Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association is the long-overdue definitive story of the American Basketball Association that basketball fans have craved.

College basketball is life in my home state of Kentucky. You either choose to root for Kentucky or Louisville. I bleed blue so I would never cross the street to root for Louisville. Not in a million tears. However, there’s a universe where I would have grown up a fan of the Kentucky Colonels. Unfortunately for me, they were forced to fold up shop when the ABA merged with the NBA in 1976. Soul Power doesn’t just cover the story of the Colonels but all the major players in the ABA.

The ABA didn’t start up 1967, some 18 years after the NBA made their arrival. Soul Power shows how they were an enterprising league that would ultimately give the NBA a run for their money through challenging them both on and off the court in just nine riveting seasons. But when they folded up shop, the changed the sport of basketball in more ways that we could possibly imagine. When the remaining teams joined the NBA, they brought 3-point shot and the All-Star Game slam dunk competition. This was just before Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan would be part of a youth movement that brought the league into the stratosphere in the 1980s.

While a number of former ABA players would make their mark known in the NBA, only the Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs were allowed into the league. The Kentucky Colonels were prevented from joining and this is a tragedy when it comes to basketball history. It took Ellie Brown running the team with an all-women board of directors to turn things around, but the Colonels were packing the stands with fans. Of course, I’m biased and not even afraid of making it known. Because again, there’s a universe where I would have grown up a Colonels fan and Soul Power shows what we lost in them folding up shop.

If John Y. Brown Jr. didn’t have Democratic Party responsibilities taking him away from overseeing operations, Ellie Brown would never have gotten the opportunity of a lifetime. In doing so, she empowered women to play a bigger role in the sports business. Thankfully, production on the documentary started prior to her 2024 passing. She’s joined by former Kentucky Secretary of State John Y. Brown III in sharing their memories.

Without the ABA, we don’t get the likes of Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Spencer Haywood, George Gervin, Rick Barry, and George Karl making their names known. And without George Karl appearing on a podcast, Soul Power might not have ever happened. But it did and for this, basketball fans are grateful.

The Silnas wanted to bring their St. Louis team into the NBA and when they couldn’t, they signed the greatest deal in sports history and made millions in the process. Nobody could have ever imagined TV revenue becoming what it did. I’m sure they wish they had a team over millions of dollars in TV revenue.

Soul Power isn’t a baseball documentary but there’s a reason why Bob Costas appears in the film. Never mind the fact that he was part of NBC on NBA for so many years, he was part of the broadcasting team calling games in St. Louis. He recalls one of his earliest memories where he slipped up. If he made that mistake today, his career would have probably been over. But thankfully, he kept his job and became one of the best broadcasters in sports history.

Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association is an essential basketball documentary and a must-watch for anyone that calls themselves a fan of the sport. Today’s NBA owes more to the ABA’s style of play than to its own pre-1976 identity, making Soul Power not just a history lesson but a reminder of who really shaped modern basketball.

Soul Power Episode Guide

• Episode 101 (Change Is Coming): The ABA forms in 1967 and steals one of the NBA’s biggest stars in the process.
• Episode 102 (Growing Pains): The ABA becomes the first professional league to draft underclassmen, launching the careers of Spencer Haywood and Dr. J.
• Episode 103 (Icarus): By utilizing unconventional leadership, the ABA experiences unprecedented success on the court.
• Episode 104 (Party’s Over): Amidst financial woes, the crumbling ABA enters merger negotiations with the NBA.

DIRECTOR: Kenan Kamwana Holley
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Common, Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Todd Lieberman, George Karl, Brett Goldberg, Kenan Kamwana Holley
NARRATOR: Common
FEATURING: Bob Costas, Julius Erving, Bob Ryan, Rick Barry, Larry Brown, Willie Wise, Eternal Polk, Mack Calvin, Van Vance, Pete Croatto, Joe Hamilton, Dan Issel, Jason Levin, George Gervin, Spencer Haywood, Lloyd Gardner, Reb Brownell, Steve Chubin, James Jones, Scott Tarter, Todd Boe, Ellie Brown-Moore, Charles Barkley, Nelson George, Swin Cash, George Karl, Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Ed Rush, Amy Tinkham, Artis Gilmore, Hubie Brown, Ralph Simpson, Bobby Jones, Larry Jones, Theresa Runstedtler, Jim Eakins, Darnell Hillman, Gerald Govan, Terry Stembridge, Dan Silna, Chuck Williams, Pat Boone, Mark Cuban, Joe Robert Cole, Michelle Beadle, James Brown, Walt Frazier, Clayton Davis, Gayle Brown, Theresa Runstedler, Tim Hardaway, Bob Netolicky, George Mumford, Jerry Colangelo, Tom Hoover, Henry Logan, George McGinnis, Billy Keller, Mark Montieth, John Y. Brown III, Nancy Leonard, Louie Dampier, Patsy Baker, Doug Moe, Chris Mullen, J. Bruce Miller, Wayne Witt, Dana Benbow

Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association premieres February 12, 2026 exclusively on Prime Video. Grade: 5/5

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