2015 NBL Canada Finals

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

The deciding Game 7 of the 2015 Finals was originally scheduled to be played on April 30, 2015. The Windsor Express's shootaround was set to take place before the Halifax Rainmen's, and the Rainmen were supposed to arrive for warm-ups at approximately 1:00 PM. However, they came far too early and began warming up before their awaiting opponents had left. Express assistant coach Gerry Brumpton said, "We were here in the dark, I opened up the curtain and I looked in and there they were. They were still here working out. So they had been here for a while."[7]

Later, Windsor head coach Bill Jones entered the Halifax locker room to retrieve a ball from one of the players, but he refused to hand the ball over. Express point guard Tony Bennett was with Jones at the time. They also asked the other team to leave the building, but they were not willing to, and an altercation ensued. According to reports, the teams hurled chairs and threw punches at each other. At around 10:40 AM, the Windsor police received a call reporting the fight, but it was already over by the time they arrived on the scene.[8]

The Rainmen did not show up at the deciding game, and in turn, forfeited the championship. The team's front office declared that they did not feel safe taking part in the showdown after the day's events. Halifax did not respond to e-mails and messages that were sent to them.[9] The game was officially cancelled 40 minutes before it was scheduled, and the Express organization gave refunds to fans who had paid for tickets.[10] Bennett said, "I was told [Halifax] players refused to come and play. They didn't like the situation and what was said about some of their players. It's a black eye not just for the leagues, but for basketball, this is not supposed to happened [sic] in professional basketball."[7] In spite of their controversial victory, hundreds of Windsor fans attended a rally on May 3, 2015. One fan said, "[The Express] were going to win it regardless. What happened was unfortunate but definitely well-deserved."[11] Coach Jones commented, "We were there ready to play and they ended up forfeiting by the league rules."[11]

When the Rainmen were taking their bus back to the airport, they were stopped by Vito Frijia, a member of the NBL Canada executive committee and the owner of the London Lightning, who was on his way to the WFCU Centre. He tried to convince them to play the game, but they did not listen to his demands. Frijia said, "The coach and the players decided unilaterally they were going to protest by not playing, which is totally unprofessional, and detrimental to the league, detrimental to our growing the league."[10] When the Rainmen returned to Halifax, they discovered that they had been kicked out of their apartments, were booked for flights to outside the city, and weren't given their paychecks.[12] Owner Andre Levingston later said in a statement, "Today is truly a black eye for our league, when the games is not safe for players to compete there is a problem. We have to do a better job of governing our league and putting principles in place where there are strict consequences."[13]

On May 2, 2015, the Rainmen held a press conference, in which they shared the reasons for their decision to forfeit. Point guard Cliff Clinkscales claimed that the opponents played excessively physical throughout the series. He said, "There's a difference between playing physical and dirty and hurting people. We had two players in the finals that missed games because they had concussions. You understand that, concussions. I was playing with hurt ribs." Teammate Kevin Young said that he was told by some players on the Express that head coach Jones wanted them to intentionally injure particular members of the Rainmen and "take them out". Owner Levingston tried to persuade the players into ignoring the coaches, but they declined. In addition, some of Halifax's personnel said that the team packed up his belongings following the forfeit.[14]

On May 12, 2015, Halifax player Forrest Fisher provided a more detailed account of the incident to the media through e-mail. According to him, the brawl began because Windsor coach Jones tackled Fisher's teammate Liam McMorrow. Tony Bennett then responded by throwing a chair at McMorrow, and the violence escalated. However, Jones said before he tackled the Rainman, he tried to swipe the ball from him, but the player pushed him back and "'flinched' at him as if he was going to throw a punch." Only then did he attempt to tackle him.[15]

The NBL Canada fined those involved in the brawl a total of $90,000, saying in a statement the following day, "The league takes this incident very seriously and we are working to address the matter to ensure it never happens in the future, and so that those who were responsible are held accountable." The Halifax Rainmen, as an organization, were fined $20,000, while its head coach Josep Clarós faced a $10,000 fine and was banned for life from coaching in the league. He was named NBLC Coach of the Year weeks before.[16] Assistant coach Pedro Monteiro and eleven of his players also faced fines of $5,000. Monteiro was barred from the NBL Canada as well as Clarós, and the players were suspended indefinitely from playing there while an investigation took place.[8] In the following days, the assistant was fined an additional $4,000 dollars, because of "conduct detrimental to the league," but claimed the punishment was "unfair" and "the investigation was not thorough." He said, "I have not been contacted during any supposed investigation into the events on the morning of Game 7."[17]