The Body Snatchers

"The war is on!" So declared Jack Dolph, commissioner of the American Basketball Association, after the breakdown of last year's merger talks with the rival National Basketball Association. Dolph's plan of attack: "To raid any and all talent from any and all leagues." The N.B.A., which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, responded in kind, ambushing the four-year-old A.B.A. at every turn. The result has been a series of messy battles that make pro basketball's Greco-Roman skirmishes under the boards look like child's play.

Last week's N.B.A. draft was a case in point. The Cleveland Cavaliers, first of the league's 17 teams to choose from this year's crop of college players, selected Austin Carr, the flashy guard from Notre Dame who averaged 38 points a game this season. Carr, said Cleveland Coach Bill Fitch, was the best "available" player in the country. Among the unavailable players was 7-ft. 2-in. Artis Gilmore of Jacksonville, who had been snatched up by the marauding Kentucky Colonels of the A.B.A. for a reported $2,600,000. Villanova's Howard Porter, the Most Valuable Player in this year's N.C.A.A. playoffs, was also bypassed by the N.B.A. teams in the first round because he supposedly had been spirited away by the A.B.A.'s Pittsburgh Condors.

Slick Maneuvering. By the same token, the A.B.A., which tried to get the jump on the N.B.A. by holding its draft four months ago, ignored All-America Sidney Wicks of U.C.L.A. in its first round. Rumor had it that Wicks was already committed to the N.B.A.'s Portland Trail Blazers. The battle for the bodies has become so intense this season that the hordes of agents descending on campuses almost have to stand in line. Says Norman Blass, a hard-sell recruiter for Athletics Advisory Group Inc.: "There are more agents than there are players to represent."

And more slick maneuverings than there are on the court. The N.B.A.'s Buffalo Braves, for example, picked 7-ft. Elmore Smith of Kentucky State as their first draft choice despite the fact that the Carolina Cougars had done the same in the A.B.A. draft. Presumably the Braves had got wind of a deal involving the Cougars and another 7-ft. center, All-America Jim McDaniels of Western Kentucky. If the Cougars landed McDaniels, the Braves apparently reasoned, they would give up Smith without a fight. Sure enough, the day after the N.B.A. draft, the Cougars signed McDaniels for $2,500,000. In so doing, however, the Cougars blatantly defied their fellow A.B.A. team, the Utah Stars, who had drafted McDaniels as their No. 1 pick.

Tremors to Come. Unfortunately, nobody seems to be playing by the rules these days. Last year, when the A.B.A.'s Denver Rockets signed All-America Spencer Haywood after his sophomore season at the University of Detroit, teams from both leagues complained that Denver had violated the "four-year rule," which prohibits the recruitment of a college player until after his class graduates. The Rockets, explaining that Haywood was the sole means of support for his mother and nine younger brothers and sisters, cited a league proviso exempting "hardship cases." Happy to deny the N.B.A. another star, the A.B.A. went along. This season Haywood had a contract dispute with the Rockets and jumped to the N.B.A.'s Seattle SuperSonics for $1,500,000. The N.B.A.'s Chicago Bulls, among seven others, immediately cried "illegal player," conveniently neglecting to mention that they too had tried to sign Haywood.

Recently, in a decision that shakes the structure of the sport, Federal Judge Warren Ferguson declared that the four-year rule violates the Sherman Antitrust Act and that Haywood is free to play with Seattle. Already, in the aftermath of the ruling, there are indications of further tremors to come:

>In the second round of the N.B.A. draft, the Buffalo Braves turned the tables on Seattle by selecting Haywood on a gamble. Taking their lead from the SuperSonics, the Braves seemed to set a new rule of their own: grab whom you can any way you can, and then let the courts thresh it out.

>The day after Judge Ferguson's ruling, the Memphis Pros signed Johnny Neumann of Mississippi for $2,000,000. Neumann, a 6-ft. 6 1/2-in. sophomore, was the leading college scorer this season with a 40.1 average. A.B.A. Commissioner Dolph said pointedly: "It's not a hardship case."

> The N.C.A.A., alarmed by such campus raids, announced last week that it was investigating reports that seniors from U.C.L.A., Villanova and Western Kentucky, the three top finishers in this year's N.C.A.A. playoffs, had signed pro contracts before their college seasons ended. If any or all of the reports prove true, the N.C.A.A. can invalidate the player and his team's entire season.

Clearly, it is time for peace talks between the two warring leagues. And the agenda will have to include more than just a merger agreement. The leagues would first need a special congressional exemption from antitrust laws. Further, they must reconcile their differences with the players. The N.B.A. Players' Association has vowed to fight any merger or common draft that "restrains and restricts" a player's ability to use competitive bidding to win higher salaries. Lou Carnesecca, coach of the A.B.A.'s New York Nets, spoke for everyone concerned about pro basketball when he said last week: "Before this thing gets completely out of hand, representatives from the N.B.A., the A.B.A. and the N.C.A.A. should get together and set up guidelines so that this insanity will stop. Otherwise we're going to destroy ourselves."

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