The Yakima SunKings are a basketball team located in

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uninc ...

, covering the central Washington sports market of Yakima,

Tri-Cities Tri-Cities most often refers to: *Tri-Cities, Tennessee, United States *Tri-Cities, Washington, United States Tri-City, Tricity or Tri-Cities may also refer to: Populated places Americas Canada *Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of Co ...

, and

Ellensburg Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. The population was 18,666 at the 2020 census. and wa ...

and plays at the

Yakima SunDome The Yakima Valley SunDome is a 6,195-seat multi-purpose arena in Yakima, Washington, United States. It was built in 1990, on the Central Washington State Fairgrounds, by contractor Gilbert H. Moen Co and architecture firm Loofburrow & Associate ...

. The team competed in 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 mi ...

from 1990 to 2008. In June 2005, the team was purchased by the

Yakama The Yakama are a Native American tribe with nearly 10,851 members, based primarily in eastern Washington state. Yakama people today are enrolled in the federally recognized tribe, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Their Ya ...

Indian Nation and was renamed the Yakama Sun Kings (from Yakima to Yakama) to honor the Nation. In 2018, a new version of the team was launched in

North American Premier Basketball The Basketball League (TBL), formerly North America Premier Basketball (NAPB), is a minor league basketball organization. The league began operating in North America in 2018 with eight teams, and expanded to over 44 teams as of 2022. The Bask ...

, which then rebranded as

The Basketball League The Basketball League (TBL), formerly North America Premier Basketball (NAPB), is a minor league basketball organization. The league began operating in North America in 2018 with eight teams, and expanded to over 44 teams as of 2022. The Bask ...

in 2019. The team won the regular season title in both seasons and won the playoff championship in 2018. The league lost western teams prior to the 2020 season and the new SunKings decided against participation in the league.

History

The franchise started in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

, then moved to

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central U ...

, and the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...

. In 1990, the team was purchased by Sacramento attorney Robert Wilson and was led By GM Brooks Ellison. Ex-Major League Baseball Player Ted Bowesfield was hired as an adviser. Dianne LaBissionaire, Pat Beehler, and Jay Mahn conducted day-to-day operations. A local contest to select a name was held, and the Yakima Sun Kings was chosen, replacing the old name, "Sizzlers". The team hired local favorite Dean Nicholson as coach. Dennis Rahm became the play by play radio announcer and handled media releases. The Sun Kings was the first team to show a profit in the history of the CBA. The team was fairly successful historically, given the inconsistent nature of minor-league basketball; they won the 1994–95, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2005–06 and 2006-07 CBA championships. The Sun Kings had a disappointing 2003–04 season when they posted a 10–38 record. They were also 0–9 against the CBA Champion

Dakota Wizards The Dakota Wizards were an American professional basketball team based in Bismarck, North Dakota. They played in the NBA Development League from 2006 until 2012. After the 2011–12 season, the team relocated to Santa Cruz, California, and now pl ...

. Ronny Turiaf, a draft pick of the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

in 2005, played nine games for the Sun Kings in the 2005–06 season, less than six months after undergoing open-heart surgery which caused the Lakers to void his contract. He averaged 13 points in nine games with the team before re-signing with the Lakers in January 2006. The Sun Kings won their fourth CBA Championship with a 111–101 victory in Game 3 of a best-of-3 finals series against the

Gary Steelheads The Gary Steelheads were a professional basketball team. They played in the International Basketball League, Continental Basketball Association, and the United States Basketball League. They were based in Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lak ...

on March 27, 2006. In 2006–07 the Sun Kings repeated as champions, sweeping the

Albany Patroons The Albany Patroons are a professional basketball team that plays in The Basketball League (TBL). Previously, the team competed in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and in the United States Basketball League (USBL). The Patroons won ...

three games to none. On April 10, 2008, the Yakama Nation shut down team operations due to financial losses. On September 29, 2017, it was announced that the Yakima SunKings would be one of the founding franchises of the North American Premier Basketball. In October 2017,

Paul Woolpert Paul Woolpert is an American basketball coach and scout. He was the head coach of the Yakima Sun Kings in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) for seven non-consecutive years (1998–2001, 2004–2008). He was named CBA Coach of the Year ...

was rehired as its head coach and general manager. The team won the inaugural championship. The league became

in 2019 and Woolpert left the team. The SunKings then removed itself from the league before the 2020 season as most of the western teams had folded.

Current roster

Notable former players

* Dennis Williams (born 1965), basketball player * Raja Bell (born 1976), basketball player

References

{{North American Premier Basketball Basketball teams established in 1990 Basketball teams disestablished in 2008 Basketball teams established in 2017 Yakima, Washington Continental Basketball Association teams Basketball teams in Washington (state) Former The Basketball League teams Yakima Sun Kings 1990 establishments in Washington (state) 2008 disestablishments in Washington (state) 2017 establishments in Washington (state)