вЂњIt would have been life-changing,вЂќ she said.

But $2,000 a month would have been a windfall for the family, said SmithвЂ™s wife, Helen. At least he had the health insurance from Ford. Smith considered himself lucky compared to his former teammates. Others canвЂ™t even afford dentures or a new suit to go to church. Some die alone with no money for a gravestone. These former ABA playersВ are in their late 60s, 70s and 80s. More: Former ABA players struggling and running out of time: вЂThe NBAвЂ™s waiting for us to die offвЂ™ вЂIt would have been life changingвЂ™ More: NBA says itвЂ™s in discussions to help former ABA players: вЂTheyвЂ™ve been waiting a long timeвЂ™

вЂњAnd he said, вЂI would do anything to get the NBA to help these guys.вЂќ вЂњHe grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to him,вЂќ said Tarter, who took the photo. It was a photo SmithВ wanted people to see. Weeks before Smith died at the age of 79 on May 18, lyingВ in a hospital bed next to an ABA basketball, a chilling photo was taken. He left this gut-wrenching photo behind weeks before his death. The pension from the NBA never came.ДЄBA player Sam Smith died waiting on a pension from NBA. Smith didnвЂ™t have the money to pay for his daughterвЂ™sВ funeral.Дropping Dimes helped and Smith waited some more, hoping. STAY UP-TO-DATE: Subscribe to our Sports newsletter now! His daughter had died a single mother, leaving her 5-year-old son with autism for Smith and his wife, Helen, to raise. Two years later, Smith had to make another call. Hoping for the $2,000 a month pension he said he was owed by the NBA for his five years playing in the ABA, which merged with the NBA in 1976. Smith waited, hoping he wouldnвЂ™t have to make another call to Dropping Dimes. Dropping Dimes gave him the money and told him it was a gift, not a loan. He needed a loan, and insisted it be a loan, for $250. Smith didnвЂ™t have the money to get to his reunion, he told Dropping Dimes CEO and founder Scott Tarter. More years passed.ДЄs SmithвЂ™sВ 50th reunionВ for his Kentucky Wesleyan NCAA Division II championshipВ approached five years ago,В he calledВ the Dropping Dimes Foundation, which helps struggling ABA players and their families. After winning an ABA championship with the Utah Stars, he got a job as a security supervisor at the Ford assembly plant in Indianapolis.

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