This is a list of current and defunct basketball leagues around the world. The impetus for the American Basketball League occurred during the summer of 1960 when Bob Short moved his National Basketball Association franchise, the Minneapolis Lakers, to Los Angeles for the 1960-61 season. Abe Saperstein, owner of the Harlem Globetrotters who ‘s team had frequently performed as the opening game for NBA teams to bolster attendance throughout the 1950’s, felt that he had been promised the NBA franchise in Los Angeles, and in response, announced the formation of a rival league, the American Basketball League in March of 1961, with the league to begin play in October of 1961 with the season split into two halves.