Q 01/05

What three colors made up the distinctive ball the American Basketball Association used from 1967 to 1976?

A) Green, gold and white

B) Orange, black and white

C) Red, white and blue

D) Red, yellow and black

Answer · why

C) Red, white and blue

Red, white and blue looked more patriotic and more crowd-pleasing than the NBA's brown ball, the league's first commissioner argued. The NBA's Three-P...

Q 02/05

Which 2008 Will Ferrell comedy follows the Flint Tropics, a fictional ABA team chasing a place in the NBA?

A) Semi-Pro

B) Step Brothers

C) Old School

D) Anchorman

Answer · why

A) Semi-Pro

Semi-Pro casts Ferrell as Jackie Moon, a one-hit-wonder singer who is the Tropics' owner, head coach and starting power forward at once. Woody Harrels...

Q 03/05

Which NBA great became coach of the ABA's San Diego Conquistadors in 1973 after a lawsuit stopped him playing?

A) Nate Thurmond

B) Elgin Baylor

C) John Havlicek

D) Wilt Chamberlain

Answer · why

D) Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain was paid $600,000 to be player-coach, but his old club, the Lakers, sued to keep him off the court. He once skipped a game to sign co...

Q 04/05

Which rule did the American Basketball Association use from its first season, twelve years before the NBA adopted it?

A) The backcourt violation

B) The three-point shot

C) The 24-second shot clock

D) The six-foul limit

Answer · why

B) The three-point shot

The three-point shot had been tried by the short-lived American Basketball League in 1961, but the ABA made it famous. The NBA finally added the arc i...

Q 05/05

Which crowd-pleasing event did the ABA stage for the first time at halftime of its 1976 All-Star Game in Denver?

A) A slam dunk contest

B) A half-court shootout

C) A celebrity game

D) A skills challenge

Answer · why

A) A slam dunk contest

A slam dunk contest was added to thrill a sellout crowd, and Julius Erving won it by taking off from the free-throw line. First prize was $1,000 and a...