<P> The ABA--NBA merger was the merger of the American Basketball Association (ABA) with the National Basketball Association (NBA), which after multiple attempts over several years occurred in 1976 . The NBA and ABA had entered merger talks as early as 1970, but an antitrust suit filed by the head of the NBA players union, Robertson v. National Basketball Ass'n, blocked the merger until 1976 . </P> <P> As part of the merger agreement, the NBA agreed to accept four of the remaining six ABA teams: the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets and San Antonio Spurs . The remaining two ABA teams, the Kentucky Colonels and the Spirits of St. Louis, folded, with their players entering a dispersal draft . </P>

When did the nba and the aba merge