) Rudy Tomjanovich ran
towards (black) Kermit Washington who then
landed a punch sending Rudy to the intensive care
for two weeks. One long time fan said“It was a
punch boxers dream of landing”. Many white fans
were turned away by this incident and attendence
and T.V. Ratings had already been dropping and got
even worse after the Kermit Washington incident.

4. Larry Bird vs Magic Johnson
Due to the serious decline in viewership in
the 70’s the Magic Johnson and Larry Bird
rivalry seriously catapulted viewership and
public interest (this, followed by Michael
Jordan helped to create the NBA to the super
power it is today). Interest has always risen in
the NBA when there is a large rivalry between
teams or players, and due to the downward
slide in the 70’s this was just what the NBA
needed to grow. This, followed by the Jordan
era has catapulted the NBA into the hugely
popular company it is today.

5. Citations
"Basketball Origins, Growth and History of the
Game." History of The Game Of Basketball Including
The NBA and the NCAA. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov.
2013.
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/basketballhistor
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"NBA ABA Merger." NBA ABA Merger. N.p., n.d.
Web. 08 Nov. 2013. http://iplace.wix.com/aba-nbamerge.
"Remember the ABA: ABA All-Time Team Pictorial
Tribute." Remember the ABA: ABA All-Time Team
Pictorial Tribute. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2013.
http://www.remembertheaba.com/TributeMaterial
/30YearTeamTribute.html.
"Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s Rivalry." Bio.com.
A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2013.
http://www.biography.com/blog/magic-johnsonand-larry-birds-rivalry-20795891.
"Celtics–Lakers Rivalry." Wikipedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, 26 Oct. 2013. Web. 08 Nov. 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtics–Lakers_rivalry.
"National Basketball Association Nielsen Ratings."
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Apr. 2013.
Web. 08 Nov. 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_A
ssociation_Nielsen_ratings.
"National Basketball Association Nielsen Ratings."
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Apr. 2013.
Web. 08 Nov. 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_A
ssociation_Nielsen_ratings.