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359:. 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.
343:, 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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The radical changes, combined with uneven attendance (although some teams, such as the
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was permitted to move the Lakers to Los
Angeles, Saperstein reacted by convincing
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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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228:of 18 feet instead of the NBA's then-standard 12.
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854:Defunct basketball leagues in the United States
263:(NABL) team owner Paul Cohen (Tuck Tapers) and
396:on December 31. The league that pioneered the
874:1962 disestablishments in the United States
286:to take on the transplanted Lakers. He got
76:"American Basketball League" 1961–1962
127:Learn how and when to remove this message
869:1961 establishments in the United States
306:In Cleveland, Steinbrenner's coach was
290:as coach and signed former NBA players
261:National Alliance of Basketball Leagues
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864:Sports leagues disestablished in 1962
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65:adding citations to reliable sources
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18:American Basketball League (1961–63)
479:Year | Winner | Result | Runner-up
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222:30-second shooting clock
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374:San Francisco Warriors
370:Long Beach, California
327:, plus several former
282:Saperstein placed the
265:Amateur Athletic Union
214:three-point field goal
448:San Francisco Saints
238:Harlem Globetrotters
61:improve this article
30:For other uses, see
695:Philadelphia Tapers
522:Sylvester "Sy" Blye
487:3 games to 2 games
454:Philadelphia Tapers
302:George Steinbrenner
273:George Steinbrenner
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699:Kansas City Steers
497:declared champions
495:Kansas City Steers
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193:Kansas City Steers
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485:Cleveland Pipers
438:Los Angeles Jets
416:Cleveland Pipers
398:three-point shot
383:Wilt Chamberlain
357:Maurice Podoloff
312:African-American
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50:This article
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652:Roger Taylor
607:Phil Rollins
597:Walt Mangham
587:Maurice King
582:Roger Kaiser
577:Tony Jackson
567:Bevo Francis
532:Bill Bridges
517:Dick Barnett
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446:(1962–63 as
444:Oakland Oaks
430:(1962–63 as
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379:Philadelphia
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337:Jimmy Darrow
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292:Larry Friend
288:Bill Sharman
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171:No. of teams
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59:Please help
54:verification
51:
730:Nelson 2013
709:, and the
682:Wayne Yates
672:Win Wilfong
627:Bill Spivey
612:Fred Sawyer
602:Nick Mantis
552:Gene Conley
464:in 1961–62)
450:in 1961–62)
434:in 1961–62)
353:Jerry Lucas
347:Jerry Lucas
189:champion(s)
843:Categories
717:References
667:Ben Warley
647:Dan Swartz
557:Johnny Cox
542:Jeff Cohen
512:Jack Adams
363:Relocation
333:Johnny Cox
331:, such as
325:Ben Warley
149:Basketball
87:newspapers
617:Ken Sears
475:Champions
418:(1961–62)
257:Bob Short
232:Formation
818:(2013).
592:Herb Lee
493:1962–63
483:1961–62
319:such as
689:Rebirth
208:–
179:Country
155:Founded
101:scholar
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271:owner
255:owner
240:owner
163:Ceased
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404:Teams
251:When
145:Sport
108:JSTOR
94:books
826:ISBN
791:ISBN
775:ISBN
759:ISBN
743:ISBN
693:The
394:1962
335:and
323:and
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210:1962
206:1961
200:The
187:Last
166:1962
158:1961
80:news
63:by
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