INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The ABA 2000 is scheduled to begin play Dec. 26 with a red, white and blue basketball, with NBA stalwarts George Gervin and Paul Westhead serving as coaches.
"The spirit of the ABA lives on," league co-founder Joe Newman said during a news conference, evoking the American Basketball Association, which played from 1967-76 and first used the red, white and blue ball.
Initially announced in mid-1999, the ABA 2000 will have eight teams and expects to add a ninth shortly in Anaheim.
The league plans to stock its teams with players unable to make NBA rosters, European players and Americans playing overseas. It will have a $900,000 salary cap for its 10-player rosters.
The pay scale and location of franchises will enable the ABA 2000 to attract the "best of the rest," Newman said.
"We're not a minor league," Kansas City Knights coach Kevin Pritchard said. "We're a major league. We're in big cities, not small towns where you have to take puddle jumpers to get there. Players want to play in big cities."
The ABA 2000 will play a 60-game season and have an average ticket price of $20, officials said.
Newman said he expects the ABA 2000's average attendance will be 5,000 fans per game.
"At 5,000, all of our teams will be profitable," said Newman, who expects to announce a television contract soon.
Besides the red, white and blue basketball, the ABA 2000 will also use the original ABA's no-foul out rule. On a sixth or subsequent personal foul, the opposing team will shoot an additional two free throws and retain possession of the ball.
The most drastic rule is the "3D Rule," which gives teams an extra point when making a basket after the opposing team commits a backcourt turnover.
Prominent names involved with the league include Gervin, a Hall of Fame member who will coach the Detroit Dogs; Gene Bartow, the former UCLA coach will be the president and general manager of the Memphis Hound Dawgs; Darryl Dawkins, the former Philadelphia 76ers center who will coach the Tampa Bay ThunderDawgs; and Jamal Wilkes, a former Lakers and UCLA standout, who will be the Stars' vice president of basketball operations.