Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association, on Prime Video

When the subject is Oakland basketball, the first name you probably think of is Pat Boone, right? Maybe not, but the white-shoed entertainer was a minority owner of Oakland’s American Basketball Association team, who used his celebrity status to promote the new league. They were challenging the NBA, which was widely considered the Goliath—but a boring Goliath. The ABA won a lot of skirmishes, but the NBA won the war, as former players, owners, broadcasters, and fans explain in the four-part Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association, directed by Kenan Kamwana Holley, which premieres today on Prime Video.

They only played nine seasons, but the ABA had a lasting impact on the game. They created the three-point shot and the slam-dunk contest. Plus, the ABA played with the cool red, white, and blue ball. The upstart league also broke a NBA’s long-standing gentleman’s agreement, by drafting Julius Erving, a.k.a. “Dr. J,” before his senior year of college.

Of course, Erving was perfectly suited to the ABA high-flying fast-break style of play. At that time, the NBA still favored a slow-ball approach, largely based around centers, grinding it out in the paint. ABA games were much more fun to watch, if you could. At the time, basketball was a weak number three amongst broadcast sports. The money from the NBA’s network contract was dwarfed by that of the NFL and MLB, while the ABA never scored a national broadcast deal.

Unfortunately, many ABA games went unrecorded as a result, so you truly had to be there. Yet, attendance varied drastically. ABA teams drew big crowds in Indiana (whose Pacers successfully transitioned to the NBA) and Kentucky (home to the Colonels, who did not). It was usually a real party atmosphere in the ABA’s top markets, which Holley evokes with appropriate nostalgia.

Frankly, you can tell the caliber of the play in the ABA from the stature of the league veterans Holley assembles, including players like executive producer Erving, Rick Barry (DJ’s co-star in the Spalding comic book ad many fans fondly remember), Bobby Jones, Dan Issel, George Gervin, Artis Gilmore, and Ralph Simpson, as well as coaches like Larry Brown. Eubie Blake, and Doug Moe, and even St. Louis Spirit broadcaster Bob Costas. Everyone has colorful stories, but nobody matches Barry’s bravado.

Watching Soul Power will make you wish the ABA had won, especially considering how the NBA sold its soul to the Chinese Communist Party, in exchange for “market access.” Holley captures the fun and the camaraderie of the league, which makes Soul Power one of the most entertaining multi-part sports docs in quite a while. Four fifty-some-minute episodes might sound like a lot, but Holley has more than enough material to justify all that screen time. Highly recommended, Soul Power starts streaming today (2/12) on Prime Video.