ABA Stories: Part 2 | With Bob Costas, Artis Gilmore, and Rod Thorn

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

The Ringer

Sports

4.8 • 13.9K Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2021

⏱️ 101 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Part 2 of a two-part series, Ryen Russillo talks with basketball legend Rod Thorn about his time with the New York Nets, Julius Erving, his wild experience as head coach of the Spirits of St. Louis, wrangling ABA legends Wendell Ladner and Marvin Barnes, the NBA-ABA merger, and more (2:00). Then Ryen Talks with ABA MVP and six-time NBA All-Star Artis Gilmore about choosing to play in the ABA over the NBA, playing with the Kentucky Colonels, defending a young Moses Malone, scrapping with Mo Lucas, transitioning to the NBA post-merger, and more (35:00). Finally, Ryen is joined by sportscasting legend Bob Costas to discuss starting his career with the Spirits of St. Louis at the age of 22 in 1974, the rough-and-tumble nature of the ABA, hanging with Marvin Barnes, teams folding financially, the importance of keeping these ABA stories alive, the Dropping Dimes Foundation, and more (56:15). If you would like to donate to the Dropping Dimes Foundation click HERE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I hope you enjoyed part one of our ABA stories in the Ryan Rusillop podcast.
0:08.6	If you missed that, don't worry.
0:10.4	You can listen to number two first and then number one.
0:13.2	You'll be able to keep up.
0:14.7	As we said in the first one, the ABA from 1967 to 1976 in part two will have artist Gilmore
0:21.3	who was one of the most feared men in the league and considered the strongest.
0:25.5	Rod Thorn, who was a coach early on, and had to deal with some of the more unique characters.
0:31.6	And I'm even going to ask him to when he was running the bulls.
0:33.6	Did they actually try to trade Jordan, the pick for Jordan for Julius Irving when he
0:37.9	was with the Sixers?
0:38.9	And then Bob Costas, who doctored his audition tape to get a job where he ended up calling
0:44.0	Spirit of St. Louis games with the owner's wife.
0:47.6	That's all coming up.
0:48.6	Part two, ABA stories.
0:53.8	Not Thorns of Hall of Famer, he's done just about everything in basketball, including
0:57.2	playing at college, years in the pros, the second pick in the 1963 draft in the NBA
1:02.1	through 1971, coach for the Sonics.
1:04.2	But then in 1973, Rod, your ABA career started.
1:08.1	How did that start?
1:09.1	What was that call like?
1:11.3	Well, I had been an assistant coach, Ryan, with the New York Nets.
1:18.1	And we had played the St. Louis spirits in the first round of the playoffs the previous
	...

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