The ABA and the Origins of Hip-Hop America

This chapter analyzes the larger meanings of the American Basketball Association (ABA). In existence from 1967 to 1976, the ABA offered innovative rules, on-court flair, and increased opportunities for African American players. Taking pride in its reputation as an outsiders’ league, the ABA encouraged a more wide-open and improvisational style of play that came primarily from black players on urban playgrounds. Wearing their hair in large Afros and exploding for powerful slam dunks on the court, black players in the ABA celebrated an African American aesthetic rooted in rhythmic sophistication, personal style, and improvisation. By modeling an early form of hip-hop culture, they also called attention to the plight of African Americans suffering from the legacies of white flight and urban decline.