Soul Power discussion (spoilers)

[EnergizedLib]

I absolutely loved the first episode of Soul Power. It’s on Prime (Bezos, I know, but my girlfriend has it, not me).

That was a fantastic opening episode, very educational, including not just stuff about basketball, but American history and society at the time.

I’ve always known the ABA as the red, white and blue ball league. It wasn’t that long ago I learned that the ABA introduced the 3-point shot, and that they had dunking when the NBA at the time did not. The NBA, as it was portrayed, was a very boring league at one point.

I guess Red Auerbach was portrayed as someone who was part of the old guard, didn’t give much attention and didn’t like the league.

I learned about a false accusation about Connie Hawkins a fixing scandal, thus him winning a championship with the Pittsburgh Pipers and jumping back to the NBA.

What really took me aback and didn’t know of was both the Milwaukee Bucks AND New York Nets wanted Lee Alcindor (Kareem). What a generational fumble by George Mikan to not present the million dollar check to Kareem, which led to him passing up the ABA to join the Bucks. My gosh, can you imagine Kareem, of his stature, staying home in New York to play for the Nets? Basketball history would’ve changed, maybe the Bucks don’t win a championship until 2021.

The episode ends with the start of the Spencer Haywood case, and will watch Episode 2 probably tomorrow, but how it shows the ABA developed the idea of drafting underclassmen.

Unbelievable. The modern NBA, heck modern basketball, isn’t what it is without the ABA.

[EnergizedLib]

1. Episode Two (SPOILERS)

Episode Two picks up with Spencer Haywood, and I think it’s fitting this documentary came out during Black History Month, all the struggles of racism people like Spencer Haywood grew up with and experienced even in the ‘70s, when it came time for a new contract, he got lowballed by JW Ringsby of the former Denver Rockets, who resorted to a racial epithet, so Haywood went to the NBA, challenged the ruling of eligibility and won.

So, not once but twice does the ABA fumble - first with Kareem, then Spencer Haywood. Just think how much sports history changes if not for these fumbles.

Yet, even despite this, the ABA still gets legitimacy through the All Star Game the NBA barely won at the Astrodome in 1971, that the NBA starts poaching ABA talent, that Charlie Scott leaves the Virginia Squires during the playoffs to go to the NBA, and still, they go seven games with the New York Nets, brought on by Dr. J himself, but Rick Barry and Co. still win the Eastern Conference in 1972.

They cover the Pacers dynasty, and their camaraderie, which was awesome to see. I wonder why the talent all stayed together, didn’t jump. I knew Rick Barry had to be ordered back to the Warriors, but find it so interesting they found a loophole in his contract, and thus, he signed long term with the Warriors. It was hard to tell from the view from that ABA Finals game if Barry dropped the pass or if it was a bad pass. Rick Barry is still as animated as ever.

Yet, the poaching of talent, the bidding wars, this drove the salaries up, yet the players for many years were against a merger. I think I forgot at one point Dr. J was part of the Atlanta Hawks, but of course, I think about the Nets just trading him to the Sixers after the merger.

If only the ABA had a deal, if only they had more coverage, national broadcasting, if only they had the exposure the NBA had, though the ABA couldn’t afford things.

Thankfully, it looks like there are full ABA games on YouTube.

I do wonder, what was more significant to its respective sport, the AFL or ABA? You have the AFL beating the NFL twice, the merger, all the AFL teams into the then-new AFC, but as far as I know, football was still football between the NFL and AFL. The ABA redefined and brought in things that basketball uses today that the NBA once did not have.

I’ll have to watch the final two episodes at some point, really good series so far.

[EnergizedLib]

2. Episode Three (SPOILERS)

One thing which really impresses me is about this documentary is how well the footage from that era has been remastered.

Dr. J, of course, was a big part of the ABA, but I’m glad Episode Three did not cover Dr. J alone, because it seems to me the ABA pushed boundaries. It got into the Silna brother owning the Spirits of St. Louis at a young age and bringing in a fresh 22-year-old named Bob Costas and how he almost squandered his broadcasting career with a gaffe, but it slid. That must’ve been incredible that the Spirits of St. Louis actually upset the Nets in the 1975 playoffs.

Another thing about pushing barriers? Women in leadership, as John Y. Brown and the Brown family, who owned KFC, sold the Colonels (the name makes sense, Harland Sanders was made a Kentucky Colonel, hence his nickname, plus the Brown Family owned KFC and the franchise). So, they sold, the rebought the team, John Y. Brown gets into Democratic politics, and above all else, Ellie Brown is tasked with running the team and an all-women board. The pushback, of course, is fierce, yet Ellie had some marketing genius to her, and the Hubie Brown hire capped off a dominant championship season.

I loved what Swin Cash said in that episode, that if you care more about a woman being in charge than success, that she questions business practices. If only the American electorate could learn the same thing.

I knew, obviously, the ABA and NBA merged in ‘76, didn’t know how. So, I was shocked to see the Nuggets and Nets applied for NBA membership, despite the successes the Nets had in the ABA.

I mean, they got into the stuff of how the ABA was beating the NBA quite good in these exhibition games, and got into Bob Ryan admitting he was wrong about Billy Paultz, how he held his own against Dave Cowens. The Whopper gets overlooked.

Really, if we think about it, some of the more underrated players in the sport’s history played in the ABA. Artis Gilmore and Mel Daniels are criminally, historically underrated. I know the first instinct is to say Reggie Miller is the greatest Pacer of all time. In my opinion, Reggie Miller is the greatest NBA/post-merger Pacer, but I honestly think the greatest Pacer is the late Mel Daniels.

Let’s see how the fourth and final episode goes. It looks like they’ll cover the first dunk contest, and of course, the merger.

[EnergizedLib]

3. Episode Four (SPOILERS)

Wow, what a sobering final episode, many poignant emotional moments in there - including the last hoorah of the ABA, the epic comeback the Nets had against the Nuggets in Game 6 in 1976.

It’s really a shame the ABA didn’t have the marketing machine or the TV deals the NBA did. The ABA looked it had a fantastic product, just had a litany of financial problems, hence teams asking to join the NBA and others folding.

As a Bulls fan, I didn’t know my favorite team was the one that killed the Kentucky Colonels just to get Artis Gilmore, to block the Colonels from joining, but the Colonels got their flowers in this documentary, especially the 1975 Championship team. If the NBA ever expands into Kentucky, I hope the Colonels name is brought back, just as I hope the Sonics are brought back to Seattle.

The showing of the 1976-77 NBA season showed how many of the former ABA players excelled after the merger, including the Doc. And the Nets being strapped for cash led to them having to sell Dr. J to Philly.

I loved seeing the footage of the first dunk contest. That’s back when stars competed, whereas the only person in this year’s dunk contest I’d ever even heard of was Jaxson Hayes.

What really hurt and upset me was seeing how many ABA players were out of a job after the merger AND the NBA didn’t give these veterans a pension until nearly 50 years later. That’s criminal, and that Sam Smith photo was heartbreaking. Now, the NBA should incorporate ABA stats, just as MLB has done with the Negro Leagues.

What I took from Soul Power is the ABA was a progressive league, it depicted not just the sport, but society at the time, some of the same challenges society is going through now. It was a forward thinking league - young owners, women in charge, integration and acceptance, with real, true talent and actually beloved teams like the Colonels who had a big fanbase despite being blocked from joining the NBA.

I thought Common did an outstanding job narrating the series, and the fact his dad played in the ABA was a very nice touch.

You can’t tell me the ABA was an inferior league. It had financial troubles and struggles with marketing and TV deals, but the Warriors didn’t want to play the Colonels. Dr. K, Skywalker, McGinnis, Haywood, Mel Daniels, A-Train, Issel, Gervin, Moses, Secretary of Defense - those names alone showed they could play. Moses and Dr. J went on to lead one of the best teams in NBA history in the 1982-83 76ers. And the fact that ABA teams won many exhibition games against NBA teams shows they could play.

I especially loved what Common said that went David went against Goliath won, but for Goliath to beat David, he had to become David.

Praises

- Presentation, narration, remastering of footage were top notch.

- Dr. J was a producer and an all-time great, but while a lot of the series touched on him, it wasn’t all about him.

- It was very informative. It did a fantastic job showing how forward-thinking the ABA was, portraying society at the time, but all the ways the ABA changed the game - 3-pointers, dunking amidst the Lew Alcindor Rule, women in charge, young people in charge, the dunk contest, drafting underclassmen, drafting high schoolers. A lot of these impacted the game for decades that continue today, or while high schoolers can’t be drafted at the moment, LeBron is still playing, and the impact high schoolers went on to make, it shows how forward-thinking the ABA was, and how much it worked and proved people wrong. I had no idea Larry O’Brien’s office was victimized during Watergate.

Criticisms

- The Utah Stars won the ABA Championship in 1971, yet as thorough as this series was, for all it covered in just four episodes, it barely even acknowledged the Stars.

- The documentary did a fantastic job of touching on so many greats - Dr. J, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin, David Thompson, Spencer Haywood, Rick Barry, Moses Malone, Dan Issel, Bobby Jones, yet why did this documentary show so little love to Mel Daniels? The Pacers won three ABA Championships in four years, with Mel Daniels being a two-time ABA MVP, seven-time All-Star, four-time First-Team All-ABA, yet Soul Power didn’t give Mel Daniels nearly enough love. Billy Paultz, though arguably one of the better players not in the Hall of Fame, seemingly got acknowledged more than Mel Daniels did.

- The documentary inferred to Spencer Haywood being the first pro basketball player to win an MVP as a rookie, though Wes Unseld won the NBA MVP his rookie year before Spencer Haywood’s rookie year in the ABA and Wilt Chamberlain also won the MVP his first year in the NBA.

Conclusions

This series did an outstanding job portraying what happened on the court, off the court, the highs and the lows of the ABA, showing how the ABA changed the game and how ahead of its time it was. It evoked a range of emotions, one I would recommend you watch if you have Prime.

I give it an A, 9/10.