As with most of the cards in this set, there’s more excitement behind this card than the misspelled last name. You’ve probably noticed that it’s missing an “S” at the end. We’re going to talk about NCAA victories that were voided, a secret draft and “ABA vs. NBA legal/salary drama.” In other words, Jim McDaniels’ biography is far from boring. He was essential in his college team, Western Kentucky University, placing third in the 1971 NCAA tournament. He was the top scorer in the tournament. But wait…isn’t this a 1970-71 basketball card set?! The NCAA was surprised too! They found that Jim McDaniels had signed a professional contract and accepted money during the 1970-71 season and Western Kentucky’s place in the tournament was voided because of this. This confusion was probably related to what is sometimes referred to as a “secret draft” that the ABA was doing. McDaniels was supposedly drafted by the Utah Stars and he signed for $900,000 according to a February 1971 article in Jet magazine that you can read here. But another player in that same article, Howard Porter, said he wasn’t even aware he was drafted by the ABA after being caught in a similar situation, so who knows!
Somehow, McDaniels began playing for the Carolina Cougars who offered him $1.35 million over 25 years. He probably realized this wasn’t a huge amount of money because, according to the New York Times, he asked for the time frame to be reduced to 15 years and wanted “$50,000 for aggravation.” At this point, February 1972, McDaniels signed with the Seattle Supersonics and failed to succeed. He was probably distracted by continued legal drama with the Carolina Cougars questioning his jump to the NBA. He also later admitted in an interview that he probably jumped too soon and, at a young age, couldn’t handle so many things going bad. By the way, the Carolina Cougars must’ve been a mess with contracts and money. If you haven’t read the article on the Joe Caldwell card from this set, read it to learn about this same time trying to ignore a pension they promised this player.
If this is the first of these 1970-71 ABA All-Star 5×7 Picture Pack cards you’ve encountered, you’ll notice that it’s hard to call them “cards.” If you’re tracking down this set, you might end up surprised to learn that they’re simply pieces of 5″ x 7″ paper. The backs are completely blank. Fortunately, authenticity isn’t much of an issue with this set, but if you’re worried, you can compare image quality to a known sample but known samples aren’t easy to find. More likely, you’ll need to check the stock and color of the paper against plain white. There’s a nice simplicity to the “cards” which are simple black-and-white photos with the player and team names underneath. There’s no numbering on the cards, but this Joe Caldwell is #3 if ordering alphabetically by last name. Twelve All-Stars from the ABA make up this set with the Rick Barry card being the highlight (avid basketball fans will recognize other names like John Brisker, but for the average fan, Rick Barry is one of the only recognizable players). But for those willing to explore and spend time with the set, there’s a lot of unique history here
Despite the “cards” being paper, as well as being off-the-beaten-path for basketball cards, they are an excellent source of history for a collection. The price is unpredictable because they are rarely on the market and simply depends on if there’s a buyer searching for it at that moment!
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