The La Crosse Catbirds was an American

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 ...

team based in

La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...

and member of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

. The Catbirds were the 1990 and 1992 CBA champions. The team moved to La Crosse from Louisville in 1985, and left La Crosse for Pittsburgh in May 1994. La Crosse would see the CBA return in 1995 when the

La Crosse Bobcats The La Crosse Bobcats were a Continental Basketball Association basketball team located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, from 1996 to the league's bankruptcy in February 2001. The Bobcats were the second CBA team located in La Crosse; previously, the La C ...

took to the court. Widely known as the training ground for future

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

coach

Flip Saunders Philip Daniel "Flip" Saunders (February 23, 1955 – October 25, 2015) was an American basketball player and coach. During his career, he coached the La Crosse Catbirds, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and Washington Wizards. High schoo ...

, who led the team to both championships. Several future and previous NBA players played for the Catbirds, including

Andre Turner Andre Devalle Turner (born March 13, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently the head coach for Lane College. A 5'11", point guard, he played collegi ...

David Rivers Not to be confused with David Foote Rivers David Lee Rivers (born January 20, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. A 6'2" (1.88 m ) tall point guard, he reached star status in the EuroLeague, mainly while play ...

Mark Davis Mark Davis may refer to: Entertainers *Mark Davis (talk show host), American radio talk show host * Mark Jonathan Davis (born 1965), American actor/singer and creator of Richard Cheese *Mark Davis, American bassist and founding member for the band ...

Derrick Gervin Derrick Gervin (born March 28, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player born in Detroit. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was the 1995 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP, and a two-time top scorer in ...

Elliot Perry Elliot Lamonte Perry (born March 28, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. The 6'0" (1.83 m) point guard from Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis), was selected with the tenth pick of the second round (3 ...

Jaren Jackson Jaren Walter Jackson Sr. (born October 27, 1967) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Westchester Knicks of the NBA G League. A shooting guard born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Jackson pl ...

, Kevin Lynch,

Dennis Nutt Dennis Clay Nutt (born March 25, 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the head basketball coach at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Career Nutt was a 6'2" (188 cm) and 170 lb (77 kg ...

and

Kenny Battle Kenneth R. Battle (born October 10, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. High school career In 1984, Battle led Aurora West High School to third place in the Illinois High School Association Class AA state basketball tourn ...

Season By Season

Notable players

* Brad Leaf

References

Continental Basketball Association teams Defunct basketball teams in the United States Basketball teams in Wisconsin Sports in La Crosse, Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-basketball-team-stub