今晚，NBA总决赛拉开帷幕，马刺队首次参赛。他们势不可挡地被认为是最有希望夺冠的球队，对手是一支伤兵满营的第八种子球队。他们在季后赛中取得了十连胜，让对手颜面尽失。
在每年一度的NBA会议上，德罗索斯和其他三位ABA代表身穿最得体的正装，在马萨诸塞州海恩尼斯(Hyannis)一家距离肯尼迪家族住所不远的度假酒店里，连续三天三夜进行着残酷的、复杂的，有时甚至是荒谬的谈判。
用扑克牌的术语来说，德罗索斯和他的ABA伙伴们在虚张声势。会议开始之前，他私下承认对《快报》(Express-News)说：“这是最后的时刻，要么成功，要么失败。如果他们（NBA）拒绝我们，就结束了。ABA联盟无法继续存在。圣安东尼奥的篮球运动将会消亡。”
在头一天晚上经过长时间的会议后，沮丧的德罗索斯坐在酒店房间的床上，看起来像是刚刚在一场高风险的扑克游戏中输掉了所有东西。"这看起来不可能。"这位沮丧、消沉的德罗索斯说。“这不会发生。每个老板都在提出不同的问题。肯定有50,000个问题要解决，如果其中一个出错，整个计划就会失败。”
那是科德角(Cape Cod)狂野而奇特的一周，最终结果——以17比1的投票结果，将马刺队、掘金队、篮网队和步行者队合并到NBA——这就是为什么一支老ABA租来的球队现在正在争夺NBA冠军。
马刺队在挣扎的联盟中度过了三年，球场上和球场外都取得了进步，但ABA联盟本身却日渐衰弱。到1975-76赛季结束时，ABA联盟只剩下七支球队——圣安东尼奥、丹佛、纽约篮网队、肯塔基、印第安纳、圣路易斯和弗吉尼亚。
弗吉尼亚州老板厄尔·福尔曼(Earl Foreman)已经将他最好的球员（包括斯文·奈特(Swen Nater)和乔治·格文(George Gervin)）卖给了马刺队，他再也无力支付工资了。所以他的球队在赛季结束后就被取消了特许经营权。
尽管有摩西斯·马龙(Moses Malone)、马文·巴恩斯(Marvin Barnes)、莫里斯·卢卡斯(Maurice Lucas)等优秀球员——以及一位名叫鲍勃·科斯塔斯(Bob Costas)的年轻体育播音员担任解说——圣路易斯精神队只赢了35场比赛，这差不多和他们的球迷数量一样多。他们无法继续下去。因此，ABA联盟宣布圣路易斯球队将迁往犹他州，如果还有下个赛季的话。
在过去的八年中，这两个竞争联盟一直在断断续续地进行着合并谈判，但总会发生一些事情导致谈判失败。他们实际上在1971年达成了一项协议，但NBA球员协会的诉讼阻止了这些谈判。
德罗索斯、丹佛的卡尔·谢尔(Carl Scheer)、印第安纳的比尔·伊森(Bill Eason)和篮网队的罗伊·博伊(Roy Boe)一致认为，是时候合并了。第五位老板肯塔基州的约翰·Y·布朗(John Y. Brown)却没有那么坚定。他不愿支付巨额费用加入NBA。但他给了其他四个人他的祝福。
此外，如果肯塔基州被排除在合并之外，布朗将获得大约300万美元的买断费。他最终获得了这笔钱，后来与体育播音员菲利斯·乔治(Phyllis George)结婚，并成为了他所在州的州长。
周二早上，他入住海恩尼斯度假村后，打电话给《快报》的记者，让他到自己的房间。"我们即将与NBA咨询委员会会面。我感觉很好。我唯一能告诉你的就是，不会出现资金问题。我们可以筹集到资金。如果失败了，也不会是因为资金问题。"德罗索斯说。他显然对第一次会议感到乐观。
在盛宴结束后，纽约的老板们——尼克斯队的伯克和篮网队的博伊——同意一起喝一杯。几个小时后——谁也不知道他们喝了多少酒——两个人开怀大笑，互相拍着对方的背，就像老朋友一样。
6月16日星期三，德罗索斯在他的房间里与ABA代表团（包括联盟主席戴夫·德布斯切尔(Dave DeBusschere)）举行了一次会议，然后他们与NBA咨询委员会举行了另一次会议。会议几个小时后结束，NBA表示ABA必须获得其球员协会的支持。
问题似乎难以克服。新奥尔良队除非得到摩西斯·马龙，否则会投反对票。湖人队除非得到马克·奥尔伯丁(Mark Olberding)，否则会投反对票。芝加哥队除非得到阿蒂斯·吉尔摩(Artis Gilmore)，否则会投反对票。
每支ABA球队支付了320万美元进入NBA，而且他们被禁止在接下来的四个赛季分享电视转播收入。他们必须偿还犹他州和肯塔基州的球队所有权，并向一些ABA球员支付多年薪水。
"你想象一下，你是波特兰队的老板，圣安东尼奥的市长打电话给你，说：'我想去波特兰，和你谈五分钟。'这可是件很令人印象深刻的事。"德罗索斯说。他透露，考克雷尔已经给所有18支NBA球队打过类似的电话，以宣传圣安东尼奥作为合并候选城市。
点击查看原文：THE GREAT ESCAPE - With tough negotiating and lots of bluffing, Angelo Drossos leads the Spurs from the collapsing ABA to new life in the NBA
THE GREAT ESCAPE - With tough negotiating and lots of bluffing, Angelo Drossos leads the Spurs from the collapsing ABA to new life in the NBA
Almost everyone in this part of Texas is grinning ear-to-ear about the Spurs, but the biggest, happiest smile won’t be seen at the game tonight. It’s on the face of the late Angelo Drossos.
It was the determined drive and pit-bull tenacity of the
long-time Spurs president that makes this day, this series,
possible.
Tonight the NBA Finals begin and, for the first time, the
Spurs are in it. They are overwhelming favorites to win it
all against an injured eighth-seed. They have won 10
straight playoff games and have made good opponents
look bad.
To date, this must be the ultimate - the greatest day in
the Spurs’ NBA history, right?
Wrong, Knicks knockers. This might be the franchise’s
second-greatest moment. But the most important day for
the Spurs was 23 years ago tomorrow - June 17, 1976
- the day the franchise was voted into the NBA.
It is ironic that the Spurs are playing the Knicks for the
title because if it hadn’t been for long-time Knicks
president Michael Burke, the Spurs might have never
been in the NBA.
At the annual NBA meetings, held at a Hyannis, Mass.,
resort not far from the Kennedy Compound, Drossos and
three other ABA representatives wore their best poker
faces in three long days and nights of brutal, complicated
- and sometimes silly - negotiations.
In poker terms, Drossos and his ABA buddies were
bluffing. Before the meetings started, he admitted to the
Express-News in confidence, "This is it, one way or the
other. If they (NBA) turn us down, it’s over. There is no
way the ABA can continue. Basketball in San Antonio will
be dead."
Until the very end - at 9:44 a.m. on June 17, when the
vote of the NBA Board of Governors was announced -
it looked like San Antonio would lose its pro basketball
team.
After a lengthy meeting the night before, a frustrated
Drossos sat on his hotel room bed looking like he’d just
lost everything in a high-stakes poker session. "It looks
impossible," said the dejected, depressed Drossos. "It’s
not going to happen. Every owner is bringing up different
little problems. There must be 50,000 problems to solve
and if just one goes wrong, the whole thing fails."
It was a wild and strange week at Cape Cod and the end
result - a vote of 17-1 to merge the Spurs, Nuggets,
Nets and Pacers into the NBA - is why an old ABA
rent-a-team is now playing for the NBA title.
In 1973, Drossos and a handful of local investors leased
the team for $200,000 from Dallas, where it had played in
a high school gym and often drew 200 or 300 fans to
games.
The Spurs improved each of their three years in the
struggling league, both on the floor and at the gate, but the
ABA itself grew frail and weak. By the end of the
1975-76 season, the ABA was down to just seven teams
- San Antonio, Denver, the New York Nets, Kentucky,
Indiana, St. Louis and Virginia.
San Diego (Nov. 12) and Utah (Dec. 2) had both folded
during the season.
Virginia owner Earl Foreman, who had already sold his
best players - including Swen Nater and George Gervin
to the Spurs - couldn’t afford to pay attention, much less
the payroll. So his franchise was revoked right after the
season.
That left six teams.
Despite such talented players as Moses Malone, Marvin
Barnes, Maurice Lucas and others - and a young
sportscaster by the name of Bob Costas doing
play-by-play - the Spirits of St. Louis won only 35
games, almost one for each of their fans. They couldn’t
continue. So the ABA announced the St. Louis franchise
would move to Utah, if there was to be another season.
The ABA was actually down to five semi-stable
franchises. By early June it was obvious to Drossos and
other ABA owners that an immediate merger was the only
way to survive.
Merger talks had been held between the warring leagues
off and on for eight years, but something always happened
to end them unsuccessfully. They actually came to an
agreement in 1971, but a suit by the NBA Players
Association put a halt to those talks.
By June of '76, the war was 10 years old and there had
been many financial casualties, mostly in the ABA.
Because so many had lost so much already, it was
becoming almost impossible to interest new owners in the
league that was considered inferior to the NBA.
Drossos, Carl Scheer of Denver, Bill Eason of Indiana
and Roy Boe of the Nets agreed that it was time to
merge, period. The fifth one, John Y. Brown of Kentucky,
wasn’t as committed. He was not willing to pay a big price
to join the NBA. But he gave the other four his blessings.
Besides, if Kentucky was left out of the merger, Brown
would stand to collect a buyout of about $3 million. He
ended up getting the money, later married sportscaster
Phyllis George and became governor of his state.
The '76 NBA meetings started on Monday, June 14, but
there was no talk about merger the first day.
"You from San Antonio? What’s an ABA writer doing
covering the NBA meetings?" a New York scribe asked
the Express-News reporter.
“I’m here covering the merger talks,” the E-N reporter
replied.
"Well, get ready to spend a lot of time on the beach or
golf course because there won’t be much talk about a
merger. It’s not even on the agenda," the New York
writer laughed.
Drossos and his ABA buddies were huddled in New
York that night, going over their final offer and strategy
before flying to Hyannis on Tuesday morning.
When he checked into the Hyannis resort that morning, he
called the Express-News reporter to his room. "We’re
about to meet with the NBA advisory board. I feel good
about it. The only thing I can tell you is that there won’t be
a money problem. We can get the money. If it fails, it
won’t be because of money," said Drossos, obviously
upbeat going into the first meeting.
More than four hours later, the meeting adjourned.
Drossos looked exhausted, flustered and peeved.
“Nothing to report,” he whispered as he followed several
NBA owners to a reception. “Nothing good, anyway.”
Later, while everyone was supposed to be enjoying a
festive clambake, Drossos said, "They are asking for
something impossible. They are making impossible
demands. I don’t think it’s going to happen."
Owners would pull their local reporters aside to
confidentially update them on the status of the merger
talks. Later, as writers compared notes, it was
overwhelmingly felt that the merger was near dead.
But as reporters were at their pressroom typewriters
piecing together stories of gloom and doom, two
gentlemen entered the resort’s main bar and started a
drinking/talking session that would prove to be
instrumental in the merger.
After the clambake, the New York owners - Burke of
the Knicks and Boe of the Nets - agreed to have a drink
together. A few hours - and no telling how many drinks
- later, the two were laughing and joking, slapping each
other on the back, like lifelong friends.
Burke was the key NBA owner because he had the
power to kill the merger with a single vote, based on the
NBA’s territorial rights rule. There was no chance for a
merger unless Burke agreed to accept his Long Island
neighbors, the Nets.
Boe offered to pay Burke a sum estimated at $4 million.
It’s not known who paid for the drinks, but Burke
sparked hope by announcing that he would vote for a
merger.
The most important hurdle had been cleared. But there
were countless other problems that had to be addressed.
On Wednesday, June 16, Drossos had a meeting in his
room with the ABA congregation, which included
Commissioner Dave DeBusschere, and then they had
another session with the NBA advisory board. It ended a
few hours later when the NBA said the ABA had to have
the support of its players association.
The ABA Players Association had been threatening a suit
if a merger involved only four teams. Prentiss Yancey, an
Atlanta lawyer who represented the ABA players, was
summoned to Hyannis on Wednesday night.
By late that night, Yancey was convinced that the
contracts of all ABA players would be honored, even if
they didn’t find jobs in the NBA.
Meetings continued throughout the night, ending after 5
a.m. on Thursday, June 17.
“I went to bed with a heavy heart,” Drossos later
admitted. “I was pessimistic. I thought it was over.”
The problems seemed insurmountable. New Orleans
would vote no unless it got Moses Malone. The Lakers
would vote no unless they got Mark Olberding. Chicago
would vote no unless it got Artis Gilmore.
Who was going to pay to buy out Kentucky and Utah?
The Virginia Squires were threatening to sue if they
weren’t given a buyout.
An hour after he went to bed - he slept six hours in the
last four days - Drossos got a call. "The NBA wants to
meet with us again," he said.
The meeting ended at 8:30 a.m. and the NBA Board of
Govenors went into executive session to vote. They
adjourned at 9:25 and called a press conference.
At 9:43, Drossos nudged the Express-News writer,
winked and said, “You’re not going to believe this.” He
was trembling.
At 9:44, it was announced that the Spurs, Nets, Pacers
and Nuggets had been accepted into the NBA.
Each ABA team paid $3.2 million to enter the NBA and
they were not allowed to share in TV revenue for four
seasons. They had to pay off the Utah and Kentucky
ownerships and pay some ABA players for several years.
Oh, they agreed to drop a $300 million lawsuit against
their new partners.
After flying to New York for a press conference, Drossos
arrived back in San Antonio on Friday and was greeted
by Mayor Lila Cockrell and a large gathering at the
airport.
He thanked the fans, his fellow investors and the mayor.
"You figure you’re the owner in Portland and the mayor of
San Antonio calls you on the phone and says, 'I’d like to
come to Portland and talk to you for five minutes.’ That’s
pretty impressive," said Drossos, who revealed that
Cockrell had made similar calls to all 18 NBA teams in an
effort to promote San Antonio as a merger candidate.
He announced that the Spurs would not increase ticket
prices for their first season in the NBA - prices would
remain at $3, $5 and $7.
Drossos ended by telling the crowd, "I think we now have
basketball for San Antonio forever. I’m looking forward
to sitting back like every other fan and watching us win the
world championship."
Enjoy it, Angelo.