The Mystery of the Retro Jerseys – SOLVED

Categorized as: Miami Heat, NBA Basketball
Posted on: December 15th, 2005

I was greeted this morning by a clue as to the origin of Miami’s new-found retro jerseys.

It probably doesn’t count as a Mystery, per se, since my nimble fingers quickly led me to this educational lesson in Basketball History. I was a member of the APBR email list for a short while, but I prefer basketball players I’ve actually heard of. Usually.

The link above goes to Remember the ABA, which also has an article entitled “Only in the ABA” stating:

The Floridians Ballgirls (above) were talented, and they were famous throughout the ABA. In fact, they were probably more famous than the basketball team itself!

[Ed. Note: Emphasis by GMTR, not RTABA]

At the Miami Beach Convention Hall, the ballgirls took pictures of fans before games, sat under the basket, threw the ball out onto the floor to the referees, danced during timeouts, and served refreshments at halftime. Occasionally, they even traveled with the team.

(Floridians publicity photos)

[Ed. Note: Now, that's some fantasy basketball.]

Given that piece of information, and the fact that their final season was to be played in 1972, I was not even slightly upset with myself for never having heard of the Flordians before. Shaq, however, obviously had, as it is clear from the following logo, that he was the chosen mascot for their Swan Season.

And while the man below and I share uncanny similarities (we are both dwarfed by the ball as we attempt to steer it down the court, and we both turn half orange, half pink when sunburned) I assure you, that is not a representation of me. [Ed. Note: Not that there's anything wrong with that, if it was.]

There you have it. The Mystery of the Retro Jerseys – SOLVED.

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