Julius Erving, also known as Dr. J. was the cornerstone player of the former ABA basketball league. He was a three-time MVP and a two-time ABA champion.
- A Missing ABA Championship Trophy
- Game 6 And A Championship
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The last ABA championship of Dr. J.’s career just so happened to be the last year the ABA existed, as the following season they merged with the NBA.
Before winning the title, what happened to the New York Nets and their championship trophy is a strange story that we credit basketball_mecca on Instagram.
A Missing ABA Championship Trophy
The New York Nets of the ABA were playing the Denver Nuggets in the 1976 ABA championship series. The Nets enjoyed a 3-1 series lead as they traveled to Denver for Game 5.
If the Nets won Game 5, then they’d be the champions, giving them and their star player, Dr. J. their second ABA championship.
The problem the Nets didn’t realize they would eventually have was happening as the game was about to start.
Jim Bukata, who was the ABA’s director of marketing and public relations, rented a car back in New York, where the league office was located.
He drove this rented car out to Denver with the ABA championship trophy in the trunk.
This made sense since with a win, the Nets would be crowned champs, and they’d need the trophy to celebrate.
Once Bukata reached the Nuggets arena, he went inside and watched the game like any other fan. The only thing was that he forgot to bring the trophy inside.
Bukata went outside to retrieve the trophy, and this is when the strangeness started. The car he rented was gone, stolen right out of the parking lot.
Since the car was stolen, that meant so was the ABA championship trophy. This sent Bukata into a panic.
Now back inside the arena, Bukata started rooting for the Nuggets to win the game, extend the series, and give him more time to find the rental car, and the trophy.
Bukata got lucky in a way, as the Nuggets defeated the Nets, 118-110. This was a temporary fix, but Bukata still needed to find the rental car to get the ABA championship trophy back.
Game 6 And A Championship
The series returned to New York for Game 6, but the rental car had not been recovered, meaning any ABA championship trophy.
Once more, Bukata hoped the Nuggets would win the game and force a Game 7, buying him more time to track down the rental car.
This time, his hopes would come crashing down. The Nets defeated the Nuggets, 112-106, behind Dr. J.’s 31 points and 19 rebounds. With the Nets as the newly crowned champs, what would happen with the trophy ceremony?
The ABA pulled a move that was quick and pretty clever. The Nets won the ABA championship just two years prior and decided to use that trophy during the ceremony.
This was a temporary fix, but everyone wondered if the Nets would ever receive their new championship trophy.
The Nets would only have to wait about one month, as the trophy was delivered to the ABA’s headquarters.
The New York Nets finally had their 1976 ABA championship trophy rightfully in their hands, but what was strange was the return of the trophy.
The package that delivered the ABA championship trophy had the name C.J. Flynn on it and a return address of 2619 Lark, Denver. The thing was, no such person by the name lived at the address given.
The mystery of who stole the car and ultimately returned the ABA championship trophy is still a mystery, but at least the New York Nets could enjoy the last ABA championship trophy ever given out.
