London Lightning

London Lightning
2018–19 NBL Canada season
Division Central Division
League National Basketball League of Canada
Founded 2011
History London Lightning
2011–present
Arena Budweiser Gardens
Location London, Ontario
Team colours Yellow, black, white
              
Head coach Keith Vassell
Ownership Vito Frijia
Championships 4
(2012, 2013, 2017, 2018)
Website LightningBasketball.ca
Uniforms
Alternate

The London Lightning is a Canadian professional basketball team based in London, Ontario, Canada. The team was a charter member of the National Basketball League of Canada which began play with the 2011–12 season (of which they are the inaugural and three-time champions). The Lightning plays its home games at the Budweiser Gardens.

History

The Lightning name was announced on August 12, 2011.[1] On August 17, former Albany Patroons and Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry head coach Micheal Ray Richardson was announced as the Lightning's first head coach.[2] The Lightning would go on to win the 2012 NBL championship, defeating the Halifax Rainmen 116-92 on March 25, 2012 at the John Labatt Centre to take the best-of-five championship series three games to two.[3]

Carlos Knox was unveiled as the new Lightning head coach on July 17, 2014.[4] He led the team to an 18–14 record.[5] Knox was dismissed in August 2015 after hiding player Jonathan Mills' positive drug test results from Vito Frijia and the league. He was replaced by former Mississauga Power head coach Kyle Julius later in the month.[6][7][8]

Julius would lead the Lightning to back-to-back championship appearances in 2016 and 2017, winning the championship in the latter.[9] He would be replaced by former Niagara College and interim Niagara River Lions head coach, Keith Vassell.[10]

Home arenas

Originally opened in 2002, the Budweiser Gardens is a sports-entertainment centre, in London, Ontario, Canada. The arena has a capacity of 9,000. The Lightning shares the arena with London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.[11]

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

London Lightning roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
SF 0 United States Bolden, Mo 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 29 – (1989-08-18)18 August 1989
G United States Kendrick, Jelan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 26 – (1992-10-09)9 October 1992
G 4 United States Capers, Marcus 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 28 – (1989-12-21)21 December 1989
G 6 Canada Dixon-Green, Martin 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg)
F 10 Haiti Dalembert, Yohanny 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (110 kg)
C 11 United States Akinkugbe, Bryan  6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg)
G/F 15 United States Williamson, Garrett 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 30 – (1988-06-15)15 June 1988
F 30 United States White, Royce (I) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 260 lb (120 kg) 27 – (1991-04-10)10 April 1991
F 31 United States Williams, Kirk 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg)
G 32 Canada Friesen, Joel 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 28 – (1990-08-16)16 August 1990
G 44 United States Anderson, Ryan 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 30 – (1987-12-19)19 December 1987
SG Canada Johnson, Kyle 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 29 – (1988-12-31)31 December 1988
G United States Herring Jr., Doug 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg)
PG Canada Cadougan, Junior 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 28 – (1990-05-07)7 May 1990
SF United States Boyd, Julian 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (100 kg) 28 – (1990-02-02)2 February 1990
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured
Updated: January 29, 2018

Season-by-season record

SeasonCoachRegular seasonPost season
WonLostWin %FinishWonLostWin %Result
2011–12Micheal Ray Richardson288.7781st52.714League Champions
2012–13Micheal Ray Richardson337.8251st62.750League Champions
2013–14Micheal Ray Richardson2317.5754th66.500Conference Semi-finals
2014–15Carlos Knox1814.5633rd23.400Conference Quarter-finals
2015–16Kyle Julius2614.6501st106.500League Runners-up
2016–17Kyle Julius355.8751st112.846League Champions
2017–18Keith Vassel2713.6751st116.647League Champions
Totals19078.7095 Regular Season Pennants5127.6544 League Championships

References

  1. ↑ https://lfpress.com/news/london/2011/08/12/18547261.html
  2. ↑ https://lfpress.com/sports/basketball/2011/08/17/18565196.html
  3. ↑ http://lightningbasketball.ca/view/londonlightning/home-page
  4. ↑ "Coach Knox takes Lightning in new direction". londoncommunitynews.com. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  5. ↑ "2014-15 Standings". NBLCanada.com. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Lightning dismiss Knox". LightningBasketball.ca. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "London Lightning coach Carlos Knox kept test secret". The London Free Press. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "London Lightning set to name Kyle Julius head coach". The London Free Press. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  9. ↑ "London Lightning coach, owner deny serious conflict led to coach quitting". The London Free Press. 13 June 2017.
  10. ↑ "London Lightning hire new coach for upcoming NBL season". GlobalNews.ca. 24 August 2017.
  11. ↑ "Arena Info". BudweiserGardens.com. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
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