San Antonio Spurs NBA Cheerleader Girls

Even though playoff success would elude the team, the Spurs had suddenly found themselves among the top teams in the ABA. Moreover, their gaudy attendance figures made them very attractive to the NBA, despite the size of the market. Although San Antonio had over 650,000 people at the time (and has since grown to become the seventh-largest city in the United States), it has always been a medium-sized market because the surrounding suburban and rural areas aren't much larger than the city itself. In June 1976, the ABA-NBA merger took place, moving San Antonio's sole professional sports franchise into a new league. The Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and New York Nets moved to the NBA for the 1976–77 season.
The Spurs and the other three ABA teams agreed to pay the owners of two other strong ABA teams that folded instead of joining the NBA. John Y. Brown, Jr., the owner of the Kentucky Colonels, received $3 million, which he used to purchase the NBA's Buffalo Braves and later the Boston Celtics, after selling star guard Louie Dampier to the Spurs. The owners of the Spirits of St. Louis received a portion of all television profits during their NBA tenure, which amounts to roughly 1/7 of the Spurs' television profit every year. This agreement has placed particular financial pressure on the Spurs and the other three former ABA teams.
• Into the NBA: The George Gervin years (1976–1985)
Although there was some initial skepticism in league circles regarding the potential success and talent levels of the incoming ABA teams, the Spurs would prove worthy of NBA inclusion during the 1976–77 season with a record of 44–38, good for a tie for fourth place overall in the Eastern Conference. This was done in spite of significant handicaps the NBA imposed on the incoming ABA teams, limiting their draft picks and television revenues during their early time in the merged league. They gained a new rival in the form of the Houston Rockets, who had played in Texas for five years prior to the merger.