ABA Pacer stars Dr. Dunk, Neto say team wearing their jerseys means more than you could imagine

INDIANAPOLIS — Those iconic jerseys, those royal blue uniforms with their yellow and white swoops that Bob Netolicky and Darnell Hillman wore in the 1970s, mean more to them than anyone probably could imagine.

The modern day Indiana Pacers wearing those throwback ABA jerseys this season to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1976 merger between the American Basketball Association and the NBA isn't just some cool gimmick, in their minds.

Netolicky and Hillman wore those jerseys as they played for the ABA Pacers as superstars in the 1970s. And since the merger in 1976, when the ABA dissolved except for four teams — the Pacers, Spurs, Nuggets and Nets — the two men have been fighting to get the players of their now-defunct league the honor they deserve.

The two joined in the fight with the Dropping Dimes Foundation, a nonprofit founded to help former ABA players who have fallen on hard times, left without any pension from the NBA, despite being a part of the league that paved the way for the modern-day NBA game.

In 2022, the NBA Board of Governors voted to pay $24.5 million to former ABA players, many of whom are struggling to pay rent, medical bills and buy the basic necessities to live. But even today, players are still struggling. Some didn't qualify because of loopholes in the agreement.

"You sit around, look at these guys with this money they're making, it's kind of disheartening a little bit," Netolicky told IndyStar this week. "I mean, they make more warming up than we made in our whole careers."

So, anything that brings awareness not just to the ABA but to what it meant to the NBA gives Netolicky and Hillman hope their ABA brethren have not been forgotten.

"Tradition, it's always important to remember how you got here," Hillman told IndyStar this week. "(We were) trailblazers that set the tone for the modern game. It's nice to be remembered."

As a Pacers player for six seasons, Hillman was known as "Dr. Dunk," soaring to heights, seemingly, unknown to man.

He got noticed off court, too, as a fashionista in plaid bell bottoms and billowing shirts with a hat atop his 13.5-inch Afro, which Hillman says inspired the likes of Julius "Dr. J" Erving’s hairstyle.

Netolicky was the ABA Pacers sex symbol, keeper of exotic pets and owner of Netolicky's, a downtown bar where famous people, everyday regulars and ABA superstars hung out. He also had his own stylish flair.

The throwback ABA jerseys the Pacers will wear this season were "way ahead of their time," says Netolicky. "The design was just so cool. The only difference (with the new ones) is the shorts will be longer."

Netolicky is joking about those short shorts he and his fellow ABA players wore, but he turns serious when asked what it means for the ABA to be remembered this Pacers season. Netolicky, 84, is the second oldest living Pacer behind Tom Thacker, who is 86.

"It's a nice tribute," Netolicky says, to an era of professional basketball that seems to have been forgotten.