Taipei Fubon Braves
The Taipei Fubon Braves are a professional basketball team that is owned by Fubon Sports & Entertainment, LLC., one of the subsidiaries under Fubon Financial Holding Co., Ltd. and currently plays in the Taiwanese P. League+. From 2014 to 2019, they played in the semi-pro Super Basketball League. They have also been part of the professional ASEAN Basketball League since the 2019–20 ABL season. In the summer of 2020, when P. League+ was founded, they joined the league as one of the four founding teams and secured a three-peat from the 2020-21 season to the 2022-23 season.
History
1982: Established Chien-Hong Men's Basketball Team.1983: Won the B Division Championship of the Taiwan Provincial Chairman Cup.
1983 December: Registered as an A Division team by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association.
1987: Owned subsequently by Tera Electronics and won the team’s first Championship in A Division.
1994: The Chinese Basketball Alliance was founded, the team was re-branded as Tera Mars to start their first season in the CBA.
1996 and 1997: Retained team ownership but dropped "Tera" from the name and renamed simply to "Mars" to compete in the third season of the CBA.
1997: Sold to Guoyang Group in, attempted to re-brand as "Kaohsiung Mars" in late February.
mid-1998: Faced naming disputes and financial challenges, settling on "Mars" again
2000: Sponsored by Broadcasting Corporation of China, thus renamed as " BCC Mars".
2003: Joined semi-pro league Super Basketball League.
2004: Taken over by Videoland Television Network in June. Thus, re-branded as "Videoland Hunters".
2007: Sold to Taiwan Mobile, a major mobile communication provider in Taiwan, and named as "Taiwan Mobile Leopards".
2011: Rebranded as "Taiwan Mobile Basketball Team"
2014: Ownership shipped to Fubon Financial Holding Venture Capital Co., Ltd, and renamed as “Fubon Braves”.
2019: Left SBL to join the ASEAN Basketball League, a professional league, and started the professional basketball era of Fubon Braves.
2019: Signed a partnership contract with Taipei City Government, became "Taipei Fubon Braves” and started hosting games at Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium as their home court in Taipei City.
2020-present: Joined P. League+, the first ever professional basketball league in Taiwan in the past 20 years as one of the four co-founding teams. Achieved significant success by completing a three-peat.
Facilities
Training facilities
The Braves' training facility is located at the National Taiwan University of Arts Gymnasium, which is opened on 9 December 2020.The Braves previously practiced at the Banqiao Civil Sports Center and Shulin Civil Sports Center.
Notable members
- Tyler Bey, 6' 7" - small forward, basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, former NBA player
- Jet Chang, former NCAA Division II Final Four Most Outstanding Player and played for Minnesota Timberwolves in 2012 NBA Summer League
- Blackie Chen - 6’3", Current Vice-team leader of operations of the team, former forward/centre and National Team Member with Yen Hsing-su
- Li Chih-chiang – 5'11", point guard, coach; player in Taiwan in the 1980s.
- Cheng Chih-lung – 6'3", coach; former FIBA Asian All-Star, former CBA finals MVP.
- Chung Chih-mong – 6'5", centre, coach; Chinese Taipei squad head coach at 1998 Asian Games.
- Chen Jih-hsing – 5'11", point guard; player in Taiwan in the 1980s.
- Chou Hai-jung – 6'3", shooting guard, coach; player in Taiwan in the 1980s.
- Yen Hsing-su – 6'0", point guard; CBA assist champion. Head Coach from 2015.
- Chen Hui – 6'0", point guard; SBL assist champion, All-SBL Team.
- Wang Libin – 6'8", centre; CBA player, one of the only two Asian players to achieve triple-double in the game.
- Joseph Lin, Jeremy Lin's younger brother
- O. J. Mayo, former NBA player
- Earl Barron, NBA Finals Champion of 2006
- Todd Rowe – 6'7", small forward; CBA regular season MVP, 4-time scoring champions, shot-block champion.
- Song Tao – 6'10", centre; former CBA player, tallest player in Taiwan's Division A conference when he played for the Mars.
- Tseng Tseng-chiu – 6'3", small forward; player in Taiwan in the 1980s.