NABA North American Basketball Association (Fictional Fantasy League)

[Dayne Amaze]

Hello everyone, over the past few months I have created a 24-team professional basketball association (with real life players) jam-packed with a 52 year history dating back to the inaugural season of 1961, complete with season-by-season statistics, playoffs, logo history, arena history and much, much more. 22 teams are based in the United States and 2 are based in Canada.

I do NOT own any rights to the logos or names of the franchises (apart from the "San Francisco Bay-Rollers", which I created myself) all images are from former NBA teams or from various other minor league basketball teams which I edited to fit the league itself. It's entirely for fun use and I am not claiming to ANY of the images or logos.

Going into the 2012-2013 NABA season, which will be the 53rd campaign for the North American Basketball Association, the league format looks like this:

Western Conference

Pacific Division

1. Vancouver Shuckers

2. Seattle Alpines

3. San Francisco Bay-Rollers

4. San Jose Flash

5. Anaheim Amigos

6. Las Vegas Silvers

West Division

1. Colorado Mountaineers

2. Texas Ghostriders

3. Kansas City Rhythm

4. St. Louis Spirits

5. Chicago Stags

6. Louisville Mustangs

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

1. Hartford Spartans

2. Providence Americans

3. New Jersey Quest

4. Long Island Claws

5. Baltimore Bullets

6. Virginia Squires

East Division

1. Cincinnati Accelerators

2. Columbus Royals

3. Pittsburgh Pipers

4. Buffalo Braves

5. Montreal Matrix

6. Tampa Bay Flare

C&C is greatly appreciated and I want to see who might be interested in logos and historic logo history, uniforms, league maps, courts, rosters, ownership, team attendance, championship history and team history so please give me some feedback! Thank you.

[jmoe12]

Sounds good, can't wait to see what you can do!

[Soarindude]

This looks good, interesting names for some of them.

[Dayne Amaze]

_{The first franchise we'll be taking a look at (in chronological order) are the Anaheim Amigos of the Pacific Division!}

_{The organization dates back to the Syracuse Warriors that were apart of the "original eleven" clubs in the North American Basketball Association.}

_{The Warriors were very popular in the city of Syracuse during their four year existence in the league, they are also the first ever basketball team to be based in the state of New York (today there are 2).}

_{Syracuse Warriors logo (1961-1965)}

_{The Warriors played at the Oncenter War Memorial Arena from 1961-1965 and weren't able to muster up much success in the tough division. Because of financial problems and being in a small-market, the Warriors were bought from an investor in Southern California and brought to San Diego and would become the "Amigos". This would be a massive breakthrough for expansion in the NABA, at the time all teams were based in the Eastern United States, and the arrival of a San Diego franchise in the market would be the revolution of teams expanding to the West Coast.}

_{The San Diego Amigos (1965-1967)}

_{The San Diego Sports Arena would be the home for the San Diego Amigos, but quickly things began looking grim for the team in "America's Finest City". The team had very bad attendance at the 14,500 seat arena (barely topping more than 6,400 in their two year existence), and the organization was rumored to move back to the Northeastern United States unless a massive change in ownership and fan support could be done to save the experimental franchise. Even worse, the franchise was still in turmoil despite the Amigos winning the 1967 NABA championship and players demanded that they deserved better support for whom they were playing so hard for.}

_{In 1967 the Anaheim Convention Center was built and included a 9,100 seat arena within the complex. At the time in the late 1960's, the city of Anaheim was a rapidly growing suburb in Orange County (thanks to Walt Disney) in fact the city had grown from a population of 14,000 to 104,000 in the length of a decade. This was quickly something that caught the attention of the NABA has a possible saving grace for California NABA basketball. The NABA granted permission for the franchise to pack up their bags and move to Anaheim to play at the Convention Center, and they quickly learnt it was definitely the right move for the lost -yet-statistically successful franchise.}

_{Anaheim Amigos (1967-present)}

_{The Anaheim Amigos would begin play at the start of the 1967-1968 NABA season, and people all over Orange County and Los Angeles County were excited that the latest NABA champion would be that much closer to home. From 1967 all the way to 1993 the Anaheim Convention Center would stay as the home for the successful franchise. In this time the NABA saw the Amigos win the championship two times, in 1973 and 1989. The Amigos were fairly up-and-down during their tenure at the Convention Center which constantly packed an over capacity crowd, but had turned into a team that superstars loved to go to if they wanted a relaxing and supportive fan environment and beautiful weather, along with the glitz and glamour of being in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, (the Disneyland aspect for player's children didn't hurt either).}

_{In 1993 the Honda Center was built, a state-of-the-art building that was ready to house a basketball franchise immediately. The Amigos would follow the NHL's Anaheim Ducks to the Honda Center, which would seat 18,336 fans (double the size of their former home). This was instant success for an already enviable organization, which turned from a small-market team with passionate fans to a celebrity-endorsed, super-star, stylish Southern California franchise.}

_{The Anaheim Amigos continued their success at their new home, with amazing attendance and eventual champions once again in 1997. But some struggle did hit the organization, they had back-to-back losing seasons in 2001-2002 and 2002-2003, before regaining some success with 50-32 and 49-33 records in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, advancing to the finals in 2006 notably. Two straight 27-55 record seasons in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 set them back a bit, but it was the reason why Kevin Durant would end up on the roster (thanks to the draft).}

_{In 2008-2009 the team struggled as they rebuilt around Durant, but improved with a 34-48 record finishing as the 7th seed in the Western Conference. They've made the playoffs three straight years now with Durant becoming a superstar in the NABA and look to take the next step and trying to win the championship in 2012-2013 for the first time since 1997.}

_{Will they take over the Pacific Division again?}

_{Find out soon!}

Interesting note! Actor Shia LaBeouf a native of Southern California and long-time Anaheim Amigos fan bought stakes in team ownership in 2009 and stays as the main celebrity figure for the franchise alongside other hard-core Hollywood and Disney movie star fans.

Native Californian philanthropist and entrepreneur, Eli Broad, has owned the Anaheim Amigos since 2004.

Lawrence Frank is the current head coach for the team and Masai Ujiri has been General Manger for the Anaheim Amigos since 2007.

[Dayne Amaze]

For the 2012-2013 season, the Anaheim Amigos are definitely the favorites in the Western Conference by far.

Dirk Nowitzki who joined the Anaheim Amigos in 2011 after his career-long membership with the Long Island Claws is the veteran presence that could send Anaheim over the edge with the combination of Durant and injured superstar Derrick Rose.

Nowitzki didn't have to think twice about joining the Amigos after being the face of the Claws since 1998 where he never was able to taste victory because of a lack-luster supporting cast year in, year out. He was extremely intrigued by the outstanding duo of Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose, while Darren Collison, Nicolas Batum and Al Horford remained as outstanding starters around the two young elite players.

Dirk has taken over the power forward position in Anaheim, lessening Charlie Villanueva's minute vastly. Collison has proved he is a solid and reliable point-guard and at the age of 26, this could be his prime and has a chance to prove it in the time of waiting for Rose's return. Batum is a decent shooting guard for the rotation but if the 24-year old isn't as consistent as he should be, Thabo Sefolosha is another great option for the position.

Small Forward and Power Forward are about as strong as an NABA team can get for the Amigos, while Horford finishes off the brilliant starting group with great size and power at Center.

The bench is also deep, Dunleavy, Bledsoe, Sefolosha, Tucker, Villanueva and O'Neal are all seasoned players who aren't scared to jump in the mix and plug in some minutes when necessary, and Coach Frank is pleased that he won't have to stress about his team while one-half of their franchise's face is on injured reserve. Rose isn't expected to play until the 2013-2014 season, which is something every team in the Western Conference is thankful for, although the Amigos are still going to be an extremely tough team to play against until then.

This team is built around elite mid-range and three-point shooting and tight, wall-to-wall collapsing defense which could easily translate into becoming NABA champions without a doubt. The inside post won't be a weakness for the Amigos either, so basically they're extremely dangerous from everywhere on the court. While Rose would push them over the edge as being the hands-down champions for 2012-2013, with his loss the Anaheim Amigos are still easily in the top 2 in the entire NABA for 2012-2013.

Here is the current roster for the Anaheim Amigos going into the 2012-2013 season !

Starters

Point Guard: Darren Collison - #4

Shooting Guard: Nicolas Batum - #88
Power Forward: Dirk Nowitzki - #41

Small Forward: Kevin Durant - #35
Center: Al Horford - #15

Bench (Minimum of 6)

Mike Dunleavy - #17 (Small Forward/Shooting Guard)
Eric Bledsoe - #12 (Point Guard)

Thabo Sefolosha - #2 (Shooting Guard/Small Forward)

P.J. Tucker - #27 (Small Forward)

Derrick Rose*** - #1 (Point Guard)

Charlie Villanueva - #31 (Power Forward)

Jermaine O’Neal - #7 (Center)

Coaching Staff

Head Coach: Lawrence Frank

General Manager: Masai Ujiri

Owner: Eli Broad, Shia LaBeouf (The Anaheim Amigos, Inc.)

***Injured

[Dayne Amaze]

Here are the current Anaheim Amigos uniforms (haven't been changed since their inauguration). The same design was used while they played in San Diego, making them the epitome of classic jerseys and history for the NABA.

Note: did not create these myself, credit goes to user TheImperfect.

Just imagine Durant, Nowitzki and Rose in these babies!

[DS729]

Wait, Anaheim has D-Rose, KD, Nicolas Batum, Dirk, and Al Horford! They should win the title.

[seancarter]

what no team in state of tennessee

[Dayne Amaze]

what no team in state of Tennessee

Unfortunately for Tennesseans, not currently! Although Nashville does remains as an available market for an expansion team or relocation in the NABA, they do have the nearby Louisville Mustangs and St. Louis Spirits to root for! (depending which one is winning).

Other possible Tennessee expansion could eventually see a team moving into McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Murphy Center in Murfreesboro or the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, but if a team does land in The Volunteer State expect them to be at the Bridgestone Arena!

Definitely a possibility!

[adoog4timmy55]

I like the idea of seeing your NBA rosters for a 24-team league compared to 30. I want to see which players are together than most couldn't imagine happening.

Also, I like the idea having a detailed history like you do. Keep this up, I will be following!

[Dayne Amaze]

Next up we will take a look at the history of the Baltimore Bullets of the Atlantic Division!

The Baltimore Bullets are one of the most historic franchises in the NABA and are apart of the original eleven teams of 1961.

The Bullets have had some of the best NABA players in history apart of the franchise. Larry Bird played for the Bullets his entire career from 1979 to 1992, winning four championships and two alongside Michael Jordan. The Jordan-Bird combination was incredible and is known as one of the greatest duos in NABA history. Moses Malone also played for the Baltimore Bullets two separate times (from 1982-1986) and then during the 1993-1994 season. During the 1984-1985 and 1985-1986 seasons, the Bullets saw all three, Bird, Jordan and Malone on the team at the same time.

The Baltimore Bullets primary logo from 1961 to 1972 (the logo is still used as a script on the uniforms and as an alternate logo)

During the 1961-1962 inaugural season of the North American Basketball Association, the Baltimore Bullets played at the Baltimore Coliseum and were successfully immediately with a 55-25 record. At the time, the Baltimore Claws (who are now the Long Island Claws) shared the Baltimore Coliseum as an original eleven franchise with the Bullets. Having two basketball teams in Baltimore playing in the same venue instantly made an intense rivalry between the Bullets and the Claws as they battled to try and take over the city. The Baltimore Bullets were beaten in the NABA Finals against the St. Louis Spirits in seven games, and were just a three points behind being the first ever NABA champion (so yeah this team is pretty historic).

The next season the Bullets would be pleased to have an upgrade in facility, moving from the Baltimore Coliseum to the brand-spanking new 1st Mariner Arena in downtown Baltimore. Bullets fans and players were excited for the move, because at the start of the league's sophomore year they would not have to share a court with their rivals any longer (the Claws moved to the Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland and would go by the moniker Maryland Claws).

The team didn't fare well in their first year at the 1st Mariner Arena, going 31-49 in 1962-1963, had another losing season in 1963-1964 with a 36-44 record but were able to squeeze into the playoffs. The Baltimore Bullets were extremely up-and-down throughout the rest of the 1960's with a combination of absolutely bombing of seasons (including a 12-69 campaign), and unrealistic goals set with the proceeding regular-season success only to get knocked out of the playoffs again. Three straights season they finished at the bottom of the Eastern Division and they only made the playoffs once from 1967 to 1974.

In that seven year shaky stretch, the Baltimore Bullets did win their first ever championship in 1971 when they recorded a 42-40 regular season and proceeded to beat the favorites, Virginia Squires, Pittsburgh Pipers and then win the championship against the San Francisco Bay-Rollers.

In 1972 the Baltimore Bullets switched things up and tried to modernize for the new decade with a brand new primary logo while they held onto their roots for the script and jersey design. They hoped they could win more championships with the slightly changed looked and Baltimore Bullets fans loved their new logo that would go alongside champions.

The primary logo for the Baltimore Bullets from 1972-present

Three years after their first championship, the Baltimore Bullets made a run to the finals again in 1974, but were defeated by the hands of the Bay-Rollers who they had claimed the title over in 1971. Because of this the Baltimore/San Francisco NABA final rivalry of the early 1970's made for some of the most entertaining basketball in league history.

The Bullets continued to grow as a franchise with a solid core of talented two-way players and made it to the NABA Finals again in 1976. A 56-26 record proceeded by a defeating the Virginia Squires, Buffalo Braves would send them into their third finals against the San Francisco Bay-Rollers in five years. The third time around the rivalry was beyond intense, but the Bullets wouldn't be bothered by the Bay-Rollers talents and won their second championship with a 4-1 series win.

The 1976-1977 season looked like they could repeat as champions as they posted a 61-21 record, winning the division title, but the team was knocked off by the heavily underrated Tampa Bay Flare in the Division Semifinals.

1979 all the way to 1987 were extremely hard times for the Baltimore Bullets franchise, despite Larry Bird trying to carry the team single-handedly. They were bottom feeders all but twice in the span of eight years and loyal fans were becoming restless over the ownership making some terrible decisions. The 1984 draft changed the franchise forever though. The Baltimore Bullets selected Michael Jordan, and of course the rest is history.

In the 1987-1988 season things got a whole lot better for the Baltimore Bullets, with young superstar Michael Jordan and veteran legend Larry Bird leading the team as they reached the playoffs finally with a 43-39 record. MJ and Bird combined to beat the Providence Americans, took out the Buffalo Braves and advanced to the NABA Finals for the first time in twelve years. It was the first time their NABA Final opponent would not be the San Francisco Bay-Rollers, they would now have to face the Seattle Alpines to try and secure their third championship. The Alpines/Bullets series of 1988 was a classic, Baltimore won in game seven at the Key Arena and the entire city celebrated their third title which looked unlikely to be possible to achieve during their horrible years in the early to mid 1980's.

The team continued their success with Bird and Jordan and won their fourth championship in 1992 as MJ was in his prime, while it would prove to be Larry Bird's final season in his career. A 64-18 record followed by the classic NABA Final rivalry against the San Francisco Bay-Rollers caused Michael Jordan and Larry Bird to perform at a whole new level. The Bullets won the championship with a 4-2 series win, and Bird and MJ lifted their fourth and second title with Baltimore (their second on the team together).

The Bullets won their fifth championship in 2001 without Michael Jordan, who moved on to the Chicago Stags at the beginning of that season ironically. No one would have believed that the Bullets would be the same without Michael Jordan, but with an outstanding supporting cast the team was able to take out the San Francisco Bay-Rollers once again, this time winning the title with a 4-0 sweep in the Finals.

In 2003-2004 the Baltimore Bullets soared once again, finishing with a 62-20 record and beating the Texas Ghostriders in the NABA Finals for their sixth championship in team history.

From 2004 to 2012 the team has only had one winning season, and it is very reminiscent of the dark times during the 1980's which eventually led to the Baltimore Bullets becoming a dynasty. Things might even be worse than before in Baltimore, in eight years only finishing above five-hundred once really takes a toll on any team, even one as historic as the Bullets.

Going into the 2012-2013 season the team is still rebuilding, with Dwyane Wade posing as the face of the franchise. Wade hopes to try and help as a veteran star push the Baltimore Bullets and the young supporting cast into the sort of success that reigns over this traditional and extremely proud organization.

[Dayne Amaze]

The 2012-2013 season could be another rough one for the Baltimore Bullets.

Dwyane Wade has been the go-to-guy in the organization since his rookie year in 2003-2004, but he hasn't gotten them above five hundred more than once in his career (he was on the team during their last championship in 2003-2004, but because it was during his rookie season he wasn't put on the court often enough to really consider him a seasoned champion).

The Bullets did advance to the playoffs 6/8 times during these struggles (only due to the fact that 8 out of 12 teams in each conference advance to the post-season), but they have been constantly knocked out as soon as they think they might make an underdog run. These are indeed dark days in Baltimore.

The team will once again be revolved around D. Wade, but how much longer will he tolerate having little to no help around him? Rumors have been flying out of Baltimore as Wade ages on, many people believe he will try and get out of his log-jam contract for a chance at success before its too late. Although it would seem extremely strange to see Wade out of red & blue and not in the city of Baltimore, that could very much be a reality if his teammates can't step up to their potential.

But the word potential usually means something rather than what they've got going on here. Dragic isn't a top point guard in the NABA in any shape or form, so its GM Pat Riley's own mistake for over estimating his value to the team. Coach Doc Rivers took over the job in Baltimore two seasons ago and has only seen painful struggle. Ownership hasn't fired Doc Rivers despite hardly making an improvement since he's been the boss, so there is still some confidence left for the Bullets (at least from the prospective of the ownership).

DeJuan Blair has some flashes of brilliant at the power forward position, but compared to his peers around the league, he's not at a level that would impact this team enough to start winning. Afflalo is at his prime and he's basically the next best scorer on the team besides Dwyane. That's really not something any coach likes to work with. Unless Kendrick Perkins can provide extremely physical defense and prevent scoring from many of the Eastern Conference's superstars, it doesn't look like Baltimore will be able to stop too many rushes. The bench is terribly mediocre for the Bullets.

Webster is your run-of-the-mill backup shooting guard, Alonzo Gee can be very useful at times but isn't a dominating player and C.J. Watson isn't the best guy to have as your number two point guard.

Of course Danny Granger is the second fiddle to Dwyane Wade when he's healthy, but with him expected to be out for most of the season, the Bullets won't have the same kind of offence that they should. It really, really doesn't help that Trevor Ariza and Trey Thompkins are also injured, because neither Will Bynum nor Ed Davis have what it takes to provide off the bench points.

With a terribly injury ridden roster, an aging superstar that's ready to pack his bags at any moment, a Coach that might not be able to handle the cards he's dealt with and an unpredictable ownership, the 2012-2013 season might only be good for trying to grab a top pick at the Draft.

The rebuild will continue...

Here is the current roster for the Baltimore Bullets going into the 2012-2013 season !

Starters

Point Guard: Goran Dragic - #1

Shooting Guard: Dwyane Wade - #3
Power Forward: DeJuan Blair - #45

Small Forward: Arron Afflalo - #4
Center: Kendrick Perkins - #5

Bench (Minimum of 6)

Martell Webster - #9 (Shooting Guard/Small Forward)

Alonzo Gee - #33 (Shooting Guard/Small Forward)

C.J. Watson - #23 (Point Guard)

Danny Granger*** - #30 (Small Forward/Power Forward)

Trevor Ariza*** - #31 (Shooting Guard)

Trey Thompkins*** - #43 (Power Forward)

Will Bynum - #12 (Point Guard)

Ed Davis - #32 (Power Forward)

Coaching Staff

Head Coach: Doc Rivers

General Manager: Pat Riley

Owner: Steve Bisciotti (Monumental Sports & Entertainment)

***Injured

Here are the current Baltimore Bullets uniforms (haven't been changed since their inauguration). These are some of the most classic and easily recognized uniforms in NABA history.

Note: did not create these myself, comes from the real-life Baltimore Bullets

Just imagine Michael Jordan/Larry Bird/Moses Malone in these classics... not to mention Dwyane Wade high-flying in modern day

[vicfurth]

Umm... Are you actually going to create anything?

[eliasrappaport]

Yeah... You're just making scenarios and posting already made concepts...

[GriffinM6]

Also, the NABA is a fantasy league on these boards.

[Dayne Amaze]

Also, the NABA is a fantasy league on these boards.

I had no idea of the name, I created this name months ago and haven't looked at any other forums. I'm not going to just change it because someone else has the same name as mine coincidentally.

Yeah... You're just making scenarios and posting already made concepts...

I've barely started... I'm still working on many of the franchises and I don't have time to recreate EVERYTHING from scratch with my little computer programs so I'm trying my best right now for fresh and original logos right now, but I'm trying to get some of the history going beforehand. You don't have to follow this if you don't want to, I'm not forcing you.

Umm... Are you actually going to create anything?

Yes, for now I'm posting what is easiest. I'm creating the majority of the league from scratch but I'm trying to get the historical side of the league done first before I jump into that.

[Dayne Amaze]

Because of impatience and not reading the description of what I'm creating here (users vicfurth and eliasrappaport) I will be introducing the logos and uniforms sooner so that this does not happen again.

Until then, here is the NABA league logo:

There has been little change to the league logo since the inauguration of 1961 and it's noted for being extremely minimal and almost to the point of being too simple, but because of lack of designing in the 1960's, black and white were the colors used, and it hasn't been changed since. There is a lot of history with the logo and ownerships around the league have agreed that they want to see the simple yet effective design be a mainstay in the NABA.

[Dayne Amaze]

Here is the geographical team map of the NABA

[Dayne Amaze]

Starting now I will post the rest of the team's logo history and current uniforms first before I get back into their deep rooted histories!

Buffalo Braves

Logo used from 1961-1972

Logo used from 1972-1979

Logo used from 1979-present

Current Buffalo Braves Uniforms

[Dayne Amaze]

Chicago Stags

Logo used from 1961-present

Current Chicago Stags uniforms