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348:. The Pipers would merge with the Kansas City Steers and join the NBA. A schedule was printed for the 1963–64 NBA season with the Pipers playing the New York Knicks in the first game. The gambit worked, but the ABL sued to block the move, and as a result Steinbrenner had a team and no league. Instead of returning to the ABL, Steinbrenner folded his tent. This chicanery masked a series of other ABL moves.
332:, Steinbrenner sold player Grady McCollum to the Chiefs at halftime. McLendon chafed at Steinbrenner's interference and quit in midseason, following the team's return from playing in Hawaii. Steinbrenner immediately named Sharman, from the recently defunct Jets, as his coach, and the Pipers went on to win the only ABL title in the league's brief history.
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Saperstein had been secretly planning the new league since 1959 but it is unclear whether he would have abandoned these plans had he been granted the NBA franchise. In reality, Saperstein and Cohen each secretly made arrangements with local promoters in the other cities to finance those teams so
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The Hawaii Chiefs drew well, but other teams felt the cost of air travel was prohibitive, resulting in scheduling that saw the
Eastern teams playing all of their games in Hawaii within a 5-6 day period and vice versa. After that first season, the Chiefs relocated to
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coach of a major pro basketball team. He was hired by Pipers' general manager, Mike Cleary, later the
Executive Director of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. McLendon had several of his star players from
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by heading to
Oakland. Paul Cohen, who secretly owned the Pittsburgh team as well as officially owning the Tapers, moved the Tapers again from New York, where they had been an NABL powerhouse for years, to
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and the wider foul line (both eventually adopted by the rest of the basketball world) was gone. After the ABL folded, Steinbrenner had $ 125,000 in debts and personal losses of $ 2 million.
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Saperstein and the American Basketball League, 1960-1963: The Upstarts Who Shot for Three and Lost to the NBA
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to a contract worth $ 40,000. With the Lucas signing, Steinbrenner had a secret deal with NBA commissioner
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Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of
Baseball, p.43, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010,
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Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of
Baseball, p.42, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010,
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Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of
Baseball, p.42, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010,
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Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of
Baseball, p.39, Bill Madden, Harper Collins Publishing, New York, 2010,
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to give the team instant credibility. The idea backfired; the Jets did not last the season.
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for shots attempted from longer distance. Other rules that set the league apart from the
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was permitted to move the Lakers to Los
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eventually returned to their NABL roots, where they continue as AAU Elite teams.
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in 1961–62; moved to New York during 1961–62 season; as
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217:of 18 feet instead of the NBA's then-standard 12.
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843:Defunct basketball leagues in the United States
252:(NABL) team owner Paul Cohen (Tuck Tapers) and
385:on December 31. The league that pioneered the
863:1962 disestablishments in the United States
275:to take on the transplanted Lakers. He got
65:"American Basketball League" 1961–1962
116:Learn how and when to remove this message
858:1961 establishments in the United States
295:In Cleveland, Steinbrenner's coach was
279:as coach and signed former NBA players
250:National Alliance of Basketball Leagues
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374:) from Philadelphia to San Francisco.
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838:American Basketball League (1961–62)
54:adding citations to reliable sources
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468:Year | Winner | Result | Runner-up
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363:San Francisco Warriors
359:Long Beach, California
316:, plus several former
271:Saperstein placed the
254:Amateur Athletic Union
203:three-point field goal
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227:Harlem Globetrotters
50:improve this article
19:For other uses, see
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511:Sylvester "Sy" Blye
476:3 games to 2 games
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291:George Steinbrenner
262:George Steinbrenner
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182:Kansas City Steers
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39:This article
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641:Roger Taylor
596:Phil Rollins
586:Walt Mangham
576:Maurice King
571:Roger Kaiser
566:Tony Jackson
556:Bevo Francis
521:Bill Bridges
506:Dick Barnett
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435:(1962–63 as
433:Oakland Oaks
419:(1962–63 as
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368:Philadelphia
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326:Jimmy Darrow
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281:Larry Friend
277:Bill Sharman
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160:No. of teams
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48:Please help
43:verification
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719:Nelson 2013
698:, and the
671:Wayne Yates
661:Win Wilfong
616:Bill Spivey
601:Fred Sawyer
591:Nick Mantis
541:Gene Conley
453:in 1961–62)
439:in 1961–62)
423:in 1961–62)
342:Jerry Lucas
336:Jerry Lucas
178:champion(s)
832:Categories
706:References
656:Ben Warley
636:Dan Swartz
546:Johnny Cox
531:Jeff Cohen
501:Jack Adams
352:Relocation
322:Johnny Cox
320:, such as
314:Ben Warley
138:Basketball
76:newspapers
606:Ken Sears
464:Champions
407:(1961–62)
246:Bob Short
221:Formation
807:(2013).
581:Herb Lee
482:1962–63
472:1961–62
308:such as
678:Rebirth
197:–
168:Country
144:Founded
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152:Ceased
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134:Sport
97:JSTOR
83:books
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732:ISBN
682:The
383:1962
324:and
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195:1961
189:The
176:Last
155:1962
147:1961
69:news
52:by
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