The Portland Wave, originally known as the Portland Mountain Cats, was a

professional basketball In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger a ...

team in the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

(USBL) from 1996 to 1997. The team was based in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

and played home games at

Cumberland County Civic Center Cross Insurance Arena (formerly Cumberland County Civic Center) is a multi-purpose arena located in Portland, Maine. Built in 1977, at a cost of US$8 million, it is the home arena for the Maine Mariners (ECHL), Maine Mariners of the ECHL. There a ...

. Jeff O'Sullivan, Guy Nadeau and Ted Goldsmith were the team's board of directors. In 1996, Mark McClure served as the team's president. He was replaced in 1997 by Bill Beyer, who also took ownership of the team. In 1997, Rick Simonds served as the Wave's head coach and Jim Graffam was the assistant coach.

References

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External links

Portland Mountain Cats
via Maine Sports Blog
Portland Wave
via Maine Sports Blog 1996 establishments in Maine 1997 disestablishments in Maine Basketball teams established in 1996 Basketball teams disestablished in 1997 Defunct basketball teams in Maine United States Basketball League teams Sports clubs and teams in Portland, Maine 20th century in Portland, Maine