(AP) – The NBA had enormous problems. Drug abuse among players was believed to be rampant. Many arenas were half-empty or worse on game nights. Most franchises were losing money. Some were on the cusp of folding. And when games were on television, nobody was watching.
That was how the 1980s began.
“This league,” Hall of Famer Jerry West said, “was in trouble.”
Saviors, a lot of them, were coming.
Ther…