The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to early-summer schedule. The league quickly became known as a development league for players, with many players moving up to the National Basketball Association (NBA) and many more playing in Europe after stints here. In 1996, the league made a stock offering, a rarity among sports leagues. However, in later years, the league declined as rival leagues appeared and USBL had a tougher time replacing teams that folded. In the last two seasons, the league was mainly a midwestern league, with teams mainly in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. After speculation that the USBL might fold after the 2007 season, the league announced that it would sit out the 2008 season and consider its options for the future. In January 2010, the league expressed hopes to resume play in April 2010. However, no further news has surfaced from the league. The final champions are the Kansas Cagerz, who won the title game on July 1, 2007.
The Gary Steelheads were a professional basketball team. They played in the International Basketball League (IBL), Continental Basketball Association (CBA), and the United States Basketball League (USBL). They were based in Gary, Indiana, United States, and played their home games at the Genesis Convention Center. The Steelheads were the 2006 CBA Eastern Conference champions.
Darrell Eugene Armstrong is a former American professional basketball player, who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association. He is currently an assistant coach for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, who won the championship in the 2010–11 season.
The Albany Patroons are a professional basketball team that plays in The Basketball League (TBL). Previously, the team competed in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and in the United States Basketball League (USBL). The Patroons won CBA championships in 1984 and 1988 as well as a TBL championship in 2019. The team's name derives from patroon, the term for a large landholders in New Netherland, the Dutch colony that once included the Albany region.
Devin LaVell Brown is an American former professional basketball shooting guard who played 8 seasons in the National Basketball Association. Brown won an NBA championship as a member of the San Antonio Spurs in 2005.
Willem Hendrik "Butch" van Breda Kolff was an American basketball player and coach.
World B. Free is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1975 to 1988. Free was known as the "Prince of Mid-Air", "Brownsville Bomber", and most often as "All-World".
Deng Gai is a South Sudanese former professional basketball player. A power forward, he briefly played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in several other leagues. Gai was the 2005 NCAA Division I men's basketball season blocks leader.
Clifford Eugene Levingston is an American professional basketball coach and former player.
Anthony George Douglas Mason was an American professional basketball player. In his 13-year career he played with the New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. He averaged 10.8 points and 8.3 rebounds in his 13-year NBA career. Mason earned the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1995 and led the NBA in minutes played in the following two seasons. In 1997, he was named to the All-NBA Third Team and the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. He was selected to the 2001 NBA All-Star Game. Mason was a member of the 1993-1994 New York Knicks team that reached the NBA Finals.
The Brooklyn Kings were a United States Basketball League franchise in Brooklyn, New York. They played in Downtown Brooklyn, on the main campus of Long Island University. Formed in 1999, the league suspended operations after the 2007 season and the team has been inactive since then. The team took their name from Kings County, which is a name coextensive with the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
Samuel Lee Worthen is an American former NBA player who currently is touring as the coach of the Washington Generals, the team that perennially loses to the Harlem Globetrotters. He was well known for his play at the Rucker Park Tournament.
The New Jersey Meteors were a United States Basketball League team located in Monmouth, New Jersey. The Meteors were originally scheduled as the Boston Freedom but moved to New Jersey before the start of the season.
Andrew Lawrence Nicholas is an American former professional basketball player. A 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) shooting guard, Nicholas was the leading scorer in the EuroLeague 2005–06 season, being awarded the Alphonso Ford Trophy. He is a two-time EuroLeague champion, winning in 2009 and 2011 with Panathinaikos.
Brian Ehlers is an American former professional basketball player who is best known for his collegiate career at Lafayette College from 1996–97 to 1999–2000. He then played professionally for two seasons in Europe before retiring from the sport to become a police officer in his hometown of Bay Shore, New York since 2007.
The Atlantic City Seagulls were a professional basketball team based in Atlantic City, New Jersey. They played 6 seasons in the United States Basketball League (USBL), winning 3 consecutive league titles between 1997 and 1999.
Bryan Gates is an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers since 2023. Gates began his coaching experience with the Idaho Stampede and the Rapid City Thrillers during the late 1990s. In the United States Basketball League, Gates was the head coach for the Oklahoma Storm and the Florence Flyers during the 2000s. During this time period, Gates and the Storm reach the league's championship game during 2000.
Aubrey Lamar Reese is an American former professional basketball player. A 6-foot point guard, he played college basketball at Murray State for 3 years, being named the OVC Player of the Year in 2000. After going undrafted in the 2000 NBA draft he started his professional career in the USBL in 2000, and the following season he was named the USBL Player of the Year. He then moved to Europe, and in 2003 he was the top scorer of the LNB Pro A in France. He has played in several countries in Asia and Europe, including France, Germany, Israel, Russia and Turkey.
Joe Dawson is an American-Israeli former professional basketball player. He played high school basketball at Druid High School in his native Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and played four years of college basketball for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, leading the team in scoring and rebounding multiple times and was an all-conference selection. After going undrafted in the 1982 NBA draft, he started his professional career in the Continental Basketball Association, and was selected as an all-star in each of the three seasons he played there. After a brief experience in the USBL he moved abroad, playing in Venezuela and France. In 1987 he had his first experience in the Israeli league with Hapoel Holon: he would play in Israel for 14 seasons, leading the league in both scoring and rebounding in 1992. He was named the 1992 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP. He was inducted in the Southern Miss Hall of Fame in 2011, and is the father of professional basketball player Shawn Dawson.
The Long Island Surf were a professional basketball team based in Long Island, New York. They played 14 seasons in the United States Basketball League (USBL).
