Tampa Bay Thrillers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Tampa Bay Thrillers were a franchise in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1984–1987, winning back-to-back championships in 1984 and 1985. The franchise relocated to Rapid 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 featuring Sidney 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 the Albany 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 the Bayfront Center in St. 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 the La 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 the Rockford Lightning.

The Rapid City Thrillers would continue in both the CBA and International Basketball Association until 2001.