ST. LOUIS - St. Louis has been out of the NBA spotlight for more than half a century, ever since the Hawks franchise departed the city for Atlanta in 1968. While some fans are hopeful the NBA might one day return to St. Louis, speculation persists that a historic deal negotiated by two brothers could be a reason why the league has stayed away.

Dubbed the "Greatest Sports Deal Of All Time" by Forbes, brothers Ozzie and Daniel Silna made history by generating $800 million through a unique negotiation, which followed their former St. Louis basketball team being excluded from the NBA during its 1976 merger with the American Basketball Association (ABA).

According to History.com, the ABA was a rival basketball league founded in 1967 that brought a new, fresh approach to the game of basketball. The league featured future NBA Hall of Famers Julius 'Dr. J' Erving, Moses Malone, George Gervin, and more, along with innovative rules such as the three-point line. Despite the league's innovative approaches, the ABA struggled with financial mismanagement and seemed destined to fold.

Coming off success in the textile industry, the Silna brothers had a goal to purchase an NBA team. After a bid to purchase the Detroit Pistons fell through in 1974, the duo turned their attention to the ABA, purchasing the Carolina Cougers for $1 million in hopes that an NBA-ABA merger was inevitable.

Following the big purchase, the brothers relocated the team to St. Louis, the biggest city at the time without a professional basketball team, and renamed it the Spirit of St. Louis in homage to the infamous plane flown in 1927 by Charles Lindbergh.

The Spirit of St. Louis basketball team briefly saw success in the ABA for two years with players like Moses Malone and Marvin Barnes, until the NBA agreed to merge with its rival league in 1976. Within the two-league merger, the NBA agreed to absorb four of the six ABA teams: the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, and New York Nets (now Brooklyn Nets). The Spirit of St. Louis and the former Kentucky Colonels were excluded from the merger but were able to negotiate deals with the NBA to dissolve their teams.

During negotiations, the NBA offered a payout to the two remaining teams worth more than $3 million, in which Kentucky's owner agreed too. Seeing the potential of the new league, the Silna brothers negotiated a deal with the NBA that paid them more than $2 million from ABA players drafted in the NBA and 1/7 of the TV revenues for the remaining ABA teams, a value that was able to generate them more than $300 million by 2014 due to the rise of popularity of the NBA and lucrative TV deals the league gained.

To end the agreement, the NBA paid the Silna brothers an additional $500 million in 2014, bringing their total earnings to over $800 million.

Many have wondered if the NBA's discomfort with the deal has discouraged a return to St. Louis. According to BetMGM, St. Louis is the fourth biggest market currently without an NBA team.

Although the NBA has had discussions to expand the league, St. Louis is seemingly in the shadows of the cities favored to receive new teams, Seattle and Las Vegas. However, efforts like a potential bid for a WNBA expansion team, backed by NBA star and St. Louis native Jayson Tatum, could bring the city closer to catching the NBA's attention.