Prime Video’s docuseries Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association takes fans inside the compelling story of the American Basketball Association (ABA) and how players like Julius “Dr. J” Erving, daring to be different, helped shape the way professional basketball looks today.

Fifty years after the ABA merged with the NBA in 1976, Soul Power amplifies the voices of Hall of Famers, coaches, broadcasters and cultural leaders behind the upstart league. Across four episodes, the series traces how the ABA’s fast pace, three-point line and iconic red, white and blue basketball reshaped the sport from 1967 to 1976.

Erving’s path to the pros

“It was a dream,” Erving told Blavity’s Shadow and Act in a recent interview about his aspirations to reach the professional ranks.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee played for the Virginia Squires from 1971 to 1973. Erving was a top draft pick in the ABA, taking advantage of the league’s newly implemented “hardship” rule, which allowed players to leave college early to turn pro — unlike the NBA at the time. The 6-foot-7 small forward left the University of Massachusetts after his junior year to begin his professional career.

Erving recalled memories of the summer before heading to the Squires. “I started playing in the pro summer league, and I’m playing against professionals. And I’m holding my own. As a matter of fact, I got a big fan club that liked the way I played and started following me. Every time I came around, they made a lot of noise, ‘Dr. J, Dr. J.’ It really helped my confidence.”

As Erving expressed how much he “enjoyed” playing for the Squires, that enthusiasm showed in his numbers. He averaged 27.3 points per game as a rookie, earned All-ABA Second Team honors, made the ABA All-Rookie Team, led the league in offensive rebounds and finished second to Artis Gilmore of the Kentucky Colonels for the 1971 ABA Rookie of the Year Award.

A league for the overlooked

Soul Power explores how the ABA became a lifeline for players who didn’t fit the NBA’s narrow mold — especially Black players, those without pedigrees shaped by elite camps and Division I scholarships, or athletes who didn’t meet traditional height expectations.

“In the ABA [they] welcomed players under 6 feet with open arms because they had a three-point shot,” he recalls, name-checking sharpshooters like “Louis Dampier… [and] Matt Calvin,” and noting it was “not a rare sight to see the shorter players doing well and being the leaders of their teams.”

The documentary also examines how the ABA reached its height during the turbulence of the late 1960s and 1970s, when inequality and racist barriers still limited opportunities for many talented Black players. Erving revealed that he chose to forgo the 1972 Olympics amid “all the civil unrest that was going on” and because professional basketball players were barred from competing under the International Olympic Committee’s amateurism rules.

The ABA’s cultural edge

The series also highlights the basketball legend’s signature style. Erving’s hang-time layups, soaring dunks and improvisational abilities — all skills that made him a record-setter in the pros — were “honed” on community courts like Rucker Park. ABA recruiters regularly scouted talent from these playground proving grounds, another factor that distinguished the league from the more regulated NBA.

The ABA launched with 11 teams. The Indiana Pacers, Kentucky Colonels, Minnesota Muskies, New Jersey Americans and Pittsburgh Pipers competed in the Eastern Division, while the Anaheim Amigos, Dallas Chaparrals, Denver Rockets, Houston Mavericks, New Orleans Buccaneers and Oakland Oaks made up the Western Division.

The merger that changed the game

While flashy passes and crowd-pleasing risk-taking energized ABA fans, the league remained in the NBA’s financial shadow. Soul Power examines the ABA-NBA merger, including player dispersal drafts and financial pressures that weakened the league as talent migrated to the NBA. By the end of the 1975–76 season, the ABA had dwindled to seven teams, with only six surviving long enough to enter merger talks. The ABA officially merged with the NBA in 1976, with four teams — the Pacers, Nuggets, Spurs and Nets — joining the league. The final ABA game was played on May 13, 1976.

Lessons for the NBA’s future

Erving argues that understanding the ABA is essential to guiding where basketball goes next. As the NBA approaches its 100th anniversary, “there’s a lot of information that could be of value in terms of trying to get it right,” he said, expressing confidence in commissioner Adam Silver. “I think he wants to get it right,” he later added. “Players right now, they’re running the league. And I’d like to see it being run the right way.”

Erving has witnessed basketball’s evolution firsthand and didn’t mince words in describing some changes — from leadership and sportsmanship to on-court play — as “bittersweet.” Still, he remains hopeful that documentaries like Soul Power will remind audiences that the sport’s enduring power has always rested with the players.

Soul Power is now available to stream on Prime Video.