The NBA’s 2026-27 season will double as a 50-year marker for the 1976 ABA merger, with Brooklyn, Denver, Indiana and San Antonio bringing their pre-merger history back onto the floor.
The Nets, Nuggets, Pacers and Spurs — the four ABA franchises absorbed into the NBA — will each wear new Classic Edition uniforms and play on ABA-inspired courts during the anniversary season. The rollout puts the league’s merger era at the center of the calendar rather than treating it as a footnote in team history.
ABA merger anniversary returns to the floor
- The ABA and NBA completed their merger in 1976, ending the rival league’s nine-season run.
- Four ABA clubs entered the NBA through that agreement: the Nets, Nuggets, Pacers and Spurs.
- The 2026-27 campaign arrives 50 years after the merger, prompting all four franchises to revive their ABA roots.
- Each club will have a new Classic Edition uniform along with a specially designed court tied to its ABA identity.
Four franchises, one shared league history
Brooklyn’s ABA lineage runs through the New York Nets, while Denver, Indiana and San Antonio retained the franchise names that carried over from the old league. Their paths since the merger have varied sharply, but the four teams remain the surviving on-court link between the ABA and today’s NBA.
The Classic Edition program will give each market its own visual treatment, with the uniforms and floor designs built around the franchises’ ABA-era branding. Brooklyn, Denver, Indiana and San Antonio will all take part during the 2026-27 season.
For the Nets, Nuggets, Pacers and Spurs, the anniversary is not merely a throwback night. It is a league-wide recognition of the merger that reshaped the NBA and brought four enduring franchises into its rotation.
