Florida Flame

Florida Flame
League NBA Development League
Founded 2001
Folded 2006
History North Charleston Lowgators
2001–2003
Charleston Lowgators
2003–2004
Florida Flame
2004–2006
Arena Germain Arena
Location Fort Myers, Florida
Team colors Apple green and blue
         
Head coach Jeff Malone
Ownership Flame Ownership Group
Affiliation(s) Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic
Championships none

The Florida Flame were an NBA Development League team based in Fort Myers, Florida. Its logo represents a basketball on fire moving at high speed.

It was announced that the Florida Flame would temporarily shut down operations during 2006–07, due to not having a home arena in which to play. The team maintained its league membership in hopes of finding a venue for the next season. When that didn't happen, the Flame quietly folded all operations and finally, officially ceased to be in late 2007.

Franchise history

The North Charleston Lowgators began play in the National Basketball Development League in 2001-02. The team was renamed the Charleston Lowgators in the fall of 2003. The Charleston Lowgators relocated to Fort Myers in fall 2004 and became the Florida Flame. In September 2005, the NBA announced that the Flame would be affiliated with the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Orlando Magic for the upcoming season.

The Florida Flame (formerly the North Charleston Lowgators/Charleston Lowgators) along with the Tulsa 66ers (formerly the Asheville Altitude), the Austin Toros (formerly the Columbus Riverdragons), and the New Mexico Thunderbirds (formerly the Huntsville Flight) was one of the only teams left in the D-League that was a charter member as of 2006.

Players of note

Roster at end of 2005–06 season

Florida Flame Roster
Head Coach: Jeff Malone (Mississippi State)
Asst. Coach: Terry Thimlar (Indiana State)
PF 4 Alabama Duane Erwin (Memphis 2005)
C 5 North Carolina George Leach (Indiana 2004)
SG 6 Texas Bracey Wright (Indiana 2005)
SG/SF 7 New York (state) Lenny Stokes (Cincinnati 2003)
PF/C 9 Arkansas Roman Brown (Florida Gulf Coast 2004)
SG/SF 10 California Austin Nichols (Humboldt State 2004)
PG 11 New York (state) Andre Barrett (Seton Hall 2004)
PG 13 Rhode Island T. J. Sorrentine (Vermont 2005)
PG/SG 22 California E. J. Rowland (St. Mary's 2005)
SG 25 North Carolina Jonathan Moore (North Carolina Central 2005)
SG/SF 33 Tennessee Reed Rawlings (Samford 2001)
C/PF 34 Virginia Elton Brown (Virginia 2004)

Year-by-year record

Season Finish Wins Losses Pct. Postseason Results
North Charleston Lowgators
2001–02 1st 36 20 .643 Won Semifinals (Mobile) 2-1
Lost D-League Finals (Greenville) 2-0
2002–03 2nd 26 24 .520 Lost Semifinals (Mobile) 2-0
Charleston Lowgators
2003–04 2nd 27 19 .587 Lost Semifinals (Huntsville) 108-100
Florida Flame
2004–05 6th 17 31 .354
2005–06 3rd 25 23 .521 Lost Semifinals (Albuquerque) 80-71
Regular season 131 117 .528
Playoffs 2 6 .250

Affiliates

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