We Changed the Game, 1967-1976: How a new league, a small group of dreamers, and some amazing situations changed the culture of a city and the face of basketball forever

WE CHANGED THE GAME is a story-the real story-about the very beginning of the Indiana Pacers professional basketball team. It’s about the laughable new league founded in the 1960's in which the Pacers got their start as a team, the American Basketball Association (ABA), which gave many unsung players a shot or a second chance to make it in pro basketball but faced constant struggles during its brief existence from 1967-1976 before it merged with the NBA. During those early days in the ABA league, the Indiana Pacers captured three ABA league championship titles. But also—and only known by a select few—the Pacers, and the ABA league as a whole, barely survived through some incredibly close calls and financial fiascos, facing the brink of extinction more than once. But it was with the unwavering support of Pacers fans, very creative negotiating by Pacers’ co-founder and team protector Richard Tinkham, an ABA-NBA league merger, and two Indianapolis-based real estate legends that ultimately