1974-75 Spirits of St. Louis Collectors Card Set

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The smartest guys to ever fold a team had to be the owners Spirits of St. Louis.

In 1976, the ABA merged with the NBA, bringing the Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, New York Nets and Denver Nuggets into the fold. Two teams, the Kentucky Colonels and the Spirits of St. Louis, were essentially paid to go away. The Colonels’ owners accepted $3 million from the NBA to fold their team, while the Spirits’ owners got a different deal Ozzie and Daniel Silna, brothers who owned the Spirits, took just $2.2 million, along with an agreement to receive one-seventh of national TV revenue that each of the four former ABA teams would receive, for as long as the NBA existed. ADVERTISING Oops. Now, 38 years later, the Silnas have received about $300 million as a result of the deal. They could make at least $500 million more if they accept a buyout from the NBA now, The New York Times reports.