1976 ABA All-Star Game

The 1976 ABA All Star Game was the ninth and final American Basketball Association All-Star Game, played at McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado on January 27, 1976. This time, the league abandoned the usual East vs. West format it used from the 1967-68 season onward and instead had the league's first place team at the All Star break face off against a team of ABA All Stars. At the All Star break the Denver Nuggets were in first place, which was convenient as the Nuggets had also been selected to host the game in McNichols Arena. Kevin Loughery of the New York Nets coached the All-Stars while Larry Brown led the Denver Nuggets. This was the second year in a row that Loughery and Brown coached against each other in the ABA All-Star Game. (The Nuggets went on to finish the regular season in first place at 60-24 (.714), but after beating the Kentucky Colonels 4 games to 3 in the ABA Semifinals the Nuggets lost in the 1976 ABA Finals to the New York Nets, 4 games to 2.)[1]

Pre-game entertainment was provided by Glen Campbell and Charlie Rich.[2]

Halftime of the All Star Game saw the first-ever Slam Dunk Contest, which was won by Julius Erving of the New York Nets (who took off from the free throw line for one of his dunks[3]) over David Thompson of the Denver Nuggets, Artis Gilmore of the Kentucky Colonels, George Gervin of the San Antonio Spurs and Larry Kenon of the Spurs.[4] The NBA later adopted the Slam Dunk Contest as part of its All Star Game starting in 1984 (also hosted by the Denver Nuggets). Denver's 52 fourth quarter points was a record for an ABA All Star Game and capped a ferocious comeback win. David Thompson of the Denver Nuggets was named MVP.[2]

This was the final ABA All Star Game, due to the ABA-NBA merger in June 1976.

Score by Periods:	1	2	3	4	Final
Denver	32	23	37	52	144
All-Stars	31	25	41	41	138

All-Stars

Player, Team	MIN	FGM	FGA	3PM	3PA	FTM	FTA	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PFS	PTS
Brian Taylor, NYA	29	3	9	0	1	0	0	4	8	0	0	3	6
Artis Gilmore, KEN	27	5	7	0	0	4	6	7	1	0	0	6	14
Julius Erving, NYA	25	9	12	0	1	5	7	7	5	0	0	4	23
James Silas, SAA	23	6	10	0	0	8	8	0	5	0	0	6	20
Billy Knight, INA	23	9	14	0	1	2	2	10	2	0	0	3	20
Billy Paultz, SAA	20	4	6	0	0	2	2	2	1	0	0	1	10
Larry Kenon, SAA	20	5	7	0	0	0	0	6	2	0	0	5	10
Ron Boone, SSL	16	5	11	0	0	0	0	3	2	0	0	1	10
George Gervin, SAA	16	3	13	1	2	1	2	6	1	0	0	1	8
Maurice Lucas, KEN	14	2	5	0	0	1	1	5	3	0	0	1	5
Don Buse, INA	14	2	5	1	2	0	0	1	3	0	0	0	5
Marvin Barnes, SSL	13	3	5	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	3	7
Team Totals	240	56	104	2	7	24	29	51	34	0	0	34	138

Denver

Player, Team	MIN	FGM	FGA	3PM	3PA	FTM	FTA	REB	AST	STL	BLK	PFS	PTS
Ralph Simpson, DEN	37	8	15	0	0	3	3	7	5	0	0	0	19
David Thompson, DEN	34	9	18	0	0	11	13	8	2	0	0	4	29
Dan Issel, DEN	31	6	16	0	0	7	9	9	5	0	0	3	19
Bobby Jones, DEN	29	8	12	0	0	8	11	10	3	0	0	2	24
Claude Terry, DEN	25	5	12	1	3	3	5	3	3	0	0	2	14
Chuck Williams, DEN	22	2	6	0	0	3	5	1	4	0	0	2	7
Byron Beck, DEN	20	6	11	0	0	2	2	4	0	0	0	3	14
Gus Gerard, DEN	17	5	14	0	0	2	2	9	1	0	0	5	12
Monte Towe, DEN	11	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2
Roger Brown, DEN	9	2	2	0	0	0	0	3	3	0	0	1	4
James Foster, DEN	5	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Team Totals	240	52	112	1	3	39	50	55	28	0	0	23	144

• Halftime — All-Stars, 56-55
• Third Quarter — All-Stars, 97-92
• Officials: Norm Drucker and Ed Middleton
• Attendance: 17,798.

References

1. Remember the ABA: 1975-76 Regular Season Standings and Playoff Results Archived 2010-11-29 at the Wayback Machine
2. Remember the ABA: American Basketball Association All-Star Games Archived December 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
3. Dr. J dunks
4. The One That Started It All

• The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia. Villard Books. 1994. p. 260. ISBN 0-679-43293-0.
• basketball-reference.com. "1976 ABA All-Star Game". Retrieved 2013-09-11.

External links

• ABA All Star Game at RemembertheABA.com