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In Manhattan federal court on Thursday, lawyers for the Silna brothers and the league argued over whether the men are owed money beyond what they get from the N.B.A.’s national broadcast and cable television contracts. They want to tap into the money the league gets from international broadcasts, NBA TV, the league’s cable network, and other lucrative deals that could not have been imagined in the three network television universe of 1976. If Federal District Judge Loretta A. Preska agrees, the Silna brothers — Ozzie, 79, and living in Malibu, Calif., and Daniel, 68, and living in Saddle River, N.J. — stand to receive millions more, all without having assembled a team or used an arena for more than three decades. “This issue has been a nuisance as long as I’ve been associated with the league,” said Ed Desser, the former president of NBA Television and new media ventures who now runs his own media consulting firm. “It was never enough to be a serious distraction. It’s one of those accidents of history.” New York Times

Law, ABA 

Nearly four decades later, the Silnas are recalled for a savvy deal that continues to enrich them. But not all of their business moves have been so lucrative. They were victims of Bernard L. Madoff’s massive fraud. Daniel Silna told Forbes last year that they lost all that they had invested with Madoff, but would not say how much. In lawsuits against the Silnas, the trustee for the victims of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme have said that the Silnas, relatives, family trusts and two corporate entities collected $24 million in fictitious profits. After the hearing Thursday, a lawyer for the Silnas declined to comment or allow his clients to be interviewed. Daniel Silna and Donald C. Schupak, the lawyer who negotiated the TV deal with the old A.B.A. teams, had listened to arguments over whether two 36-year-old documents contained language that would let the Silnas collect even more money from TV sources not yet created in 1976. New York Times

Law, ABA 

The NBA is locked in a legal battle with origins in a bygone era of short shorts, tight tops and big hair. The dispute stems from an antitrust lawsuit filed in 1970 by legends like Oscar Robertson and Bill Bradley that challenged the merger of the NBA and ABA. A provision in a 1976 settlement requires the NBA to share network television revenue with the former owners of the defunct St. Louis Spirits for the life of the league. Last year, the owners accused the NBA of withholding their fair share of newer revenue from international and cable broadcasts. Washington Post

Law, Oscar Robertson, ABA 

The ABA was known for its craziness. Many observers believe the Floridians were the wackiest gang of all. When he took over as owner, Doyle also unveiled the Floridians ball girls. He hired five young women who wore bikinis during games to excite the crowd and distract opponents. "They used to stand underneath the basket when the other team would shoot free throws," Calvin, who led the Floridians in scoring with a 27.2 average in 1970-71 and a 21.0 average in 1971-72, said from his home in New Orleans. "They'd turn their butt around and wiggle any part of the body. And it worked." FOXSports Florida

Miami Heat, ABA, Miami Floridians 

The ball girls would make trips with the team. One was to a game at Dec. 23, 1971 game against the Carolina Cougars at New York's Madison Square Garden, where the girls got far more publicity than either of the teams. Newspapers ran photos of them and one paper's headline screamed, "Ball girls invade Garden." "When we went to New York, seeing these tanned bikini-clad blondes just caused so much excitement," Cindy said in a 1978 interview about the trip just before Christmas, which featured three of the girls popping out of Santa Claus' bag before the game. FOXSports Florida

Miami Heat, ABA, Miami Floridians 

At home games, the Floridians had promotions in which they gave away pairs of pantyhouse to the first 500 women attendance. At Thanksgiving, fans could win live turkeys. There also were giveaways of 15 pounds of smoked fish, 57 pounds of Irish potatoes and 53 pumpkin pies. Promotions included cow-milking and snake-handling contests and a man wrestling a bear. Miami Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian was brought in to try to kick a ball through the hoop. But it didn't help attendance much. With South Florida games being played at the Miami Beach Convention Center or at Miami College, the team was lucky to get 2,000 fans. Some crowds were below 1,000. "It was sparse," Ira Harge, a rugged center for the Floridians, said from his home in Albuquerque, N.M. "But one of the good things was you could just go up and interact with the fans." FOXSports Florida

Miami Heat, ABA, Miami Floridians 

The attendance was so miserable at Miami Dade College for a televised playoff game against the Virginia Squires in 1972 that action had to be taken. "We played the Virginia Squires when they had Dr. J.," said Calvin, referring to Julius Erving's gang sweeping a first-round series 4-0 in what would turn out to be final games in Floridians' history. "They wanted to make it look like it was a full house so had all the fans sit one on one side." As for Doyle, Calvin said he always would be at the same place for game. "He stayed drunk," Calvin said. "He would sit at the scorer's table and drink his scotch." FOXSports Florida

Miami Heat, ABA, Miami Floridians 

Mike Wells: The ABA's Texas Fuel sent out a release saying Pacers guard @George Hill is scheduled to play for them during the lockout. Twitter

Indiana Pacers, Lockout, George Hill, ABA