The Cincinnati Slammers , originally the Ohio Mixers , were a professional basketball team based in Lima , Ohio from 1982 to 1984 and Cincinnati , Ohio from 1984 to 1987. They were members of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). The team was admitted into the CBA as an expansion franchise in 1982. Team owner Tom Sawyer served as the Mixers' head coach during their two season. Jerry Robinson underwrote the re-location of the franchise to Cincinnati before the 1984–85 season. Sawyer stayed on as head coach to the newly re-branded Cincinnati Slammers, but resigned during their first season at which point assistant coach Tom Thacker took over the position. Herb Brown was hired as head coach before the 1985–86 season and led the team until they went defunct following the 1986–87 season.
59-608: The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) admitted an expansion franchise from Lima , Ohio on May 28, 1982, just before the CBA franchise fee increased from $ 100,000 to $ 125,000. They were designated to the Central Division of the CBA. They were branded as the Ohio Mixers. The Mixers played their first game on December 3, 1982. Ohio's Center Rich Kelley was their first player in franchise history to get signed to
118-567: A National Basketball Association (NBA) contract when he signed a 10-day deal on December 28, 1982, with the Denver Nuggets . Kelly went on to play the rest of the season with in the NBA, eventually joining the Utah Jazz after Denver traded him for Danny Schayes and cash considerations. On December 31, 1982, Mixers' guard Dwight Anderson was signed to a 10-day contract with Denver, but
177-782: A contract on October 16, 1984. When asked by the United Press International how it felt to be close to his alma mater , Chapman responded, "It feels good [...] I'll be close to home and there will be a lot of [NBA] scouts here watching us." The Slammers recorded their first win of the season against the Louisville Catbirds , by a score of 111–90. Cincinnati center Dewayne Scales scored a game-high 29 points and 13 rebounds, followed by Slammers player Darrell Gadsden who scored 26 points. Head coach Tom Sawyer resigned his position in early January 1985. Tom Thacker , who had been Cincinnati's assistant coach ,
236-413: A no foul-out rule and a change in the way league standings were determined. Under the "7-Point System", seven points were awarded each game: three points for winning a game and one point for every quarter a team won. As a result, a winning team would wind up with four to seven points in the standings, while a losing team could collect from zero to three points. This made for at least some fan interest even in
295-492: A professional Northeastern regional league and as an unofficial feeder system to the NBA and ABA . The CBA's first commissioner was Harry Rudolph, father of NBA referee Mendy Rudolph . Steve A. Kauffman , currently a basketball agent, succeeded Rudolph as commissioner in 1975. Kauffman executed a plan to bring the Anchorage Northern Knights into the league beginning with the 1977–78 season. Kauffman kept
354-480: A randomly selected fan could hit one shot from the far foul line, 69.75 feet (21.26 m). No one won the insured prize, but the shot attracted national media coverage in Sports Illustrated , The New York Times , and The Sporting News . In 1984, the CBA signed a cable television contract with BET with 10 CBA games televised on a tape delay. For national media attention, the league created
413-499: A second 10-day contract. After the second 10-day contract, the team had to either return the player to his CBA team or sign him for the balance of the NBA regular season. The CBA teams, in turn, received compensation for each 10-day contract. By 1980, the CBA had become the official development league of the NBA. CBA teams had exclusive rights to players released by their NBA affiliated teams. NBA teams could sign players from any CBA team. By 1986, 54 former CBA players were playing in
472-596: A story of this player: "Tom Payne, a 7-foot-1-inch former professional basketball player who spent 11 years in a Kentucky prison after a rape conviction, is scheduled to make his boxing debut at Los Angeles on June 14 in a four-round bout against Nick DeLong of Long Beach, Calif. After his parole late last year, he played with the Louisville Catbirds of the Continental Basketball Association. Another Louisville Catbirds player
531-638: The American Basketball League (1961–1962) in adding a three-point line, the Eastern League added a three-point line for its 1964–65 season. Although three-point shots during the 1960s were few and far between, the Eastern League developed several scorers who used the three-point shot to their advantage. For the 1970–71 season, the league rebranded itself the Eastern Basketball Association, operating as
590-643: The Eastern Basketball Association , was a men's professional basketball minor league in the United States from 1946 to 2009. The Continental Basketball Association was founded on April 23, 1946, under its previous name, the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League. It went on to bill itself as the "World's Oldest Professional Basketball League", since its founding pre-dated the founding of
649-859: The Hazleton Mountaineers had three African-American players on their roster during the season – Bill Brown, Zack Clayton and John Isaacs . Isaacs previously played with an all-black touring squad (the Washington Bears), while Brown and Clayton were alumni of the Harlem Globetrotters . During the 1955–56 season, the Hazleton Hawks Eastern League team was the first integrated professional league franchise with an all-black starting lineup: Tom Hemans, Jesse Arnelle , Fletcher Johnson, Sherman White and Floyd Lane. The all-black Dayton Rens competed in
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#1732787816316708-1180: The National Basketball Association by two months. The league fielded six franchises, five of which were in Pennsylvania : Allentown , Hazleton , Lancaster , Reading , and Wilkes-Barre . A sixth team, Binghamton , was located in New York , but moved to Pottsville in Pennsylvania mid-season. In 1948, the league was renamed the Eastern Professional Basketball League, and additional franchises were added in three additional Pennsylvania cities, Williamsport , Scranton , and Sunbury , three New Jersey cities, Trenton , Camden , and Asbury Park , three in Connecticut , New Haven , Hartford , Bridgeport , and in Wilmington, Delaware , and Springfield, Massachusetts . From
767-711: The New York Knicks defeated the Allentown Jets 131–102 at Allentown; and a contest in April 1961, in which the Boston Celtics also played an exhibition contest against Allentown (defeating the Eastern Leaguers soundly). The Eastern League became a haven for players who wanted to play professionally, but were barred from the NBA because of academic restrictions. Even though Ray Scott had left
826-752: The "CBA Sportscaster Contest" to select a color commentator for its BET telecasts. With tryouts nationwide, the promotion was featured on the NBC Nightly News , Entertainment Tonight , Sports Illustrated and other media. The contest was won by a NJ high school basketball coach, Bill Lange, who later coached the Philadelphia Spirit minor league team in the United States Basketball League. After two tape-delayed seasons on BET, CBA games moved to ESPN , with 13 games televised live. ESPN sportscaster Bob Ley did
885-474: The 1948–49 National Basketball League. During the early years of the CBA, when it was known as the EPBL, the league's relationship with the NBA was frosty at best. The NBA sent several players to the Eastern League for extra playing time, and for several seasons two Eastern League teams played the opening game of a New Year's Eve doubleheader at Madison Square Garden (with the NBA playing the nightcap game). Although
944-488: The 1950s through the 1960s, many NBA teams had unofficial quotas on the number of black players on their teams. Many players joined other professional leagues, including the EPBL. The league was fast and physical, often played in tiny, smoke-filled gyms across the Northeastern United States , and featuring the best players who could not make many NBA teams because of the quotas. Following the lead of
1003-466: The 1979–80 NBA season, the NBA used the CBA to test an innovation as part of the basket, the breakaway rim , in the 1980–81 CBA season. Three designs were chosen to be used in games, being chosen from ten prototype designs. Several college basketball players were asked to try to break the rims before being introduced in the CBA. When force was placed upon the spring-loaded rim, it would be pulled down, then spring safely back in place. The NBA and CBA adopted
1062-588: The 1985–86 season, Slammers' part-owner Jerry Robinson announced he was selling his interest in the Cincinnati CBA franchise. According to Robinson, the Slammers had lost $ 500,000 during their two seasons in Cincinnati. He also stated that the average attendance for home games was 940 spectators. During the playoffs, the Slammers could only muster 1,500 persons on average. Their small crowds did not deter
1121-473: The 1986 CBA Western Division Semifinals where they played the Evansville Thunder . The Thunder managed to win one game in that series, but the Slammers were victorious in four games advancing them to the 1986 Western Division Finals. The La Crosse Catbirds advanced the 1986 CBA Finals over Cincinnati after winning four games of the series to the Slammers' two games. In spite of their success during
1180-591: The 1987–88 season the CBA shifted their focus away from big markets (like Cincinnati) to smaller ones. Slammers owner Jerry Gordon was given a year to find a small market buyer who could re-locate before the 1988–89 season. Gordon looked at Canton, Ohio as a possible new home for the Slammers, but he found little interest from potential buyers and city officials. Krause Gentle , owner of the convenience store chain Kum & Go , approached Slammers owner Jerry Gordon about buying
1239-614: The 2000–01 season. Before the 2000–01 season, the CBA signed a television contract with BET to broadcast up to 18 games, including the CBA All-Star Game, although the CBA folded midway through the season. Several of its teams briefly joined the now-defunct International Basketball League . Highlights of Thomas's ownership of the CBA included: In fall 2001, CBA and IBL teams merged with the International Basketball Association and purchased
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#17327878163161298-528: The 57 pick in the 1986 CBA draft; in the 1994 CBA draft Mexican soccer player Jorge Campos was drafted by the Mexico Aztecas , despite his ineligibility. In 1997, Lamar Odom , then a highly recruited high school prospect, was given the opportunity to enter the CBA draft and choose the team he wanted to play for, reversing the traditional drafting process; Odom, however, decided not to hire an agent and opted to play in college. The commissioners of
1357-718: The CBA were: Louisville Catbirds The Louisville Catbirds were a basketball team of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) who played in the mid-1980s. The Catbirds played two seasons in 1983–85 in Kentucky before moving to La Crosse, Wisconsin , in which the team would reach the CBA finals three times, winning twice (1990 and 1992). Head coach Flip Saunders led to the defeating Eric Musselman's Rapid City Thrillers team both times. Vincent Hamilton , Andre Turner , Tony White , Dwayne McClain , Carlos Clark , and Bill Martin helped
1416-505: The CBA. From 1978 through 1986, CBA commissioner Jim Drucker created several new rules to raise fan interest, which were then adopted by the league: The CBA established a draft in 1985, following the NBA's decision to reduce its draft from 10 rounds to 7. This allowed the CBA teams to have a wider selection of players: the selection criteria were the same as the NBA draft. As with the NBA draft, players had to renounce their college eligibility if they wanted to declare early. While initially
1475-545: The Catbirds achieve their franchise's first title in 1990. Two years later, Vincent Hamilton , David Rivers , Mark Davis , Kenny Battle , Derrick Gervin , and Brian Rahilly took La Crosse to a second championship. The team defected following the 1993–94 season. One of the notable Catbird players was Tom Payne , the first African-American basketball player at the University of Kentucky . A New York Times article told
1534-599: The Eastern League a year before) were now in ABA uniforms. The ABA continued to siphon off NBA and Eastern League players, leaving the Eastern League with only six teams in 1972 and four teams in 1975. Only the ABA-NBA merger in June 1976 kept the Eastern League alive, as an influx of players from defunct ABA teams joined the league. In 1979, the NBA signed four players from the newly renamed CBA. The CBA, receiving no compensation from
1593-463: The NBA for these signings, sued the NBA. The suit was settled and in exchange for the right to sign any CBA player at any time, the NBA paid the CBA $ 115,000; it also paid the CBA $ 80,000 to develop NBA referees in the CBA. During this time, the NBA created the "10-day-contract", where an NBA team could sign a CBA player for 10 days, at the pro rata NBA minimum salary (as per the NBA's collective bargaining agreement ). The NBA team could re-sign him to
1652-403: The NBA played exhibition games with the Eastern League during the late 1940s and early 1950s, the exhibition games ceased in 1954 when the Eastern League signed several college basketball players involved in point-shaving gambling scandals during their college years, including Jack Molinas , Sherman White , Floyd Layne , and Al Roth . The Eastern League also signed 7-foot center Bill Spivey ,
1711-777: The NBA, essentially acting their farm team . The 1983–84 Mixers featured NBA players Wes Matthews and Billy Ray Bates . Matthews was called up to the NBA twice that season, first with the Atlanta Hawks and finally with the Philadelphia 76ers . Bates was attempting an NBA comeback, which on top of joining the Mixers included playing for Crispa Redmanizers of the Philippine Basketball Association . Although Bates never made it back on an NBA roster, he did play professional basketball until 1988. At
1770-571: The NBA, including Phil Jackson (Albany Patroons), Bill Musselman ( Tampa Bay Thrillers ), Eric Musselman (Rapid City Thrillers), Flip Saunders (LaCrosse Catbirds) and George Karl (Montana Golden Nuggets). In 2001, the NBA formed its own minor league, the National Basketball Development League (the NBDL or "D-League"). At the end of the 2005–2006 season, three current and one expansion CBA franchises jumped to
1829-562: The NBA. In 1987 the CBA announced that teams were allowed to sign players banned for drug use by the NBA. Mitchell Wiggins , who was suspended by the NBA for cocaine use, was one of the first players signed in the CBA under the new rule that was implemented in conjunction with the NBA and NBA Players Association . During the 1993–94 season, the NBA–CBA affiliate relationship was replaced by an annual draft of NBA players. The draft gave CBA teams exclusive negotiating rights with NBA players in
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1888-541: The NBDL. During the 2006–07 season no players were called up from the CBA to the NBA, ending a streak of over 30 seasons of at least one call-up per year. That soon led to the beginning of the end for the CBA. The CBA followed largely the same basketball rules as the NBA and most other professional leagues. Sometimes rules adopted by the CBA on an experimental basis later became permanent in that league and were adopted by other levels of basketball as well; others remained unique to
1947-555: The Ohio Mixers, had their re-location costs underwritten by Jerry Robinson, the president of the Cincinnati Gardens where the newly branded Cincinnati Slammers would play. It was the first professional basketball team in that city since the Cincinnati Royals re-located to Kansas City , Missouri . The first player Cincinnati signed was former University of Dayton swingman Roosevelt Chapman when he inked
2006-632: The Slammers' head coaching position for the 1985–86 season. The season before Brown had coached the Puerto Rico Coquis where he received a $ 500 fine for an altercation with a CBA referee . Tom Thacker, who had been the team's head coach since Tom Sawyer resigned in January 1985, stayed with Cincinnati as an assistant coach to Brown. Slammers' head coach Herb Brown was named CBA Coach of the Month for January 1986. Cincinnati player Victor Fleming
2065-573: The University of Portland two months after his matriculation, the NBA could not sign Scott to a contract until Scott's class graduated. The EPBL, however, could sign him and Scott played 77 games for the Allentown Jets before later joining the NBA's Detroit Pistons . By the 1967–68 season, the Eastern League lost many of its players when the upstart American Basketball Association formed. Players such as Lavern "Jelly" Tart, Willie Somerset , Art Heyman and Walt Simon (all of whom were all-stars in
2124-531: The assets of the defunct CBA (including its name, logo and records) from the bankruptcy trustee and resumed operations as the CBA, assuming the former league's identity and history. The league obtained eight new franchises (for a total of ten) for the 2006 season. The Atlanta Krunk Wolverines and Vancouver Dragons deferred their participation until the 2007–2008 season and the Utah Eagles folded on January 25, 2007. The CBA's 2007–08 season began with 10 franchises,
2183-419: The centerfold of their game program, each identified with a unique serial number, and attempt to throw it through the moon roof of a new Ford Thunderbird parked at mid-court. Four fans were successful and a tie-breaker determined the winner who drove home with the new $ 17,000 car. In August 1999, the CBA's teams were purchased by an investment group led by former NBA star Isiah Thomas . The group bought all of
2242-607: The deal was not extended so he returned to Lima on January 9, 1983. Phil Jackson , who was later inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a head coach , made his professional head coaching debut against the Mixers on January 30, 1983, after the Albany Patroons fired Dean Meminger and Jackson was hired to take his place. On February 9, 1983, Ohio guard Kevin Figaro
2301-593: The draft was limited to players who were not drafted in the NBA, this later changed, and on several occasions players were drafted by both the NBA and the CBA. Some examples include Nick Van Exel (1993, Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA and Rapid City Thrillers of the CBA), Dontonio Wingfield (1994, Seattle SuperSonics and Rapid City Thrillers), Stephen Jackson (1997, Phoenix Suns and La Crosse Bobcats ), and Jason Hart (2000, Milwaukee Bucks and Idaho Stampede ). CBA franchises usually selected players who had
2360-462: The end of the season, their record was 23–21, which wasn't good enough to make the CBA post-season . During their two seasons in Lima, the Mixers played their home games at Lima Senior High School , which had a capacity for 3,800 persons. During the off-season before the 1984–85 season, the CBA approved the re-location of the Mixers from Lima, Ohio to Cincinnati . The Sawyer family of Lima, who owned
2419-423: The event of their release from an NBA roster. The CBA team owned exclusive rights to the draftee in perpetuity. During the 1980s and 1990s, the NBA's relationship with the CBA grew to the point where dozens of former CBA stars found their way onto NBA rosters, including Tim Legler (Omaha Racers), Mario Elie (Albany Patroons), and John Starks (Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets). The CBA also sent qualified coaches to
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2478-476: The former University of Kentucky standout who was accused of point-shaving; although Spivey was acquitted of all charges, the NBA still banned him from the league for life. After a few seasons, however, the NBA and EPBL resumed exhibition games in the 1950s (including a 1956 matchup in which the NBA's Syracuse Nationals lost to the EPBL's Wilkes-Barre Barons at Wilkes-Barre's home court). Other EPBL-NBA exhibition matchups include an October 1959 contest in which
2537-680: The franchise and re-locating it to Cedar Rapids, Iowa . The deal was approved by the CBA and the team was re-branded as the Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets before the 1988–89 season. Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association ( CBA ), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League , and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and
2596-456: The franchise was looking to relocate to Fort Wayne , Indiana following the 1986–87 season. Gordon did say that there was still the possibility the Slammers could be re-located, just not to Fort Wayne. Several days later, Gordon backtracked on his previous statement admitting that the Slammers were looking to relocate to Fort Wayne. Cincinnati had the second lowest attendance during the 1986–87 season, averaging 705 spectators per game. Going into
2655-674: The greatest number of teams to start a CBA season since the 2000–01 season. In addition to six returning franchises the CBA added three expansion teams – the Oklahoma Cavalry , the Rio Grande Valley Silverados and East Kentucky Miners ; the Atlanta Krunk joined the league after sitting out the 2006–07 season. The 2008–2009 season began with only four teams, instead of the expected five. The Pittsburgh Xplosion folded under unclear circumstances, and
2714-492: The higher chance to sign for them instead of signing overseas or in the NBA, even though some teams used their picks in the later rounds to select players who were likely to be drafted in the NBA, in the event these players were cut in the preseason. Some teams also used their picks for publicity: for example, Cheryl Miller , a female player who played for USC in college, was selected by the Rockford Lightning with
2773-497: The individually owned franchises of the CBA, in a $ 10 million acquisition. Over the course of the next 18 months, Thomas was faced with a plethora of business troubles, losing the league's partnership with the NBA and ultimately abandoning the league into a blind trust that left teams unable to meet payroll or pay bills. The combined-ownership plan was unsuccessful and, by 2001, the CBA had declared bankruptcy and ceased operations; it folded on February 8, 2001, without managing to complete
2832-413: The late stages of games that were otherwise blowouts; the trailing team could still get a standings point by winning the final quarter, especially if the team that was leading chose to rest some or all of its starters. The league used this method to calculate division standings from its implementation in 1983 until the league's end in 2009. After Darryl Dawkins shattered two basketball backboards during
2891-533: The league featured the "Easy Street Shootout". In that shootout, 14 contestants, one from each CBA city, were selected and the person making the longest shot won a $ 1,000,000 zero-coupon bond . The winner was Don Mattingly of the Evansville Thunder , unrelated to the New York Yankee baseball player . After the league's 1985 All-Star Game in Casper, Wyoming , the CBA invited fans to make a paper airplane from
2950-529: The league name because he felt having a team in the Eastern League from Alaska might get the league additional notice and recognition. The establishment of the Anchorage franchise garnered national media attention, including a feature story in Sports Illustrated . Kauffman served as commissioner until 1978, when his deputy commissioner, Jim Drucker , took the reins. Drucker's eight-season reign
3009-409: The league scheduled games against American Basketball Association (ABA) teams for the first month of the season in an attempt to stay solvent. The maneuver was not enough. On February 2, 2009, the league announced a halt to operations, turning a scheduled series between the Albany Patroons and Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry into the league-championship series. During the 1946–47 Eastern League season,
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#17327878163163068-486: The most resilient design among the three for the 1981–82 season. Also during this time, the CBA created a series of halftime promotions. The most successful was the "1 Million Dollar CBA Supershot". In an era where the typical basketball halftime promotion, even in NCAA Division I and the NBA, featured a winning prize worth less than $ 100, the CBA's Supershot, created in 1983, offered a grand prize of $ 1 million if
3127-561: The play-by-play and former NBA player and coach Kevin Loughery provided color commentary. Drucker left as Commissioner, and his TV production company, Global Sports, produced the ESPN telecasts. In 1985, the CBA followed with the "Ton-of-Money Free Throw", which featured a prize of 2,000 pounds (910 kg) of pennies ($ 5,000) if a randomly selected fan could make just one free throw. Two of fourteen contestants were successful. The next year,
3186-410: The team from signing a contract with their home venue, Cincinnati Gardens, for the 1986–87 season. During a game on February 13, 1987, Cincinnati player Bill Martin knocked Charleston Gunners center Peter Verhoeven unconscious during a fight in the third quarter. Martin was suspended three games. Team owner Jerry Gordon, who purchased Jerry Robinson's interest in the Slammers, denied reports that
3245-572: Was Wiley Brown , a player (and later assistant coach) at the University of Louisville who played tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles for two seasons. Former University of Kentucky player Dirk Minniefield played for the Louisville Catbirds after being cut by the NBA's New Jersey Nets . This article related to sports in Louisville, Kentucky is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about
3304-438: Was given the head coaching position following Sawyers resignation. Cincinnati's finished their first season with the worst record in the league (17–31), although based on the league's point system they were second to last (135 points). In June 1985 the Slammers hired Linda Reed as their general manager. That marked the first time a woman had been hired as general manager to a professional basketball team. Reed offered Herb Brown
3363-635: Was named to the '83 CBA All-Star First Team. Ohio finished the 1982–83 CBA season with a win–loss record of 17–27. During the off-season in 1983 the Mixers traded power forward DeWayne Scales to the Detroit Spirits in exchange for center Cyrus Mann . It was reported in the Lexington Herald-Leader that the Mixers had a cooperative working agreement to develop players for the Atlanta Hawks and San Antonio Spurs of
3422-555: Was selected to the 1986 CBA All-Star Team. The Slammers finished the 1985–86 season with the best record in the Western Division (33–15). They also finished first in their division in points, which the CBA uses to determine their postseason seeding. During the first round of the 1986 CBA Playoffs the Slammers faced the Kansas City Sizzlers . Cincinnati swept Kansas City four games to none. The Slammers went on
3481-569: Was the longest in the league's history. Drucker, son of NBA referee Norm Drucker , continued as commissioner until 1986. As commissioner, the league was renamed the Continental Basketball Association in 1978, eventually leading to expansion across the country. During Drucker's term, the league expanded from 8 to 14 teams, landed its first national TV contracts and saw franchise values increase from $ 5,000 to $ 500,000, an aggregate increase in equity value from $ 24,000 to $ 7 million. The league instituted novel rule changes including sudden-death overtime,
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