United States Basketball League
The United States Basketball League was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008.
History
The United States Basketball League was founded in December 1984 by Daniel T. Meisenheimer, from Connecticut. The league management initially planned to schedule about 40 games during the summer, and started to look for new teams to join the newly formed USBL. Former NBA referee Richie Powers was named the league's vice president and director of operations, while Earl Monroe was the commissioner. Meisenheimer introduced a salary cap of $250,000 per team. The teams for the first season were the Connecticut Colonials from New Haven, Connecticut; the New Jersey Jammers from Jersey City, New Jersey; the Long Island Knights from Long Island, New York ; the Rhode Island Gulls from Warwick, Rhode Island; the Springfield Fame from Springfield, Massachusetts; the Westchester Golden Apples from Westchester, New York; and the Wildwood Aces from Wildwood, New Jersey.Several players with NBA experience joined the USBL: among them Ken Bannister, Jim Bostic, Tracy Jackson, Lowes Moore, Eddie Lee Wilkins and Sam Worthen. Other players who played in the 1985 USBL season would later play in the NBA, such as Michael Adams, Manute Bol, Ron Crevier, Spud Webb and John "Hot Rod" Williams. The first ever game in USBL was played on May 25, 1985, between Rhode Island Gulls and Springfield Fame at the Springfield Civic Center. After the regular season ended after each team played 25 games, the league management decided not to organize postseason games, since many players were going to join other teams for the start of the regular season of other leagues such as the NBA or the CBA. The first USBL champions were the Springfield Fame, that had ended the regular season leading the league with a 19–6 record. Hot Rod Williams and Tracy Jackson were named co-MVPs, while Manute Bol led the league both in rebounds per game and blocks per game.
In 1986 two teams, the Long Island Knights and the Rhode Island Gulls, left the league, and three new franchises joined the USBL: the Gold Coast Stingrays from West Palm Beach, Florida, the Staten Island Stallions from Staten Island, New York and the Tampa Bay Flash from Tampa, Florida. In the same year Nancy Lieberman joined the Springfield Fame and became the first female player to play in a professional league with men. Lieberman debuted in June 1986 in a game against the Staten Island Stallions, playing 3 minutes during which she did not score. In 1987 another woman joined the USBL: Lynette Richardson, who had played college basketball at Florida International, signed for the Miami Tropics. On June 13, 1987, Richardson and Lieberman played against each other during a game between the Miami Tropics and the Long Island Knights: Richardson scored 3 points while Lieberman scored 2.
The top teams of the regular season advanced to the USBL Postseason Festival, a playoffs system that saw teams play single elimination games in order to advance to the final game. On three occasions no postseason was held, and the team with the best regular season record won the championship. In 1989 the USBL ceased operations temporarily in order to improve its organization, and resumed the following season, in 1990.
Salary cap
In 1985, the league introduced a salary cap of $250,000 per team. In 1992, the salary cap was $40,000, with rookies being paid $315 per week. In 1998 it had remained the same, as each franchise had a regular season salary cap of $40,000, which meant that an average player earned roughly around $400 a week during the 2-month season of the league.As reported in 2000, the annual salary cap of the league was $47,500 for a franchise, for all its players. No player was allowed to receive more than $1,000 per week as salary.
USBL Draft
First picks are as below:USBL 1st overall picks
| Year | Player | USBL pick by | College | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985 |  USBL ChampionsSource:Teams played a single championship game at the end of the playoffs to name the league champions
League awardsMan of the Year
All-time recordsScoring leaders
Games leaders
Steals leaders
Assists leaders
Rebounds leaders
Free throws leaders
Top scorers in a single gameByron Strickland holds the record for most points scored in a single game.
All Star GameThe first edition was held in 1985 at Springfield Civic Center in front of 5,093 fans. Springfield Fame beat the USBL All-Stars, 87-75, in league's inaugural all-star game in 1985. Michael Adams with 18 points and 7 steals was the MVP. The 1985 All-Star team featured Manute Bol, Spud Webb, and John "Hot Rod" Williams among others.The 1986 All-Star Game also took place at the Springfield Civic Center on July 25, 1986. In the 1987 edition Rhode Island Gulls hosted the event and defeated the USBL All-Stars by 119-112. Muggsy Bogues who had just been selected 12th in the 1987 NBA Draft was the MVP. The 4th edition was hosted at Philadelphia Civic Center on June 25, 1988 and it was broadcast live at 2 pm by FNN. The 6th All Star Game was played on June 29, in 1991 at Glens Falls, New York. Paul Graham led the All-Stars to a 132-126 victory over the Empire State Stallions and was named the MVP. Also future NBA players like Greg Sutton and Keith "Mister" Jennings played in the 1991 edition. In total five members of the 1991 All Star Game had NBA experience: Earl Cureton, Antony Mason, Norris Coleman, Wes Matthews and Michael Anderson. The 2000 All-Star Game was held on 2 July 2000. The league also had a USBL All-Star Travel Team. In 1991 they won the silver medal in the Winston world basketball cup under coach Rex Morgan, competeding against 6 national teams and KK POP 84. The USBL All-Stars lost to Puerto Rico in the final in front of 12,000 fans. The USBL All-Stars also played at the 1992 Puerto Rico invitational tournament. Notable USBL All-Stars
Anniversary teams15th anniversary teamIn 2001 the USBL asked its fans to vote online for a USBL "All-15 Team", to celebrate the league's 15th anniversary. The USBL finally presented 19 players.PlayersAn alphabetical listing of 19 voted players is as follows:
20th anniversary teamOn 21 July 2005, the league announced the players of its "Top 20 and Beyond Anniversary Team" were chosen by a vote of executives, coaches, and administrators that had served over the years in the USBL.PlayersAn alphabetical listing of 20 voted players is as follows:
Coaches
Notable past players''Source''Players by countryUSA
International players
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