London Lightning

London Lightning
League	NBL Canada 2011-2023 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	7 (2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Website	lightningbasketball.ca
Home Away Alternate

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

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, 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]

Personnel

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

London Lightning roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age G 6 Binney, Marvin   6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 34 – (1990-12-15)15 December 1990 SF 0 Bolden, Mo 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 35 – (1989-08-18)18 August 1989 SF 60 Capers, Marcus 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 35 – (1989-12-21)21 December 1989 G/F 35 Gaines, A. J. 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 31 – (1993-12-05)5 December 1993 SF 14 Isom, Mareik 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 217 lb (98 kg) 30 – (1994-07-25)25 July 1994 F 13 Iyekekpolor, Otas 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 28 – (1996-06-20)20 June 1996 F 21 Lufile, Abednego 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (110 kg) 30 – (1994-06-08)8 June 1994 C 32 Phillips, Randy 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (110 kg) 29 – (1995-07-17)17 July 1995 G 5 Strong, Omar 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 34 – (1990-05-16)16 May 1990 G 10 Tate, Jaylon   6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 30 – (1995-01-16)16 January 1995 SF 15 Williamson, Garrett 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 36 – (1988-06-15)15 June 1988	Head coach Doug Plumb Assistant coach(es) Nate Benjamin Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Transactions

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		33	7	.825	1st	6	2	.750	Champions
2013–14		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

1. "Mark Frijia Promoted to General Manager". OurSports Central. 26 August 2019.
2. "Lightning choice for pro basketball team | London | News | London Free Press". Archived from the original on 2012-04-02.
3. "Coach knows highs, lows | Basketball | Sports | London Free Press". Archived from the original on 2011-12-17.
4. "NBL: London Lightning | Home Page". Archived from the original on 2012-04-08. Retrieved 2012-03-26.
5. "Coach Knox takes Lightning in new direction". londoncommunitynews.com. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
6. "2014-15 Standings". NBLCanada.com. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
7. "Lightning dismiss Knox". LightningBasketball.ca. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
8. "London Lightning coach Carlos Knox kept test secret". The London Free Press . Retrieved 17 August 2015.
9. "London Lightning set to name Kyle Julius head coach". The London Free Press . Retrieved 17 August 2015.
10. "London Lightning coach, owner deny serious conflict led to coach quitting". The London Free Press . 13 June 2017.
11. "London Lightning hire new coach for upcoming NBL season". GlobalNews.ca. 24 August 2017.
12. "Lightning dump coach Vassell after lack-lustre start". The London Free Press. 11 December 2018.
13. "Arena Info". CanadaLifePlace.com. Retrieved October 14, 2024.

External links

• Official website