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If anything summarizes the success and meaning of the 50th ABA Reunion, that should do it.

You probably haven't heard of Davis. Why would you? Davis played in eight games for the Texas Chaparrals during the 1970-71 season, scoring 18 points before history tossed him into the dust bin, a forgettable career ended.

As far as Davis and all the people who attended the reunion were concerned however, he might as well have been Julius Erving. Time is the greatest equalizer, and with each passing year health and memory become greater assets than vertical jumps and shooting touches. Nobody compares stats or won-loss records at reunions.

The Willie Davises of the ABA mixed freely with the Julius Ervings during the reunion activities sponsored by the Dropping Dimes Foundation over the weekend. There was a private event for former players and their families at the Emmis Communications headquarters on the Circle, an autograph and memorabilia show at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon, and a banquet at Bankers Life Fieldhouse that evening.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: Track the Pacers' Playoff Push »

The afternoon session drew an estimated 2,000 fans and the banquet about 800. It was an occasion for fans to put their money where their hearts were, and many did, coming from all corners of the country. Players did, too. One, Stew Johnson, flew in from Sweden.

Figures haven't been tallied but a substantial amount of money should be left for the Foundation, which helps former ABA players with financial needs.

"It's going to be an outstanding fund-raising success, there's no doubt about that," said Scott Tarter, one of the event's organizers. "It will be our greatest fund-raising success to date by far."

One of the beneficiaries of the event's success was a student from Pershing High School in Detroit, who was presented $2,000 as the first winner of the Mel Daniels Scholarship for achievement in athletics, academics and citizenship. Daniels is an alum of that school, as is another former ABA star, Spencer Haywood.

Bob Costas lent star power as the emcee for the banquet, but also served as an example of the humble nature of the ABA. He recorded a lengthy interview with Charlie Clifford of WISH-TV beforehand, but then asked to do it over again because he thought he could express himself better. Clifford obliged him.

Costas also had an unintended humbling moment while introducing a video greeting from Pacers center Myles Turner, a member of the Dropping Dimes board of directors. Costas mistakenly referred to Turner as a member of the "Patriots," before quickly catching himself.

"Of all the verbal slips to make and all the places to make it!" he said. "Now I'm the one who feels deflated."

The banquet's focal point was the Costas-led panel discussion with Naismith Hall of Famers George McGinnis, Haywood, Doug Moe, Erving, Rick Barry, George Gervin and Dan Issel, all of whom began their careers in the ABA.

Costas pointed out the mythical quality of the ABA, particularly the early seasons when games were rarely televised. Most of the film of those games has been lost or discarded, leaving minimal evidence of the quality of play. That creates the opportunity for embellishment, but also adds to the dramatic effect. Some ABA players and moments, Costas said, are like the careers of Babe Ruth or Satchel Paige – more written about than seen, and somewhat mysterious.

Memories flowed freely during the conversation. Erving, easily the star attraction of the evening based on the requests for autographs and photos, recalled the sparsely attended home games during his rookie season with the Virginia Squires in 1971-72.

"We didn't play for the approval of the crowd," said Erving, who joined the NBA after two seasons at the University of Massachusetts. "As far as I was concerned, I was playing for the good of the team, trying to get the win. (I thought) we don't have 18,000 people here, but those 800 are going to get a good show."

The Squires divided their home games between four cities that season: Norfolk, Hampton, Richmond and Roanoke. Half of the games were played in Norfolk, Another 15 or so in Richmond, and the rest in Hampton and Roanoke. The team was based in Norfolk and could drive to the games in Hampton and Richmond, but had to fly to its home games in Roanoke on the puddle-jumping airplanes of Piedmont Airlines. Even worse, no direct flights were available, so it had to make connections in other cities to get there.

"The other team had a hard time getting there, too," Erving said. "But that brought about the solidarity. One for all, all for one. We weren't ego-tripping. We just got on the plane and did it."

McGinnis, who was the co-MVP of the ABA with Erving in 1975, recalled more enjoyable flights while playing for the Pacers, featuring card games with coach Bobby "Slick" Leonard.

"He made us play and took our money then he gave it back to us, so we could eat on the road," McGinnis said.

Issel, a member of the Kentucky Colonels, is an example of the flexible nature that enabled the ABA to compete more seriously with the NBA by bending rules when necessary. Issel recalled being drafted by the Dallas Chaparrals out of the University of Kentucky in 1970, but telling the Chaps officer who called him to inform him of the pick that Kentucky was the only ABA franchise he would consider joining.

One week later, his rights mysteriously transferred to the Colonels, who lost to the Pacers in the ABA finals in 1973 but defeated the Pacers for the championship in 1975.

Issel completed his career in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets. His head coach for awhile was Larry Brown, whose lead assistant was Doug Moe – both of whom had starred in the ABA. Teams were just beginning to scout upcoming opponents at the time, so Brown sent Moe to scout Utah.

"Larry was really excited because we had never had a scouting report before," Issel recalled. "He called Doug up and said, 'OK Doug, it's time for the scouting report.' And (Doug) said, 'If you can't beat these stiffs, you ought to give up basketball.'"

Barry was one of the ABA's early pillars, jumping to the new league after leading the NBA in scoring (35.6) in the 1976-77 season. Barry had to sit out a season under a court order but was the ABA's leading attraction for its first few seasons. The Pacers, however, defeated his New York Nets team for the championship in 1972.

"The Indiana Pacers were to the ABA what the Yankees were for baseball or the Celtics were to the NBA," Barry said. "Without the support and greatness of basketball in this particular state I don't know how successful the ABA would have been, or if the merger would have taken place.

There was trash talk, too, most notably from Gervin, who began his career with Erving in Virginia then went on to play for the San Antonio Spurs in both the ABA and NBA.

"You guys I got 30 on, I ain't sorry; I loved it," Gervin said. "But it's good to see you all again. And I still think I can get 30 on you."

Some moments were appropriate for the chaotic, seat-of-the-pants nature of the ABA.

Tarter was supposed to pick up Costas at the hotel at 3:45 and take him to the fieldhouse for a rehearsal of the banquet activities. He had to stay late at the Hinkle event, though, and was sitting at home, exhausted and eating a ham sandwich, when Costas called asking where he was.

Tarter, sweaty and disheveled, threw on a suit and picked up Costas 30 minutes late.

During the banquet, Tarter had to perform a Heimlich maneuver on a woman who was choking on her dinner. He gave three compressions while 911 was being called. The fourth brought out a wad of food, a few minutes before EMT personnel showed up.

And then there was the case of the stolen rings. For awhile on Saturday, it appeared 12 of the rings that were given to all the former ABA players, coaches and integral personnel had been stolen. The ring that was formally presented to Costas at the banquet actually belonged to former Pacers trainer David Craig. During the event, however, one of the organizers, Al Hunter, called and said some of the rings had fallen out of their boxes and had been found on the floor of his car.

What was stolen was a case of red, white and blue ABA balls. The organizers had ordered 500 from China but four cases were stolen in the Los Angeles airport. A federal investigation is underway to locate the thieves.

"We ran this thing like the ABA, that's all I can say," Tarter said.

More than 100 players attended, but a few had to cancel. One was Steve Chubin, a former Pacer who developed an infection after receiving a shot and was being treated with antibiotics. He had to stay in Denver, but Tarter will deliver a ball, ring and program to him in a couple of weeks.

The highlight for most of those in attendance was the opportunity to mingle and renew acquaintances. Barry talked of seeing former Oakland Oaks teammate Henry Logan for the first time in 50 years. Erving talked of getting to see Virginia teammate Roland "Fatty" Taylor. And, many lesser-known players saw other lesser-known players who were friends and meaningful to their careers.

"Oh, man," Jerry Harkness said after the group photo had been taken in the fieldhouse pavilion following the banquet. "Just to meet all these guys you hadn't seen in years … the camaraderie is just fantastic. I can't say enough."

Harkness, a member of the first two Pacers teams, was thrilled to run into Mel Nowell, who played only in the ABA's first season. They had played against one another in college, Harkness for Loyola of Chicago and Nowell for Ohio State, and still recognized one another.

"You're Mel Nowell!" Harkness declared at the private gathering on Friday.

"Yes! And you're Jerry Harkness!" Nowell said.

As Harkness recalled that moment following the banquet, Davis stopped by to say goodbye before heading out the fieldhouse doors.

"I got the light on, man," he said. "And I'm not turning it off until you show up."

Have a question for Mark? Want it to be on Pacers.com? Email him at askmontieth@gmail.com and you could be featured in his next mailbag.

Mark Montieth's book, "Reborn: The Pacers and the Return of Pro Basketball to Indianapolis," covers the formation and early seasons of the franchise. It is available at retail outlets throughout Indiana and online at sources such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Indiana Pacers. All opinions expressed by Mark Montieth are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Indiana Pacers, their partners, or sponsors.

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ABA Relationships, Memories Renewed in Indy

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Bob Costas is a sports broadcasting legend, having done just about everything there is to do behind a microphone, and at the highest levels. He's never enjoyed a job more, however, than his first one out of college as the play-by-play voice of the American Basketball Association's Spirits of St. Louis in the mid-1970s.

"Everything's a new experience," he recalled. "You don't care how much money you're making and you're having the time of your life."

That's why Costas is coming to Indianapolis this weekend to emcee the banquet for the ABA 50th Reunion at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on April 7. He'll accept no payment for his services, contributing to the labor-of-love motif of the weekend. He'll also perfectly represent the spirit of the ABA. Not the Spirits, the spirit. Because most of the participants would agree, they didn't make much money — by today's standards — but they had the time of their lives.

The weekend's events include a private reception for the players on Friday, a sports card and memorabilia show at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday from 9-3 p.m., and then a banquet at The Fieldhouse on Saturday evening. Costas will interview some of them in a roundtable discussion and relive memories of the ABA, which lasted nine years beginning with the 1967-68 season.

"Costas is stoked," Dr. John Abrams, a member of the reunion's executive committee said.

"(The event organizer) wanted us to have Bob up there for 20 minutes with the players. Costas says, 'I want an hour. Maybe an hour and a half.' I guarantee you, it will be the most entertaining thing of the evening."

For the fans, anyway. For the former players, simply renewing acquaintances figures to be the highlight. More than 100 have RSVP'd, including Naismith Hall of Famers Rick Barry, Louie Dampier, George Gervin, Artis Gilmore, Julius Erving, Dan Issel, and George McGinnis. Several former Pacers also will attend, including Don Buse, Wayne Chapman, Steve Chubin, Oliver Darden, John Fairchild, Mike Flynn, Donnie Freeman, Steve Green, Jerry Harkness, Earle Higgins, Darnell Hillman, Billy Keller, Billy Knight, Ron Kozlicki, Freddie Lewis, Bob Netolicky, Bill Newton, Wayne Pack, Ron Perry, Mike Price, Dave Robisch, and Tom Thacker,

Former Pacers coaches Slick Leonard and Larry Brown also are expected to be on hand, as will former trainer David Craig.

Another former Pacers star, Mel Daniels, left a lasting imprint on the reunion before he passed away in 2015. A group in Louisville had begun talking of organizing a reunion about five years ago. Tarter met them through his work with Dropping Dimes and was asked if the organization wanted to work with them. Tarter took the idea to Daniels, the starting center on the Pacers' three ABA championship teams and was quickly rebuffed.

"If there's going to be a reunion, it's going to be in Indianapolis," Daniels responded.

"Mel is the reason everything shifted over to Indianapolis," Tarter says.

Pictured: Before he passed away, late Pacers legend and Hall of Famer Mel Daniels made sure that the upcoming ABA reunion would take place in Indianapolis. (Credit: Pacers Sports & Entertainment)

The reunion is a labor of love for Costas and the reunion organizers. Costas isn't taking a speaking fee. The executive committee members have donated countless hours of their time, and in some cases, money.

The reunion committee's executive director is Donn Detzler, a retired consultant and longtime Pacers fan who has memories of attending "a zillion" games at the Fairgrounds Coliseum. Abrams, whose father was the Pacers' first ophthalmologist, was a ballboy as a child. Local attorney Scott Tarter also was a rabid fan who once waited in line for an hour at Washington Square Mall to get an autograph from Darnell Hillman. Film maker Ted Green is not an Indianapolis native, but produced documentaries on Leonard and former Pacers star Roger Brown.

They have been assisted by local event organizer Maribeth Smith.

The reunion has been a full-time job for Detzler the past few weeks, as he deals with most of the details.

"The fun thing is talking to the players," Detzler said. "Every day a few call and want to know something. I'm still like a kid in the candy store when these guys call. These guys are all so humble and just good guys. They're willing to talk about their background and happy about what they did and they're excited about this event. It's a feel-good sort of thing."

Profits from the event will go to the Dropping Dimes Foundation, an Indianapolis charity formed to aid former ABA players. The reunion organizers, however, emphasize their primary motive is to put on a reunion, not a fundraiser. An "ask" for donations will be made and a few items will be auctioned off, but the fundamental goal is to bring the former ABA players and others associated with the league together to renew acquaintances.

Probably for the last time, in fact. Many of the former ABA players are in their seventies now, and their numbers are dwindling at a quickening pace. Costas ran off a list of several ABA stars who have passed away in the past few years.

"It's inevitable, but it still hits you hard," he said.

Besides, 50 is a common anniversary number for reunions. What could possibly come next?

"You're not going to do a 53rd reunion," Costas said.

Pictured: Members of the ABA Pacers teams from the 1960s are honored during halftime on the 1960s Decade Game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Nov. 12, 2016. (Credit: Frank McGrath)

Most of the income from the event will come from the sale of tables to corporations, at $2,500 or $5,000. The NBA purchased a table and will have representatives on hand. The league also has made video footage and still photos available to the organizers. The Pacers have purchased three tables.

Some former ABA team owners also have sought to contribute. Dan Silna, one of the owners of the St. Louis franchise, volunteered to pay for the cost of the rings that will be given to each former player. Red McCombs, who once owned the San Antonio Spurs, cannot attend but donated $10,000.

"He's not asking for anything in return," Tarter says. "He just wanted to be a part of it."

Individual tickets for the banquet, priced at $350, are no longer on sale, although some could become available if there are cancellations. Information regarding tickets can be found at https://droppingdimes.org/aba_50th/.  Registration for the banquet will begin at 6:30 p.m. About 65 tables have been sold.

The players also will be available at a sports card and memorabilia show at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is $10, with children 14 and under admitted for free. The directors for that event are Al Hunter and Netolicky.

A ring presentation will begin at 11 a.m. The presenters include Major Joe Hogsett, Senator Joe Donnelly, Congresswoman Susan Brooks and other dignitaries.

An autograph signing will begin at 12:30. An application has been submitted to Guinness World Records for it to be recognized as the largest-ever mass autograph signing, and a representative will be on hand to verify.

Visitors must purchase a pennant for $149.75 or a basketball for $229.75 to obtain player autographs, with all proceeds beyond expenses going to Dropping Dimes.

The foundation has helped several former ABA players since its formation a few years ago.

One had his house ransacked while he was staying with his wife in the hospital. The vandals turned on all the water faucets, destroying much of the home. A contractor was found to rebuild the house and put them in a hotel while the work was completed.

Another player needed cremation expenses for his daughter, who died unexpectedly.

Another had serious dental problems that was not covered by Medicaid, and received donated orthotics, services and travel expenses for three flights to Indianapolis.

Others have received donations of food and clothing.

While the charity is not the reason for the reunion, organizers hope proceeds from the weekend activities will help address various needs.

"It's a group of ABA fans trying to pull off the coolest post-ABA event in history," Tarter says.

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Costas Joining Former Players for ABA Reunion

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1970s Decade Game Honorees

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1960s Decade Game Honorees

Surely no other state has someone as thoroughly representative of its basketball history as Indiana does with Bobby "Slick" Leonard.

From high school star to college All-American who hit the game-winning free throw for a national championship team to hell-raising coach of three professional championship teams to general manager to legendary broadcast analyst and cheerleader (Boom Baby!) to goodwill ambassador, Leonard has run the gamut of all a man can do in the game for one state.

OK, he didn't sell popcorn. But he would have if someone had given him the chance as a kid. He settled for selling ice cream out of a cart in the streets of his native Terre Haute during the Depression.

No job has ever been too humble for Leonard, who will be honored Wednesday when the Pacers tipoff their 50th season against Dallas at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. He's just about done it all in basketball, and done it memorably. The problem in writing about him isn't knowing where to begin, but where to end.

The starting point, though, as it pertains to the Pacers, is 1967. Leonard was living up the road in Kokomo minding his own business, which happened to be as a sales rep for Herff-Jones. He sold class rings, mostly, but also graduation supplies in his northern Indiana territory. He assumed his coaching career was over after being let go by the Baltimore Bullets, who simply weren't good enough to win yet, and had settled comfortably with his wife, Nancy, and four children (with one more still to come) into a mainstream existence.

Then someone got the crazy idea to start a new basketball league, and some other people got the crazy idea of having a franchise in Indianapolis and before you knew it, there was a team called the Pacers trying to make a go of it from scratch. Leonard and another Terre Haute native, Clyde Lovellette, ran the first open tryout at the Fairgrounds Coliseum in June of '67, but that was intended to be a one-shot deal. He never strayed far from the franchise, attending games that first season and acting as a part-time scout and adviser, but wasn't about to give up a steady job to coach the team.

Not until the second season, anyway. A 1-7 start led to a coaching change, and Leonard had seen enough of the talent on the roster to be willing to take the plunge. He and Nancy had just bought furniture for their new home in Kokomo, and once he realized he could keep his sales job and coach the team, he jumped on it. He didn't think the crazy league with the red, white and blue ball and the 3-point shot would survive, but he'd at least be able to pay off his furniture.

LEONARD'S LEGACY: 10 Things That Make Him Slick »

You know what happened next. ABA championships in 1970, '72 and '73, and 529 victories over 12 seasons – enough to get him into the Naismith Hall of Fame, eventually. But that doesn't begin to capture his influence on and for the franchise for generations of fans who only know him for his work on the radio for the past 30-plus years. He hasn't traveled with the team since he suffered a heart attack on the team bus after a game in New York in 2011, but he's still interwoven with the franchise. He works all the home games next to play-by-play voice Mark Boyle. Before the game and during halftime, you can find him in the concourse behind his broadcasting perch, mingling with anyone who stops by to say hello. He's never met a stranger, and never lost his common touch.

That's not surprising to anyone who knows Leonard, because his greatest talent is for relationships. Never one to hide from the public, he had a listed phone number throughout his coaching career with the Pacers. He and Nancy wanted to be found by friends who might be passing through town and by then had five kids who might have friends trying to reach them. That was a large part of his coaching success, too. He knew Xs and Os, but more importantly he knew how to build camaraderie. They hosted parties at their home for all team employees, including the stat crew members, and he required his players to meet in the hotel bar after road games. They didn't have to drink alcohol, and they were free to meet friends later, but they had to spend some time together to celebrate the win or mourn the loss.

50th Season Celebration: Head to Pacers.com/50 to Learn More »

By now, with 84 years gone on the game clock, he's a focal point for an entire state of basketball fans. Nobody else in the state's glorious hardwood history has touched more people via the combination of playing, coaching and broadcasting within the borders, and nobody likely ever will.

It's fashionable to say basketball is like a religion in Indiana. If true, nobody has practiced it and preached it like Leonard. He graduated from high school in Terre Haute in 1950. He played three varsity seasons at IU. He moved back to the state after an NBA playing and coaching career in 1964, and began his association with the Pacers in '67. Except for a couple of years in the early Eighties, between his coaching and broadcasting gigs, he's been drawing a paycheck from them ever since.

More than anything, he's a goodwill ambassador – for basketball, for the Pacers and for Indiana.

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Leonard's Impact on Indiana Basketball is Immeasurable

On May 12, 1973, the Pacers beat the Kentucky Colonels 88-81 in Game 7 of the ABA Championship. The win gave Indiana its third and final ABA title, the most in league in history.

In the win, George McGinnis led the way, hanging 27 points on Kentucky while grabbing seven rebounds. Darnell Hillman crashed the glass as well, adding 13 rebounds and seven points.

At halftime, the Pacers led by just one, but came out firing in the third quarter, outscoring the Colonels 24-11 in the offensive blitz. But the fourth quarter became fraught, as Kentucky chipped away at the lead.

Although getting outscored by seven in the fourth quarter, Indiana managed to hang on, topping the Colonels 88-81, and celebrating the rare Game 7 win on the road to capture "I-65 Series."

This year, the Pacers lost a critical member of their ABA dynasty when Mel Daniels, a two-time ABA MVP passed away. Learn more about Daniels' life on and off the court at Pacers.com/mel.

Little did the Pacers know at the time that in three years, they would be part of the merger to join the NBA, where it would take until the year 2000 to reach the Finals again (the Pacers were in the ABA Finals in 1975, however).

Indiana is still searching for its first elusive NBA Championship, but today we pay homage to the group that helped instill the winning tradition of Indiana basketball.

Below is the final box score from the game courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com:

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On This Day In Pacers History: Indiana Wins Its Third ABA Championship

The Moses Malone the outside world saw was polar opposite from the one his teammates and opponents knew. That's why there were so much collective heartbreak over the death of the 60-year-old Naismith Hall of Famer.

Malone, who died in his sleep on Sunday, had one of the most unique professional basketball careers in history. He played 21 seasons in two leagues, from the age of 19 to 39, for nine teams over 10 stops, and wore eight jersey numbers.  He was voted the NBA's Most Valuable Player three times, the Finals MVP once when he led Philadelphia to a championship, was first-team all-NBA four times and second-team all-NBA four times.

Two former Pacers, George McGinnis and Freddie Lewis, have different recollections, however.

"He was a very joyful guy who liked to have fun," said Freddie Lewis, a teammate of Malone's for a half-season with the immortal Spirits of St. Louis.

"I loved him as a player, loved him as a person," said George McGinnis, who played against Malone for one season in the ABA and several more in the NBA.

Malone began his professional career as a 6-11 teenager with the ABA's Utah Stars, the first player drafted directly out of high school by a professional team. He started a trend. Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby were drafted by NBA teams the following year, and the practice continued in fits and starts until 2005, when current Pacers Monta Ellis and C.J. Miles were part of the last high school class to have that opportunity.

Nobody took better advantage of it than Malone, who was ready to battle the pros from the moment he took off his cap and gown at Petersburg (Va.) High School. He averaged 18.8 points and 9.1 rebounds as a rookie, played in the All-Star game, and gave ample warning of what was to come. The Pacers, for one, didn't need to be told twice.

Malone's first game against the Pacers came on Nov. 13, 1974. He scored 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting and grabbed 17 rebounds in a Utah victory. His first of many games in Indianapolis came on Dec. 4, when he finished with 27 points on 12-of-19 shooting and 10 rebounds. The Pacers won that one only because George McGinnis had 37 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists (and nine turnovers). In 10 games against the Pacers that season, Malone averaged 20.2 points and 14.5 rebounds, and had one game of 28 points and 29 rebounds.

McGinnis was regarded as a man-child when he entered the ABA after his sophomore year of college, but he considers himself a late-bloomer in comparison to the ready-made Malone. Not even in the same category.

"I wish I would have been," McGinnis said on Monday. "Damn, are you kidding me?

"He was a beast. I had never seen anyone like that come out of high school. He had a nose for the basketball like I'd never seen before, especially at the offensive end. He was incredible. Relentless."

McGinnis had his best season as a pro during Malone's rookie year with the Stars, averaging 29.8 points, 14.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists to share league MVP honors with Julius Erving. He was five years older than Malone that season, so he's more impressed with the teenager's stats that season than his own.

"Those are sick numbers; come on, man," McGinnis said. "Nobody else was doing that.

"He was better than I was coming out of high school. He was incredible, to come into the pro league and put up the kind of numbers he put up. He had no fear of anybody or anything. There was a relentlessness that I had never seen."

Malone, who grew up an only child to a single mother who had dropped out of school after fifth grade, did not communicate well with the media or public. He's famous for his "Fo, fo, fo," declaration in the playoffs, when he predicted the 76ers would sweep each round. (They fell one game short of doing that.)

He showed a different side to those who knew him, however, during games and away from the court.

"He liked to mess with me all the time," McGinnis said. "If he'd block my shot, he'd say, 'Hey McGinnis, don't come in here with that weak stuff.' He'd make you laugh. Every time I'd see him he'd start joking about something."

Lewis hooked up with Malone in St. Louis, in the 1975-76 season, the ABA's last. Malone had injured his foot in training camp with the Stars that year. The Stars folded before he could return, and he had a choice of signing with St. Louis or Atlanta in the NBA, which had conducted a special draft to determine which team got his rights. He chose St. Louis. His first game with the Spirits came on Jan. 23 against the Pacers. He finished with 32 points and 25 rebounds.

The two teams played again the next night back in Indianapolis, where Malone finished with 21 points and 19 rebounds. He played two more ABA games against the Pacers, one in which he played just six minutes off the bench and another in which he scored 27 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.

Lewis, who had been the captain of all three Pacers' ABA championship teams, became close friends with him during that time, and never lost touch. They were together in St. Louis a few months ago at a Spirits reunion, and had talked since then on the telephone.

"When he came to the team in St. Louis, Rod Thorn was coaching the team, and Rod put (Moses) and I on the bench, and he and I would sit on the bench and say, 'What's wrong with this situation?'" Lewis said. "We couldn't understand it and laughed and joked about it a lot. When we got in the game we tore 'em up. He was 20 years old and hungry. To be sitting on the bench, he couldn't understand it. And neither could I."

Malone was best known for his rebounding, particularly on the offensive end. Lewis said that work ethic carried over to practice.

"He had crazy work habits," Lewis said. "Unbelievable, for a young guy. He worked hard every day. He laid it all on the line. It didn't have to be a game. He wanted to be the best at his position.

"He didn't know the game that well. As far as strategy, he was young, right out of high school, so to play with these guys at the professional level he had to learn. All he knew was get the ball, put it back in the basket. That's what he worked on hard, every game."

Malone had been living a happy life in his later years, far removed from his difficult childhood. There had been no hint of health problems, which made the sudden end such a jolting experience for those who knew him. His story ultimately was similar to that of Dawkins, who followed Malone into professional basketball by a year, and preceded him in death by 17 days.

"He'd taken care of his money, had gotten into golf...was just really living the life that he could only dream about as a kid," McGinnis said. "Then something like this happened. It seems like it's happening way too often."

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Malone was Unknown to Fans, Beloved by Players

Sometimes things work out in the long run, no matter how agonizing those shorter runs can be. Sometimes you think you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, only to find out those times and places might have protected you from veering off course.

Larry Humes knows this now, but he's challenged to remember it every time he sees the collage of head shots of the members of the inaugural Pacers team, which began play in October of 1967. He walks past it on his way to his usher's station at the top of the steps leading to Sections 17 and 18 in the lower bowl at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, and when he glances at it he feels a twinge of …. of what? Anger? Frustration? Betrayal? Regret? Maybe all of the above. He very nearly made that team, he expected to make that team, and other people believe he should have made that team. He could just as easily be in that photo as not, and he could just as easily be an ex-Pacers player as an usher who directs fans toward their seats to watch the current Pacers play.

The years have worn away the rough edges and brought perspective to Humes, because too many good things have happened in his life to be brought down by a couple of blows to his pride and desired profession. When you were Indiana's Mr. Basketball, a college All-American and member of two national championship teams, a longtime teacher and coach, and a successful husband and father, it's easy to forget the disappointments.

“It works out for the best in the long run,” Humes says. “You can't let anything keep you down.”

Humes' long run began in Madison, perched over the Ohio River, where he grew up the third-oldest of nine kids, eight of them boys. The family squeezed into a two-bedroom shotgun house that didn't have indoor plumbing for Larry's first few years. It scraped by on his father's income as a mechanic and the extra money his mother brought in by doing laundry and ironing shirts for local businessmen. She was well-known within the community for her touch with an iron, and earned 10 cents per shirt. Larry grew up wearing hand-me-down clothes and, when old enough, did odd jobs such as washing windows and polishing stoves to add to the family income.

He soon became acquainted with Madison's rich basketball tradition, and saw a path to a better world. The high school team had finished runner-up by one point to Jasper in the final game of the state tournament in 1949, and then won it by 23 points over Lafayette Jeff in 1950. Humes was six years old when Madison won the championship, and he could see, hear and feel the impact it had on the community. He eventually met some of the players from that team and saw how they were respected, even revered, years after their feat. He dedicated himself to becoming like them.

He was fortunate that Julius “Bud” Ritter, who took over Madison's varsity team in 1954, was waiting on him when he reached high school. Ritter was a progressive-minded coach who not only integrated the program via Humes, he made Humes the centerpiece of his teams. Humes started as a freshman, when Madison lost to eventual 1959 state champion Attucks by two points in overtime in the semistate. He scored 19 in that game. Madison lost to state runner-up Muncie Central in the semistate in 1960 and then reached the Final Four in 1962, his senior season.

It lost to Evansville Bosse in the afternoon game, 79-75. Humes got in early foul trouble and had to sit out much of the game, but still scored 22 points. Bosse went on to win the title that evening by three points over East Chicago Washington.

Madison's record was 97-5 over Humes' four seasons, with only one of the losses coming in the regular season – his freshman season. Beneath the shiny surface, though, some dark realities lingered. Madison's players were treated to a banana split at a local drug store after each homecourt victory. Blacks, however, were still not welcome to dine with whites in the town's restaurants, so Humes made excuses and skipped the outings rather than face the embarrassment of being turned away.

The sting of social norms and the state tournament losses was soothed when Humes was voted Mr. Basketball for 1962 for the annual series with Kentucky. Indiana's All-Star team that year included Jim “Goose” Ligon, who went on to become an ABA All-Star, and Dave Schellhase, who became an All-American at Purdue. Humes scored 21 points in the first of the two-game series, hitting 9-of-12 shots in an 88-82 victory in Louisville, and had 19 in the second game, a loss in Indianapolis.

He received, by his estimation, 45-50 scholarship offers. Ritter helped him narrow them down to four: Purdue, Cincinnati, UCLA and Evansville. All had their selling points. The coach who had led Madison to the 1950 state title, Ray Eddy, was coaching at Purdue by then, and Ritter had played there as well, starting for two seasons. Humes, naturally, had a positive image of the place. Cincinnati was the closest of the four, and had won the NCAA championship in 1961 and '62. It had a history of recruiting Indiana's Mr. Basketballs – Oscar Robertson in 1956 and Ron Bonham in 1960 – along with other players from the state. UCLA coach John Wooden, a Martinsville native, also was trying to import high school players from the state, although without success to that point.

Ultimately, Humes took Ritter's advice to attend Evansville College, as it was known then. It was a Division II school, but routinely played Division I teams. Its arena, Roberts Stadium, was six years old and routinely drew sellout crowds of more than 12,000 fans – not bad for a school with an enrollment of about 2,500. Ritter, an Evansville native, thought it practical for Humes to go there, because he would have a better chance of finding a job after college if he stayed in southern Indiana.

Humes (left) poses with Evansville head coach Arad McCutcheon and teammate Jerry Sloan. (Photo Courtesy of Larry Humes)

Humes' timing was good once again. The Purple Aces were a perennial Division II power under coach Arad McCutcheon, who had already led them to national titles in 1959 and '60, and would win five in all on his way to selection to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. McCutcheon's teams were fast-paced and high-scoring, but played structured offenses in the halfcourt and bruising defense, too. He was known as a tough but funny, fair and grounded coach, one who insisted on teaching math and P.E. classes so he could connect with the entire student body, not just the basketball players.

His teams were fundamental, but had flair, too, both in the way they played and the way they dressed. And oh, how they dressed. They wore short-sleeved jerseys, something they had done since the late 1940s because so many of the fieldhouses in which they played were drafty. Defying their nickname, they wore orange instead of purple on the road because McCutcheon thought the brighter color made it easier for his players to spot one another on the fastbreak, while the lack of contrast between the uniforms and the ball made them more difficult to defend. Most outlandish of all, they wore shiny capes over their warmup tops. Those came courtesy of Gus Doerner, a former Evansville player who owned sporting goods stores in the area, and donated them to the program. They were samples of items sold to boxers, and therefore arrived in a rainbow of colors – blue, green, red, yellow, silver and whatever else Doerner might have left over. They served the practical purpose of keeping the players warm on the bench, and were easy to put on and take off. McCutcheon, meanwhile, had superstitiously taken to wearing red socks, a red vest and a red tie for games, and many of the fans followed suit.

In summary, you had a team called the Purple Aces wearing orange uniforms (on the road) and multi-colored capes playing its home games in a stadium filled with red-clad fans. It all added up to a daunting atmosphere that no doubt helped win games for the not-so-purple Aces. Hall of Fame guard Walt Frazier, who played against them during his college career at Southern Illinois, remembers it well.

“I was coming from Atlanta, where football is king,” he said. “Now I come to Southern Illinois. We go to Evansville, and it was like going to Madison Square Garden. Ten thousand people screaming … and they come out in these boxing robes. It was like being in the Roman Coliseum, man. I was like, 'What is this?' It was intimidating, man. Very intimidating.”

Humes didn't make things any easier for opponents. He was slender and 6-foot-4, and worked mostly around the basket. Still, he developed into a nearly unstoppable offensive force. He became the university's all-time leading scorer after his three varsity seasons with 2,236 points (a 26.4 career average), and held that record until two years ago when Colt Ryan, a four-year player, broke his mark. He set a school single-game scoring record with 48 points as a junior against Ball State. He also recalls having 41 against LSU before he was taken out of a blowout victory with about 12 minutes left.

Evansville won the Division II national championship in 1964 and '65, when Humes was a sophomore and junior. Jerry Sloan, who went on to a Hall of Fame coaching career with the Utah Jazz, was his most prominent teammate, but the Aces had a balanced squad. On offense, Humes played inside while Sloan stayed on the perimeter. They flipped on defense, with Humes taking the guards and Sloan muscling with the bigger players.

Humes' style of play was unique, to say the least. He put up long hook shots and off-balance shots off post-ups, shots that would get a player benched today if they didn't go in often enough. His did. He was a career 50 percent field goal shooter in an era when that was an exceptional percentage. He rarely shot from the perimeter, as his quickness, agility and creativity more than made up for his lack of size around the basket. He and Sloan, who was a year older, both became two-time All-Americans in the small college division.

Evansville won the 32-team Division II tournament in 1964 by beating Frazier's Southern Illinois team 64-59 in the regional final, then winning the final three tournament games by an average of 16.6 points. It went undefeated over 29 games the following season, when Humes was a junior and Sloan a senior, and wasted no time proving itself with victories over three Division I programs. It defeated Iowa in the opener, as Humes scored 39. It followed with a win over Northwestern, and then beat a Notre Dame team that would go on to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Humes scored 37 in that one.

The Aces won the Division II title with another win over Frazier's Southern Illinois team in the championship game, on their home court, by three points. Humes led a rally that forced overtime, banking in a 15-foot hook shot from the right wing late in regulation.

“He was prolific, man,” Frazier said. “Uncanny. He was a maestro with the low post. Bank shots, spins, English off the glass … I never saw anything like it. He was phenomenal, man. I couldn't stop him. Hanging shots, off-balance, fadeaway, using the glass … he averaged like 30 a game didn't he?”

Humes averaged 32.5 points to be exact as a junior, and then 31 as a senior when Evansville, without the graduated Sloan, was eliminated in the tournament regional. He finished his career as a two-time All-American, a three-time all-tournament pick and three-time all-conference selection. NBA teams were skeptical, however, of a 6-4 player who hadn't strayed far from the basket on offense, particularly one from a Division II program. He was the 50th overall selection in the 1966 draft, the last player taken in the fifth round, by the expansion Chicago Bulls.

On the surface, it seemed a good thing to be drafted by an expansion team, which would have no star players, but it wasn't. The Bulls had been allowed to sign unprotected veterans from the depths of the other NBA rosters, and therefore had a surplus of players with guaranteed contracts. It didn't help Humes' causes that they also drafted the 6-5 Schellhase, who had gone on to an All-American career at Purdue, in the first round. Schellhase was similar to Humes in that he was having to make a transition from college forward to professional guard. He would wind up playing just 73 games over two NBA seasons. Humes was released in the final cut. He recalls coach Johnny “Red” Kerr telling him that the team simply had too much money tied up in veteran players with guaranteed contracts to keep him, but that with another year of experience he would have a good chance to make an NBA roster.

But where could he get that experience? Humes was married and had a son by then and wanted as stable a lifestyle as possible. He was offered a contract to play with a team in Italy, but European basketball wasn't nearly as established then as today. He also could have played for the Globetrotters, but he only wanted to play “serious” basketball. In either case, he would have been away from home far too often. He wound up landing a job teaching physical education and health at IPS School 101 with the help of Bill Malone, his former grade school teacher who was a principal in Indianapolis at the time.

He seemed to get another break when a professional basketball franchise was formed in Indianapolis in a new league, the American Basketball Association, in 1967. Humes became the third player signed by the team – or at least the third one to be announced – and his reputation was big enough to merit a headline in the Indianapolis Star and a feature article in the Indianapolis News. He signed a non-guaranteed contract for $10,000 with a $2,000 bonus. He recalls going to the bank, cashing the bonus check, taking home 100 $20 bills and spreading them out on the bed with his wife.

And why not? The news release on May 18 to announce Humes' signing had an air of certainty about it.

“Larry will certainly be an asset to the squad,” General Manager Mike Storen was quoted. “He represents the type of players we hope to use in forming the team. He is an exciting player, has tremendous ability and this is what we are seeking.”

The release went on to claim that only 20 new players had made NBA rosters the previous season, and Humes was an example of those who were good enough to play professionally but had not yet found a home. The release also quoted McCutcheon as claiming Humes “could possibly be one of the best players with the Indiana club this year.” Finally, Humes was quoted: “The Indiana club will be a real sports attraction and I am proud to be a member of the ball club.”

Humes was so optimistic about his chance of making the team he moved his family to a house on Winthrop Ave., a short drive from the Fairgrounds Coliseum where the Pacers would play their home games. He worked out twice a day to prepare for his opportunity, and for a while it did indeed look like he had it made – both the team and the life he wanted.

He participated in an open tryout session in June that drew dozens of dreamers, some who had been signed to contracts and some who walked in off the street. After the crowd of contenders was thinned out with grueling practice sessions, public scrimmages were conducted. Bob “Slick” Leonard and Clyde Lovellette were brought in to run the workouts and coach the games, while the Pacers' head coach, Larry Staverman, sat back and surveyed the potential talent. Leonard singled out Humes for praise in one newspaper article early in the proceedings, and Humes later backed up that opinion by leading a team coached by Leonard to a victory in the third intrasquad scrimmage with 18 points before 3,000 fans at the Fairgrounds Coliseum. (Leonard, who was selling class rings for Herff Jones and living in Kokomo at the time, had been called in to help with the tryouts, as was Lovellette, another Indiana high school star with NBA playing experience.)

Four scrimmages in all were conducted, and Humes finished with the third-highest scoring average (13.0), while hitting 54 percent of his field goal attempts. Roger Brown (14.7) and Bobby Joe Edmonds (14.5) were the only players to score more. Humes was among 15 players invited to participate in a series of summer workouts at the Jewish Community Center, and then was one of the players invited to the Pacers' training camp at St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind. that fall.

He played in the first two exhibition games against the Minnesota Muskies, going scoreless in the first and scoring five in the second. He and Marshall didn't play in the final four games, although Humes recalls spraining an ankle in the second game and being held out of a couple of games for that reason. Still, he was “shocked” when he didn't survive the final cut. He thought he had played well enough to make it. So did Leonard, based on what he had seen in the summer scrimmages.

“Yeah, he should have made it,” Leonard says today.

“I don't know,” Leonard said. “They made the decision. I think they had some guys signed to contracts.”

They did, indeed, just like the Bulls the previous year. Freddie Lewis, who had played one season with the Cincinnati Royals in the NBA, and Jim Dawson, who had been the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player at Illinois in 1967, had guaranteed contracts. Jimmy Rayl, Indiana's Mr. Basketball in 1959 and a high-scoring guard at IU, had been signed in August and had an advantage because of his heritage and ability to hit the ABA's three-point shot. Bonham and Brown, at 6-5, were regarded as swingmen who could play guard. That left one spot open for another guard, and Humes, Jerry Harkness and Hubie Marshall out of LaSalle fought for it.

Harkness had been the captain of Loyola's 1963 NCAA championship team, and played briefly for the New York Knicks in the NBA. He had made a memorable impression on Pacers management by writing a letter to Star sports editor Bob Collins to ask for a tryout, and gave up a good sales job with Quaker Oats in Chicago to take a shot at making the team. After struggling in the June scrimmages, he worked out hard the rest of the summer, taking part in the practices and swimming at the YMCA. He caught Staverman's eye by winning all the sprints when training camp opened. He also had a long relationship with Brown, who already was distinguishing himself as the team's most talented player, which didn't hurt.

Marshall was a scorer, like Rayl, and realistically had little chance to beat him out. Harkness and Humes, meanwhile, were similar players – athletic, hustling and defensive-minded, but only average perimeter shooters. Picking one over the other could have been a virtual toss of the coin, and Harkness won.

“It must have been really, really hard to make that final decision,” says Harkness, who burst into tears of joy when he was told he had made the team. “He scared me to death. I was really worried about him. He was such a hard worker, he was aggressive, he did well under the boards and we were similar in a lot of ways. I thought he shot a little better than me. I didn't know which way it was going to go.”

Humes' lack of experience playing on the perimeter in college worked against him. He was having to adjust his style of play on the fly. Leonard believes he could have done so if given time, and Harkness agrees.

“I could see him getting better at the guard spot,” Harkness says. “He was shooting a little better out there and I didn't like that.”

Humes was devastated by his release. It seemed like a dream come true to play professionally in the state in which he had been named Mr. Basketball and helped lead a college to two national championships. He had come so close to making the team, and his reputation was such within the state, that Storen felt obligated to provide an explanation.

“We were very disappointed Humes was unable to make the ballclub,” Storen said. “We hope Larry will get picked up by another team, because we think he deserves a place in the league. He has a lot of basic ability and desire, but he didn't fit into the overall program with our other guards.”

It would be a few years before the heartbreak wore off enough for Humes to begin attending Pacers games with his wife, and even then it was difficult to shake the feeling he should have been in the game, rather than at the game.

“It was hard,” he said. “I knew I should have been out there.”

It was too late to get another teaching job after he was released by the Pacers, so Humes worked an office job for the state highway commission for a year. He then went back to high school teaching and assistant coaching positions, first at Shortridge for five years and then Howe for five years.

He was hired as an assistant coach at Evansville in the summer of 1977. The Aces' new coach, Bobby Watson, wanted to recapture some of the university's tradition, and thought Humes would be an effective recruiter in Indianapolis. Humes signed a contract for $9,000 and began recruiting in the area, while looking for a home in Evansville on the side. In August, however, he was offered the head coaching position at Attucks. His long-awaited opportunity to become a head coach was too good to pass up and his wife had not yet moved out of their home in Indianapolis, so he took it.

Had he not, he would have been on the Evansville team plane that crashed shortly after takeoff in December of that year, killing all those aboard.

Humes coached at Attucks for 10 years, until the school was closed. He then became an assistant coach at Indiana Central (now the University of Indianapolis), first under former Pacers guard Billy Keller and then under Bill Green. He taught P.E. classes on the side, and waited for his turn to become a head coach again.

“Larry's a very likable guy,” Keller said. “A funny guy. He kept everything lively.  He truly enjoyed the game. He liked being around people and he loved being involved.”

ABA