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‘Black Ball’ Review: The NBA’s Game Changers

In the 1970s, a new style came to the NBA: showy, aggressive, a combination of grace and grit. Not everyone was happy.

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The Milwaukee Bucks' Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (33) shoots over the Los Angeles Lakers' Wilt Chamberlain (13) in 1971. Photo: Sports Illustrated via Getty Images

Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Earl Monroe, Julius Erving, Connie Hawkins, K.C. Jones. Above all, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Spencer Haywood. The names are legendary, of course. For Theresa Runstedtler, an American University historian, they are more than that. She regards these great players, among others, as the founding fathers of modern pro basketball.

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