First-Rate, Second Best

"Second best" is the highest accolade the American Basketball Association has managed to earn in its nine-year struggle to gain equality with the National Basketball Association. Nonetheless, the caliber of performance in the A.B.A. championship play-off series that ended last week between the New York Nets and the Denver Nuggets was as good as anything the N.B.A. has ever produced. Forward Julius ("Dr. J") Erving of the Nets came on like a bionic man; he averaged 38 points a game and led both teams in rebounds, steals, assists and shots blocked. The Nuggets, in the finals for the first time, countered with a harmonious passing attack and aggressive defense to stop the Nets twice before finally losing to the two-time A.B.A. champs in the sixth game.

The 1976 A.B.A. championship series might well have been its last. The problem is money. The competition between the A.B.A. and the N.B.A. for talent has raised the average player's salary into the $100,000 range--far above what gate receipts justify. Because, in part, the A.B.A. operates in smaller cities and has no national TV contract, four of the ten teams have folded in the past seven months. Right now the most realistic hope is a merger with the 18-team N.B.A., which would eliminate inflationary bidding for players. A.B.A. Commissioner Dave DeBusschere has already submitted a memorandum of proposed terms to Larry O'Brien, his N.B.A. counterpart. O'Brien is expected to respond next month.

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