With two rival leagues (NBA and ABA) diluting the talent, a somewhat selfish "me-first" attitude pervasive, and widespread perceptions of drug use among players, the game was at a point where even championship finals games during weekday nights were shown only on a delayed broadcast.
Three players (along with commissioner David Stern) deserve much credit for bringing the game back to popularity and making professional basketball a major sport alongside baseball and football in the American sporting pantheon. Another then helped popularize the NBA around the world.
Larry Bird and Magic Johnson (top two pictures) dueled in the 1979 NCAA championship game and then took their rivalry to the NBA with the Celtics and Lakers respectively. This game also catapulted the NCAA tournament into the "March Madness" we know today.
Before those two came along, a legendary star plied his trade in the old ABA. When the leagues finally merged in the mid-1970s Julius Erving (Dr. J - middle pictures) finally got to play in front of millions of fans who only knew of him - but might not have actually seen him play many times.
After Dr. J, Magic, and Bird, Michael Jordan (bottom) entered the league in the 1980s and popularized the game on a global basis.
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