Hawaii Hurricanes

The Hawaii Hurricanes were a proposed basketball team intended to be based in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. They were scheduled to begin play in the new American Basketball Association (ABA) in 2007, but the team was confiscated by the league before the season due to suspicions of bad business practices on the part of its owner.^[1] The franchise tried to reorganize under new ownership as the Pacific Rim Rockers, but was unable to overcome its financial difficulties, and folded before ever playing a game.^[2]

History

The Hurricanes were the second attempt by the American Basketball Association to put a team in Honolulu; the previous team, the Hawaii Mega Force, began play in 2005, but were folded by the league after only two games due to the owner's failure to meet financial obligations.^[3] In 2007 Hawaii businessman Andrew Moss was awarded ownership of a new ABA franchise to be based in the state. The team, named the Hawaii Hurricanes, was scheduled to begin play in the 2007–2008 season. Home games were to be played at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in downtown Honolulu. Moss hired local coach Alika Smith as head coach, assembled a marketing team, and signed a number of player contracts.^[1]

Prior to the season, however, the league became concerned about Moss' lack of progress with the team. As the year went on, Smith and other staff reported that they had not been receiving their paychecks and had received bad checks, and several customers reported that their credit cards had been wildly overcharged for season tickets.^[1] In October 2007 the ABA stripped Moss of his ownership, and granted it to a new ownership group, Pacific Rim Inc. The team was reorganized as the Pacific Rim Rockers, and coach Smith and other Hurricanes staff and players committed to remain with the franchise in hopes of playing in the 2007–2008 season.^[3] However, the team was unable to overcome the situation it had been left in, and folded before the season began.^[2]

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