THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
British Basketball is on the up! Now, this opening statement, has been said by several people, several times. So, why should this time be any different? Especially, as I hear you ask, after we were promised so much after the London 2012 Olympic Games and the legacy they were said to be leaving behind.
Well, if you have memories that long you will know that on the site of main purpose-built Olympic Park there was a huge temporary basketball arena. Its large white PVC and steel frame, housing 12,000 people, was one of the highlights, and not just for the games that went on inside it. The basketball tournament displayed the latest USA Dream Team, which went on to win Gold, but also the men's and women's Great Britain teams. Despite only winning one game between them, they managed to do enough across the fortnight to generate a new fanbase.
Across the road from them was another new arena. The Copper Box arena had a capacity of 7,000 and was the home of the Handball tournament for the Olympics. It quickly gained a reputation as one of the loudest venues for the entire games. This wasn't lost on a certain local basketball team that was looking for a new permanent home. The London Lions were also looking to take that legacy to task. They had to wait a year before the Copper Box was reconfigured into an arena fit for basketball, and in 2013 they could firmly put down their roots and champion themselves as the only professional team in London.
Having adjusted to their new home the Lions started to roar and they are now one of the leading teams in the British Basketball League. Over the past four fully played seasons they have either won the league or finished runners-up. And over the last two seasons they have enjoyed new experiences as they have made history as the first British team in well over two decades to win a game in European competition. In fact this season, for the first time they went into the second-round group stages of the FIBA Europe Cup.
Like many teams in the BBL they have their fair share of imported players, and the Lions have a wealth of talent from the United States. Isaiah Reese, Dirk Williams, and Marquis Teague (a first-round draft pick of the NBA'S Chicago Bulls in 2012) would be at home on most courts across Europe. They are backed up by compatriots Julian Washburn and Kylor Kelley. Their European run this year came to an end on Wednesday evening with an 82-75 win over the Bakken Bears of Denmark, their only win of the second phase, but one which will give them great confidence when they return to Europe next.
Over the past weekend the Lions had a strong showing in Manchester when they beat this season's National Cup runners-up Giants, to advance to the Trophy semi-finals. It was a welcome win after they had lost just two days before to the winners of the cup, the unbeaten in the league so far Leicester Riders. With European competition now behind them, the Lions can go full steam into the rest of the domestic season hoping to scoop some more silverware
On the same weekend that the Riders defeated the Giants in the men's final, the Lions women took their first trophy of the season with a dominant display over the Newcastle Eagles 87-47, something they will look to build on with captain Shanice Beckford-Norton leading her team forward. "We want to win everything, that was our goal at the start of the season, and it remains that," said Beckford-Norton after the cup triumph.
The Lions women's team is more home-grown talent than the men's, and that comes from its ties with local college Barking Abbey. The college has its own set up that supplements the main teams. MVP of the women's cup final victory was Azania Stewart, who featured in the London 2012 GB team along with teammate Johannah Leedham-Warner. They remain unbeaten in the league, and at this stage it's hard to see them being stopped in their march towards a clean sweep of honors this season.
The Lions wouldn't be in the position they are in now if it wasn't for their backers, and in particular Adam Weiss. Weiss is Vice President of 777 Partners, a private investment firm based in Florida that also owns a large stake in the BBL. He has a vision for the Lions and basketball in general that could see the game in this country be a real force in the coming years. To do this he knows that the pathway to the BBL need to be made clearer, and talent spotted easier. The connections that London Lions have made are great and being at the heart of its community in east London, that still thrives on that post-Olympics energy, is beneficial, but for the league to prosper it needs more. The recent national cup finals were held in Manchester, which is still a hub for basketball performance, The game has more exposure than ever before with games regularly shown on Sky Sports and streamed online through the BBL website. Add to this the ease in which fans of the game can access coverage to the NBA, and there's never been a better time to pick up interest in the game again and attract new fans.
London Lions can only go from strength to strength, and the ambition of Weiss is clear: "There's an insatiable appetite here for basketball - we just need to feed it. We can do that through product on the court and the development of content and culture by resonating with the disaffected communities in South London," He told the Daily Mirror newspaper.
Mark Clark, head coach of the Lions women's team is fully behind what the 777 team can bring to the game over here: "The way the game looked at the cup finals (just over 6,100 in attendance), the way the WBBL looked and was presented, I think the important thing is to build on what the league already does well. The WBBL already does a great job of staging events, selling tickets, and getting people to come to watch basketball. You add what 777 brings, and you get a whole new level of professionalism and production on the game," he said.
You can find out more about the London Lions here https://www.thelondonlions.com/ and the British Basketball League here http://bbl.org.uk/
