The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) was an American
semi-professional
Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...
basketball league that operated from to .
Founded in 1969, the league originally began from an idea to keep the
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
players from the Central States Football League in shape during the offseason. The ''Continental'' name was chosen over ''Central States Basketball League'' so that it would be more inviting to potential teams outside of
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
and
Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
, where the football league was based. The CBA played using
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
rules, which included a 24-second
shot clock. Each team played a 20-game schedule, divided into 10 home games and 10 away.
The six inaugural teams in 1969–70 were located in Illinois (
Decatur,
Peoria,
Rockford and
Waukegan),
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
(
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...
) and Wisconsin (
Waukesha).
Cudahy, Wisconsin
Cudahy () is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 18,204 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb south of Milwaukee along the shore of Lake Michigan, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan are ...
, but moved mid-season due to lack of fan support. Though they were on top of the league's standings, the Medalist Mods were second to last in attendance.[ Waukesha went on to win the league title that season.]Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...
entered a player-development agreement with the CBA Milwaukee Muskies. The Bucks ended the relationship the following season and the Muskies folded as a result. The Chicagoland Travelers (originally named the Northwest Chicagoland Travelers) also folded after the 1970–71 season because they failed to come up with the $20,000–$30,000 in annual operating costs.
The CBA folded after its 1973–74 season.
References
External links
Continental Basketball Association 1969-70 to 1973-74
at APBR.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Continental Basketball Association (1969-1974)
Defunct professional sports leagues in the United States
Sports leagues established in 1969
Sports leagues disestablished in 1974
Defunct basketball leagues in the United States