London Lightning

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London Lightning
London Lightning logo
League NBL Canada 2016-2023
BSL: 2023–present
Founded 2011
History London Lightning
2011–present
Arena Budweiser Gardens
Location London, Ontario
Team colours Yellow, black, white
              
General manager Mark Frijia[1]
Head coach Doug Plumb
Ownership Vito Frijia
Championships 6
(2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023)
Website lightningbasketball.ca
Uniforms
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Home jersey
Kit shorts.png
Team colours
Home
Kit body.png
Away jersey
Kit shorts.png
Team colours
Away
Kit body.png
Alternate jersey
Kit shorts.png
Team colours
Alternate

The London Lightning is a Canadian professional basketball team based in London, Ontario, Canada, with home games at the Budweiser Gardens. The team competes in the Basketball Super League


History

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

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.[13]

Current roster

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

London Lightning roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
G 6 Canada Binney, Marvin Injured 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1990-12-15)15 December 1990
SF 0 United States Bolden, Mo 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1989-08-18)18 August 1989
SF 60 United States Capers, Marcus 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1989-12-21)21 December 1989
G/F 35 United States Gaines, A. J. 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1993-12-05)5 December 1993
SF 14 United States Isom, Mareik 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 217 lb (98 kg) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1994-07-25)25 July 1994
F 13 Canada Iyekekpolor, Otas 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1996-06-20)20 June 1996
F 21 Canada Lufile, Abednego 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (110 kg) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1994-06-08)8 June 1994
C 32 United States Phillips, Randy 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (110 kg) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1995-07-17)17 July 1995
G 5 United States Strong, Omar 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1990-05-16)16 May 1990
G 10 United States Tate, Jaylon Injured 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1995-01-16)16 January 1995
SF 15 Canada Williamson, Garrett 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1988-06-15)15 June 1988
Head coach
  • Doug Plumb
Assistant coach(es)
  • Canada Nate Benjamin

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured

RosterTransactions

Season-by-season record

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
Totals 227 105 .684 53 30 .639 4 championships

References

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External links