London Lightning
| London Lightning | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| League | NBL Canada 2016-2023 BSL: 2023–present | |||
| Founded | 2011 | |||
| History | London Lightning 2011–present | |||
| Arena | Canada Life Place | |||
| Location | London, Ontario | |||
| Team colours | Yellow, black, white | |||
| General manager | Mark Frijia[1] | |||
| Head coach | Jerry Williams | |||
| Ownership | Vito Frijia | |||
| Championships | 6 (2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023) | |||
| Website | lightningbasketball.ca | |||
| ||||
The London Lightning is a Canadian professional basketball team based in London, Ontario, with home games at Canada Life Place. The team competes in the Basketball Super League.
History
[edit]The Lightning name was announced on August 12, 2011.[2] The team was a charter member of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC) that began play for the 2011–12 season and won the league's first championship. The Lightning have won the most NBLC championships with six. 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.[3] 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.[4]
Carlos Knox was unveiled as the new Lightning head coach on July 17, 2014.[5] He led the team to an 18–14 record.[6] 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.[7][8][9]
Julius would lead the Lightning to back-to-back championship appearances in 2016 and 2017, winning the championship in the latter.[10] He would be replaced by former Niagara College and interim Niagara River Lions head coach, Keith Vassell.[11] Vassell led the Lightning to another championship in 2017–18, but was fired after a 4–4 record in the 2018–19 season.[12]
Home arenas
[edit]Originally opened in 2002, Canada Life Place 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.[13]
fart
[edit]Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
| London Lightning roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Season-by-season record
[edit]| Season | Coach | Regular season | Post season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| 2011–12 | Micheal Ray Richardson | 28 | 8 | .778 | 1st | 5 | 2 | .714 | Champions |
| 2012–13 | Micheal Ray Richardson | 33 | 7 | .825 | 1st | 6 | 2 | .750 | Champions |
| 2013–14 | Micheal Ray Richardson | 23 | 17 | .575 | 4th | 6 | 6 | .500 | Conference semi-finals |
| 2014–15 | Carlos Knox | 18 | 14 | .563 | 3rd | 2 | 3 | .400 | Conference quarter-finals |
| 2015–16 | Kyle Julius | 26 | 14 | .650 | 1st | 10 | 6 | .500 | League runners-up |
| 2016–17 | Kyle Julius | 35 | 5 | .875 | 1st | 11 | 2 | .846 | Champions |
| 2017–18 | Keith Vassell | 27 | 13 | .675 | 1st | 11 | 6 | .647 | Champions |
| 2018–19 | Keith Vassell Elliott Etherington |
22 | 18 | .550 | 1st | 2 | 3 | .400 | Division Semifinals |
| 2019–20 | Doug Plumb | 15 | 9 | .625 | Season curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||
| 2023–24 | Doug Plumb | 20 | 12 | .625 | 2nd | 2 | 1 | .667 | - |
| Totals | 227 | 105 | .684 | 53 | 30 | .639 | 4 championships | ||
References
[edit]- ^ "Mark Frijia Promoted to General Manager". OurSports Central. 26 August 2019.
- ^ "Lightning choice for pro basketball team | London | News | London Free Press". Archived from the original on 2012-04-02.
- ^ "Coach knows highs, lows | Basketball | Sports | London Free Press". Archived from the original on 2011-12-17.
- ^ "NBL: London Lightning | Home Page". Archived from the original on 2012-04-08. Retrieved 2012-03-26.
- ^ "Coach Knox takes Lightning in new direction". londoncommunitynews.com. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
- ^ "2014-15 Standings". NBLCanada.com. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ^ "Lightning dismiss Knox". LightningBasketball.ca. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
- ^ "London Lightning coach Carlos Knox kept test secret". The London Free Press. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ^ "London Lightning set to name Kyle Julius head coach". The London Free Press. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ^ "London Lightning coach, owner deny serious conflict led to coach quitting". The London Free Press. 13 June 2017.
- ^ "London Lightning hire new coach for upcoming NBL season". GlobalNews.ca. 24 August 2017.
- ^ "Lightning dump coach Vassell after lack-lustre start". The London Free Press. 11 December 2018.
- ^ "Arena Info". CanadaLifePlace.com. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
