AMERICAN BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

(ABA) former professional basketball league formed in the United States in 1967 to rival the older National Basketball Association (NBA). George Mikan, a former star player in the NBA, was the ABA's first commissioner. The ABA fielded 11 teams in its first season. At a proposed merger between the ABA and the NBA, a class action was instituted by ABA players alleging violations of the antitrust laws. The settlement in 1976 resulted in the dissolution of the ABA, with four ABA teams absorbed into the NBA, a dispersal draft of certain ABA players by NBA teams, and the remaining players granted permission to act as free agents.