ABA - DIVERSITY HAS FOUND A HOME

When Branch Rickey broke the color line with Jackie Robinson in major league baseball, it changed the face of professional sports in America - all for the good. And soon thereafter, the NFL and NBA followed suit. And professional sports became even better. At last, inclusion and opportunity were available to minorities and they've certainly taken advantage of it by providing some of the great players in basketball history like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Oscar Robinson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Moses Malone, LeBron James, Tim Duncan and players with equal impact in football and baseball. And the same holds true for Hispanics and Asians.

Unfortunately, that same inclusion and opportunity has not been extended to ownership unless you are a celebrity whose name and image major leagues can use for promotion and profit, like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Jay Z or Usher.

That is, until the ABA, where diversity has found a home. "Diversity is at the core of the ABA," stated ABA co-founder Joe Newman. "Over 75% of our teams are owned by African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and women. This did not just happen. We made it happen by making it easier to own and operate an ABA team than any other sports opportunity. As a result of our inclusion of minorities, we now have over 90 teams in the ABA and are still growing."

"Very shortly, the ABA will be introducing ABA Plus - Basketball for the Next Generation - an entirely new concept that

will move professional sports one step forward - and our goal will be similar to that of the ABA - to provide inclusion and opportunities for minorities to own and operate at the next level," continued Newman. "It is about time to take the

"Jackie Robinson step to ownership in major professional sports." For more information, email conniejoenewman@aol.com or watch for news on www.americanbasketballassociation.org . "

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