![]() “I only regret that my faith in Long Beach was not borne out conclusively because the question of Long Beach’s emergence as a major sports center can never be answered by the ABL now.” “When I arrived in Long Beach, I knew it would take lots of hard work to introduce people to something new,” Kim told the Press-Telegram. Playing in the Long Beach Arena, the Chiefs were off to an historic start in 62-63, with a record of 10-0 when it was announced that the ABL was folding on New Year’s Eve in 1962. ![]() ![]() The ABL was a major innovator in the sport, introducing the three-point line (actually an idea of Kim’s) as well as the shot clock. With teams all over the country from New York to Hawaii, the ABL sought to genuinely challenge the NBA, which at that time was still challenge-able. The ABL was formed after Harlem Globetrotters owner Abe Saperstein couldn’t get a buy-in on an NBA franchise. The Chiefs were an American Basketball League team owned by trailblazing Korean-American Art Kim, a Hawaii native who founded the team in Honolulu for the ABL’s debut 1961-62 season, then brought them to Long Beach in July. This article is Hidden History, an occasional series examining teams or players lost in time in Long Beach.Ī number of professional basketball teams have given it a go in Long Beach, but perhaps none with a story as interesting as the Long Beach Chiefs, whose brief stay here in the 1962-63 season produced some memorable stories.
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