Category: Basketball

Hours and hours of practice can lead to better basketball skills, but it can’t lead to better basketball size – at least not in a vertical sense.

But what if the playing field – or in this case, the court – was leveled?

Back in 1987 the International Basketball Association wanted to find out when it instituted a height limit. Yep, if you wanted to play in the IBA, you needed to be shorter than 6-5. If you showed up at a tryout standing 6-5 even, you were shown the door and pointed toward the nearest NBA scout.

The IBA was founded in July, 1987, and it would’ve been easy to dismiss except for one thing: Bob Cousy was director of operations.

“Basketball is the second most played sport in the world, next to soccer,” Cousy said in an interview with the Gannett News Service. “It’s big in Italy and Spain – all over Europe – and it’s played in China and a lot of Communist countries. Without question, there’s a tremendous foundation of interest.

“And in all of those places, 99 percent of the players are under 6-foot-4. There are great players out there 6-4 and under.”

The league’s first season was scheduled to begin in May, 1988, with teams in Chicago, Dallas, Fresno, Los Angeles, New York, Orange County, San Jose, Washington, Vancouver and three other sites (Hamilton, Ontario, Louisville, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Tampa and Toronto were being considered).

The first draft would be held in December, 1987, where players who attended tryout camps would be picked, and the second following the 1988 NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Players would be paid a minimum of $20,000, rosters would consist of 10 players and the regular season would feature 60 games.

Cousy also made it clear the IBA had no intention of competing with the NBA.

“No way,” he told Gannett. “This is the mistake the other leagues have made. Too many started out with the thought of going head-to-head or eventually being absorbed by the established league.

“The NBA has never been more popular – in ratings, in attendance – that’s great. The concept of our new league will fly because of that. We are simply going to offer an alternative.”

As is the case with most startups, there were quite a few changes between concept and execution.

When the circuit debuted in May, 1988, it had changed its name to the World Basketball League. Four teams that were part of the IBA wanted to delay their debut until 1989 so the original franchises were the Calgary 88’s, Chicago Express, Fresno Flames, Las Vegas Silver Streaks, Vancouver Nighthawks and Youngstown Pride.

It had also added some rule innovations, including 10-minute quarters, 30-second shot clock, a 16-foot foul lane, and a sudden death overtime structured so that the first team to score seven points was the winner.

 “It’s just like (Continental Basketball Association) ball,” Express public relations director Dan Currier told the Quad-City Times for a May 22, 1988, article. “The only difference is that there’s no dominating center of any kind. Other than that, it’s just like any other pro ball.”

The league lasted until 1992, which means it outlived most minor leagues of its kind. By the time it was done it had gone through 18 North American franchises and six international teams, and even raised its height limit to 6-7 in 1991.

The WBL folded on August 1, 1992, after four franchises went under.

“We regret having to make this decision,” WBL commissioner John F. Geletka. “We plan to sit down with owners and evaluate our next steps. I would certainly not rule out a WBL in 1993.”

Three days later Michael Monus, one of the league’s originators and the founder of Phar-Mor Inc., was accused of embezzling money from the discount drug store chain (and eventually convicted of embezzling $10 million, some of which was used to prop up the WBL).

The remaining Canadian franchises in Halifax, Hamilton, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg broke away to form the National Basketball League, but it made it only a year and a half before folding.

Twenty-six WBL players did play in the NBA for various stretches including John Starks, who was an NBA All-Star.

And Sidney Lowe suited up for five different NBA teams and is currently an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Nearly 30 years later it’s doubtful that many people remember the IBA/WBL – fondly or otherwise. But in a game dominated by big men, it deserves some credit for giving the little guys a chance.

The good news is, guard Jared Harper and forwards Zylan Cheatham and Malcolm Hill have been called up to the NBA from the Birmingham Squadron.

The bad news is, guard Jared Harper and forwards Zylan Cheatham and Malcolm Hill have been called up to the NBA from the Birmingham Squadron.

Of course, the main point of the NBA G league is to help players advance to basketball’s highest level, so to that end the team is certainly doing its job when it loses out on top talent. Harper (21.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game) has signed a Two-Way Contract with the Squadron’s parent club, the New Orleans Pelicans; Cheatham (14.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.15 steals per game) is headed to the Miami Heat on a 10-day contract; and Malcolm Hill (16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game) has agreed to a 10-day contract with the Atlanta Hawks. Cheatham and Hill benefited from hardship exemption rules which have been eased due to Covid-19 health and safety protocols in the NBA.

In the case of Harper, fans who come to Legacy Arena in 2022 should still get to see the former Auburn star play. Four years ago NBA rosters expanded from 15 to 17 players with the addition of two spots for players under “Two-Way Contracts.” Those players spend most of the season in the G League and not more than 45 days with their NBA team. They’re paid a corresponding daily amount based on the number of days they play in each league, and these spots are open only for players with four or fewer years of NBA service. The Two-Way Contract is for either one or two seasons.

Thing is, not a single man on the roster wants to spend any more time in Birmingham than he has to, which is not a knock on the city at all, just the nature of developmental ball. So when players get to make the jump, they jump at the chance.

But Ryan Pannone and his staff still want to win games, and a team that has reeled off seven victories in a row on the way to a 9-5 record in the Winter Showcase now has some reshuffling ahead. First, though, they get to hit the reset button.

After the in-season tourney to start the 2021-22 campaign, the teams wipe the state clean and start at 0-0 going into a 36-game regular season. Thus, the Squadron and every other club in the circuit now get a second chance to make a good first impression.

The regular season begins in El Segundo, California, when the Squadron takes on the South Bay Lakers on December 28. Birmingham will play its first six games on the road before returning to the Magic City on Saturday, January 8, to tangle with the Iowa Wolves at 7 p.m. In six home games the Squadron has averaged 2,855 fans per night.

Among returning players who have appeared in all of Birmingham’s games, guard Joe Young is the leading scorer with 14.7 points per game.

While the United States Football League helped pioneer the opposite season gridiron game, we shouldn’t forget the United States Basketball League, which did the same for roundball.

But while the USFL was three and out, the USBL hung on the rim for 22 years – all things considered, a pretty darn impressive feat.

The USBL was founded on December 20, 1984, by investor Daniel T. Meisenheimer III. He had no illusions about the USBL stealing talent from the NBA or competing against the senior circuit in any way. Instead, he simply wanted to offer more basketball to more people.

“Our goal is to bring affordable basketball to towns where the NBA doesn’t normally play,” Meisenheimer told the Associated Press. “We will be a realistically priced ($5 per seat) entertainment company and we’ll be an alternative to movies during the summer. We draw the people that maybe can’t afford to plunk down $30 for a (New York) Knicks game.”

The plan was to start with eight teams in 1985 – Atlanta, Long Island, Boca Raton, Atlantic City, Providence, New Haven, Springfield (Massachusetts) and White Plains (New York). NBA legend Walt Frazier was the owner of the Atlanta franchise.

“There’s more than enough talent around,” Frazier said. “We can get the players to make the league exciting. We can keep the players from going to Europe to play. After all, they are products of the U.S.”

The USBL was also looking for local organizers in Boston and Baltimore and hoped to eventually add franchises in Los Angeles, Utah, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and 10 other major markets.

Costs would be contained due to a $250,000 salary cap for each team, while a May draft would target local talent.

“Each team owner will be given a list of potential players who we feel will be most likely to play in our league,” Meisenheimer said. “Some players might want to play in our league and prove themselves to offer some visibility to the NBA for the future.

“The league will be considered a Triple-A plus farm system to the NBA.”

The regular season, starting in June, would consist of 40-50 games with playoffs beginning in September.

Now, this is where such stories usually end … a lack of funding causes the league to delay it launch for a year, then another year, then the upstart circuit that never actually started is quickly forgotten.

But that was not the case with the USBL.

It did, in fact, hit the court in 1985, although the lineup and location of the teams had changed. The charter franchises in Year One were the Connecticut (New Haven) Colonials; New Jersey (Jersey City) Jammers; Long Island Knights; Rhode Island (Warwick) Gulls; Springfield (Massachusetts) Fame; Westchester (New York) Golden Apples; and Wildwood (New Jersey) Aces.

The season consisted of 25 games and no postseason and Springfield, with a league-best 19-6 record, was declared USBL champions.

“We hope to have 30-40 franchises in three or four years,” Meisenheimer, who also owned the Long Island team, told the New York Daily News. “You may laugh, but we don’t want to grow and bypass the National Basketball Association. We think of ourselves as the fast food franchise of sports. And why not? Before McDonald’s, there was not fast food franchising.”

Manute Bol was one of the players during the inaugural season, and several with NBA experience – including Eddie Lee Wilkins and Sam Worthen – played on 1985 USBL teams.

And this was not a semi-pro venture. Bol got $25,000 for 25 games and other salaries ranged from $5,000 to $10,000.

The Daily News caught up with St. John’s point guard Mike Moses, who followed up a Final Four appearance with a USBL stint.

“I couldn’t think of a better summer job right after graduation,” Moses said.

That fact that the USBL had a measure of success right out of the gate was even more remarkable considering it was competing with both NBA summer leagues and the Continental Basketball Association, the official minor league pipeline to the NBA.

The league lost two teams but added three in 1986 (including two based in Florida) and made bigger headlines by signing “Lady Magic” Nancy Lieberman.  Lieberman, who played for Springfield, became the first woman to play in a men’s professional basketball league. A year later she moved on to the Long Island Knights while another woman, Lynette Richardson, signed with Miami.

Ultimately the league would also draft Cheryl Miller, Sheryl Swoopes and Rebecca Lobo, and in 1991 Sandhi Ortiz-DelValle became the first woman to officiate a men’s game when she worked the New Haven-Philadelphia tilt.

Despite long odds and competition from more established leagues, the USBL managed to play on year after year. The 1996 season was especially interesting, with the league going public with stock offerings and featuring one of the more unique moments in sports history. On June 15, boxer Roy Jones Jr. scored five points in helping the Jacksonville Barracudas defeat Treasure Coast, 107-94, then later that night stopped Eric Lucas in the 11^th round to retain his IBF super middleweight title.

Of course, franchise turnover was common; if you want to play the name game, there were 79 different nicknames and almost as many cities during the course of the circuit’s existence. But the league was innovative and served as a good training ground for future NBA players, with 60 spending time in the little league that could – and did.

On July 1, 2007, the Kansas Cagerz defeated the Brooklyn Kings, 95-92, to win the USBL championship in a clash that would prove to be the league’s final game.

The NBA Developmental League (now G League) was formed in 2001, and teams in Europe and Asia began snatching up more and more American players, eventually leaving the USBL the odd league out.

But when you speak of it, speak well. It did what it set out to do, and lasting more than two decades is a sign of success, not failure. The United States Basketball is no more, but it was far more than a footnote in basketball history.