- Tampa Bay Thrillers
The
Tampa Bay Thrillers were a franchise in theContinental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1984–1987, winning back-to-back championships in 1984 and 1985. The franchise relocated toRapid City, South Dakota , at the end of the 1986 CBA regular season, where the team went on to win its third consecutive CBA title.In 1984-85, the team's inaugural season, head coach
Bill Musselman led the Thrillers to a 35-13 record with a roster featuringSidney Lowe ,Freeman Williams , Ron Valentine, Charles Jones, and Perry Moss.In the postseason, Tampa Bay swept the
Lancaster Lightning in the first round (3–0) and disposed of theAlbany Patroons (3–2) before getting by the Detroit Spirits, 4–3, in the CBA championship series, for which Williams earned MVP honors. (All results are expressed in games won.) The team played its home games at theBayfront Center inSt. Petersburg, Florida .The next season (1985–86), the Thrillers moved their home games to the
University of Tampa 's Spartan Sports Center (now the Martinez Sports Center), a 4,200-seat venue built in 1984. With Musselman at the helm, Tampa Bay posted a CBA-best 34–14 record. That season, Thrillers guard Kevin Williams scored 58 points in a game against the Baltimore Lightning. Ten days later, he had a 59-point effort in a playoff game against the Patroons. The Thrillers took their second straight title in five games over theLa Crosse Catbirds .In 1986–87, the Thrillers, who had moved back to the Bayfront Center, had another outstanding season, but in a bizarre development, moved out of Florida at the end of the regular season—in an apparent dispute over arena rent—and became the
Rapid City Thrillers . That did not stop the team from another championship run, which ended in a five-game triumph over theRockford Lightning .The Rapid City Thrillers would continue in both the CBA and
International Basketball Association until2001 .ome notable players
*Don Collins
*Brian Martin
*Ed Nealy
*Rod Higgins
*Sam Mitchell
*Rick LambYear-by-year
*1984-85 35–13 Bayfront Center (St. Petersburg)
*1985-86 34–14 Spartan Sports Center (University of Tampa)
*1986-87 34–14 Bayfront Center
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