The Saskatoon Slam were a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

professional basketball franchise based in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, that played in the National Basketball League in 1993 and 1994.

Team history

Saskatchewan Storm (WBL)

The Slam were founded in 1990 as the Saskatchewan Storm of the

World Basketball League World Basketball League (WBL) was a minor professional basketball league in the United States and Canada which operated from 1988 to 1992. It was founded as the International Basketball Association in November 1987, before changing its name prior ...

(WBL). On May 11, 1990 The Storm narrowly lost their first game, 117–115 against the Las Vegas Silver Streaks, in front of a record crowd of more than 8,000. The team did not win a championship but had some notable alumni, including Thomas Lyles, the father of

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player

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, and current

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men's basketball coach

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. The WBL folded before the conclusion of the 1992 season, and the Canadian franchises opted to create a new national league, the National Basketball League (NBL). It was then that the Storm changed their name to the Saskatoon Slam.

Saskatoon Slam (NBL)

The Slam were a success in the only full NBL season. On 8 September 1993, they defeated the Cape Breton Breakers by a score of 109–107 in the fourth game of the championship final to win the league title. This was the province's first professional basketball championship, and the only one until the

Saskatchewan Rattlers The Saskatchewan Rattlers are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The Rattlers compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), playing their home games at the SaskTel Centre. The Rattlers hosted the ...

won the inaugural

Canadian Elite Basketball League The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL; ) is the premier men's professional basketball league in Canada, as recognized by Canada Basketball. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams all owned and operated by owner ...

title in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. The NBL struggled financially–for example, all games of the 1993 finals were played in Saskatoon to reduce travel costs–and the league folded in the middle of the 1994 season, along with the Slam. This left the city and province without professional basketball until briefly hosting the Saskatchewan Hawks, from 2000 to 2002.

Season by season results

''Legend: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, GBL = Games Behind Leader''

Saskatchewan Storm (WBL)

Saskatoon Slam (NBL)

All-time Slam roster

References

World Basketball League teams Basketball teams established in 1990 1990 establishments in Saskatchewan National Basketball League (Canada) teams Sports clubs and teams in Saskatoon Basketball in Saskatchewan Defunct basketball teams in Canada Defunct sports teams in Saskatchewan Basketball teams disestablished in 1994 1994 disestablishments in Canada {{Canada-basketball-team-stub