Professional Basketball Leagues (BAA and ABA) Team Media Guides Collection

Collection

Identifier: BKP_547

Staff Only
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Scope and Contents

This collection contains media guides published by non-NBA major league professional basketball leagues. The collection includes media guides published by the Basketball Association of America (1946-1949) and the American Basketball Association (1967-1976). The annual guides published prior to each season generally included a review of the previous season (including statistics), a preview of the upcoming season (including schedules and opponent information), and photographs and bios of players, coaches, and staff. Other content sometimes included broader material about the history of the franchise, information about the city, and other information for members of the media. Some guides contain information about other personnel associated with the team including coaches, administrators, trainers, and cheerleaders. Some guides contain advertisements. The media guides tend to become larger, longer, and more substantial through the years. Formats include media guides.

Dates

Creation: 1948-1975

Conditions Governing Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical / Historical

Media guides—also known as press guides or “dope books”—originated by the 1930s as a way for sports teams to provide information to members of the press about their teams, players, coaches, schedules, and other topics. Originally typed, mimeographed, and stapled sheets, the guides evolved dramatically after World War Two to highly informative trade paper publications available to the public. By the early 21st century, many teams began replacing printed guides with online guides.

The Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946. After its third season in 1948-49, the league merged with the National Basketball League to form the National Basketball Association.

The American Basketball Association (ABA) was founded in 1967 as a rival league to the National Basketball Association. The ABA pioneered such innovations as the three-point shot. Although many franchises struggled financially, the league played through the 1975-76 season when the ABA merged with the NBA, resulting in four franchises joining the NBA—Indiana Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, and New Jersey Nets.

Extent

.5 Cubic Feet (1 Document Case (letter size) )

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

Media Guides are arranged alphabetically by the most recent geographical location of the franchise and then chronologically. Years denote the first year of the season. For example the year "1968" indicates a media guide for the 1968-1969 season.