The Independent Basketball Association (IBA) was a semi-professional men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

that began play in the fall of 2011. The six charter members were

Battle Creek Knights The Battle Creek Flight are a team in the Independent Basketball Association (IBA) located in Battle Creek, Michigan. They previously played in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) and in the International Basketball League. The team was known ...

, Chicago Redline, Gary Splash,

Kankakee County Soldiers The Kankakee County Soldiers was a semi-professional basketball team of the Independent Basketball Association (IBA). For their first five seasons (2007-11), the Soldiers played in the International Basketball League The International Baske ...

, Lake County Stars and Rockford Riverdawgs. The IBA played two separate seasons each calendar year: a Spring season (March–June) and a Fall season (September–January). Teams competed in one or both league competitions. The last commissioner of the IBA was Barry Bradford, president of the Kankakee County Soldiers.

History

The first league championship (2011–12) was won by the Kankakee County Soldiers, who also won the 2012 Spring season championship. In the Spring of 2012 the league expanded beyond its midwest footprint, adding a total of seven teams:

Albany Legends Formed in 2010, the Schenectady Legends were a semi-professional basketball team in the Independent Basketball Association (IBA). The franchise was originally known as the Albany Legends, changing their name in 2014 with a move to Schenectady. Th ...

, Kenosha Ballers,

Lansing Capitals The Lansing Capitals are a now-defunct member of the Independent Basketball Association (IBA). Founded in 2006, the Capitals were originally members of the International Basketball League The International Basketball League (IBL) was a semi ...

, Los Angeles Lightning, Malibu Pirates, Springfield Xpress and

St. Louis Trotters The St. Louis Trotters are a semi-professional basketball team who compete in the Independent Basketball Association (IBA). The franchise has history as far back as the 1970s. The Trotters joined the IBA for the 2012-13 season and have won two ch ...

. The Holland Dream were added to the IBA for its third season in 2012–13, bringing the league total to 14 teams. IBA and PBL joined forces in 2013, but the merger was short-lived. Travel issues, questions of league rules and other issues were too much to overcome and the two parted ways before the end of the Spring season. 2013-14 began with the addition of the Windy City Blazers, who played previously as the Windy City Monsters in the ABA. Grand Rapids Fusion and Markham City Racers entered league play for the 2014 Spring season. In the Fall season of 2014-15 four teams (Binghamton Pioneers, Jersey G-Force, Kansas City Kryptonite, and Toronto 3D) played a partial schedule in anticipation of full league membership in 2015. CyFair Cobras, Houston Xperience and Louisiana Soul also were to compete as "branding teams" in the Fall season. None played an IBA game. In December 2014 Schenectady Legends captured their first IBA championship, defeating Kenosha 154–137. Albany High School graduate Lloyd "Pooh" Johnson score an IBA championship game record 61 points and was named the game MVP. Kankakee County won their league-best sixth championship in the Fall of 2015 by avenging their finals loss to St. Louis for the Spring title.

Teams

Former teams

^ = affiliate members (did not compete for championship)

Champions

Awards

References

External links

Official IBA website
{{Men's professional basketball leagues Basketball leagues in the United States Professional sports leagues in the United States Sports leagues established in 2011 2011 establishments in the United States