London Lightning

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

London Lightning
2019–20 NBL Canada season
LeagueNational Basketball League of Canada
Founded2011
HistoryLondon Lightning
2011–present
ArenaBudweiser Gardens
LocationLondon, Ontario
Team coloursYellow, black, white
     
General managerMark Frijia[1]
Head coachDoug Plumb
OwnershipVito Frijia
Championships4
(2012, 2013, 2017, 2018)
WebsiteLightningBasketball.ca
Alternate

History

The Lightning name was announced on August 12, 2011.[2] 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
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
G 6 Binney, Marvin  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 30 – (1990-12-15)15 December 1990
SF 0 Bolden, Mo 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 31 – (1989-08-18)18 August 1989
SF 60 Capers, Marcus 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 31 – (1989-12-21)21 December 1989
G/F 35 Gaines, A. J. 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 27 – (1993-12-05)5 December 1993
SF 14 Isom, Mareik 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 217 lb (98 kg) 26 – (1994-07-25)25 July 1994
F 13 Iyekekpolor, Otas 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 24 – (1996-06-20)20 June 1996
F 21 Lufile, Abednego 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (110 kg) 26 – (1994-06-08)8 June 1994
C 32 Phillips, Randy 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (110 kg) 25 – (1995-07-17)17 July 1995
G 5 Strong, Omar 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 30 – (1990-05-16)16 May 1990
G 10 Tate, Jaylon  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 26 – (1995-01-16)16 January 1995
SF 15 Williamson, Garrett 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 32 – (1988-06-15)15 June 1988
Head coach
  • Doug Plumb
Assistant coach(es)
  • Nate Benjamin
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured
Updated: December 27, 2019

Season-by-season record
SeasonCoachRegular seasonPost season
WonLostWin %FinishWonLostWin %Result
2011–12Micheal Ray Richardson288.7781st52.714Champions
2012–13Micheal Ray Richardson337.8251st62.750Champions
2013–14Micheal Ray Richardson2317.5754th66.500Conference semi-finals
2014–15Carlos Knox1814.5633rd23.400Conference quarter-finals
2015–16Kyle Julius2614.6501st106.500League runners-up
2016–17Kyle Julius355.8751st112.846Champions
2017–18Keith Vassell2713.6751st116.647Champions
2018–19Keith Vassell
Elliott Etherington		2218.5501st23.400Division Semifinals
Totals21296.6885330.6394 championships

References
  1. "Mark Frijia Promoted to General Manager". OurSports Central. 26 August 2019.
  2. https://lfpress.com/news/london/2011/08/12/18547261.html
  3. https://lfpress.com/sports/basketball/2011/08/17/18565196.html
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-08. Retrieved 2012-03-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  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". BudweiserGardens.com. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
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