MEMORIES OF BOB RAPP: "I remember when Boone was traded to the Stars from Dallas along with Glen Combs.  He was an immediate fan favorite in Salt Lake City due to his hustle and the way he was coached.  As I recall, he had a vertical leap of some 43 inches that allowed him to play bigger than he actually was.  When the lineup required speed, he was slotted in as a small forward.  I recall him blocking other players' shots from behind as the ball left their hands. The other memorable feature about Boone was his jump shots.  He could vary the trajectory of his jumper which allowed him to shoot over the likes of Artis Gilmore. On one occasion, he drove from his usual right side to behind the basket, and let loose a jumper.  The ball sailed high over the backboard and went in!  I also remember seeing him drive the lane against Artis, a rarity in the ABA."

MEMORIES OF DON BAKER: "My last time in an ABA arena was my first time at Denver's McNichols Arena. The year was 1976, and I saw the Denver Nuggets vs. the Spirits of St. Louis. The Spirits had just acquired two top-quality players -- Caldwell Jones and Ron Boone (a player I had always hoped to see). Since age fifteen, I'd been listening to Terry Stembridge's play-by-play broadcasts of Dallas Chaps games. Stembridge and the Chaps' fans always held Boone in high regard. Even after the franchise traded him to the Utah Stars in the middle of the 1970-71 season, Boone was still a fan favorite on his road swings into Dallas. I remember Stembridge's descriptions of Boone as a great offensive player and a very strong inside player. His game was a muscle game and with great upper body strength to match his gifted leaping ability, Boone was somewhat of an enforcer in his early days in the ABA. And indeed, that night in Denver, Boone was starting at the forward spot next to two ABA frontline players -- Caldwell Jones and Marvin Barnes. It was a tribute to his (Boone's) powerplay style. I remember the crowd that night being in awe of Marvin Webster making his first five turnaround jumpers. Then all the attention seemed to settle in on David Thompson vs. Marvin Barnes -- even though these two didn't really guard each other. As for myself, I was thrilled even more at watching Ron Boone backing in Byron Beck for a jumper and once even challenging the "Human Eraser " Marvin Webster at the rim. It was a typical Ron Boone-at-the-office type of performance as he outstaged (in my opinion) both Thompson and Barnes. Ron Boone was one of the fortunate ABA'ers that survived the basketball merger in 1976. He went on to play in the NBA for Kansas City, the Lakers, and eventually Utah again - this time with the Jazz. In 1980, the "Chief " (Boone acquired the nickname because of his partial American Indian bloodline) retired as a player. The Sporting News subsequently reported that the Jazz organization never gave Boone a retirement ceremony; in fact, they never even paid tribute to his thirteen year playing career. He simply walked off the court one final time, somewhat unnoticed -- much the same way he entered pro basketball in 1968 with the Dallas Chaparrals. I only saw him play once in his thousand-plus game pro career, but I remember Ron Boone."