The Anchorage Northern Knights were a

professional basketball In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...

team based in

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

from 1977 to 1982. The team played in the

Eastern Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

(EBA) during the 1977–78 season. The next season, the league changed its name to the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA). The Northern Knights were their division champions two years in a row (1979–1980) and won the 1980 CBA Finals. Throughout their history, the Northern Knights played their home games at West Anchorage High School Gymnasium.

History

When the Northern Knights joined the league, then known as the

(EBA), it attracted national attention for being perhaps the most misplaced franchise in the history of professional sports. Playing in

, the team was 5,000 miles away from its nearest competitor, as all the other teams were based in the eastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

–

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–

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area. League officials "began to see the publicity value a team in Alaska would have for the EBA, which, with an enlarged talent pool since the ABA folded, had been trying to upgrade its image from that of a nickel-and-dime Pennsylvania mill-town circuit—which is mostly what it had been—to something on the order of baseball's Triple-A leagues," John Papnek in ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

''. During the team's first two seasons, the Knights began their regular schedule with an extended homestand; then endured a mid-season bus trip to every CBA team in the league; then finished out the season with another homestand. The Northern Knights had the longest recorded road trip in professional sports history during the 1979–1980 season as the team traveled by bus around the

contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

—playing 16 games in 31 days. The Knights experienced success in the 1977–78 season, leading the league in attendance and often playing before sellout crowds. They won the Western Division with a 24–7 record in 1977-78. The team advanced to the CBA Finals the following year, where they were swept in four games by the Rochester Zeniths, with whom they had begun to develop an impassioned rivalry. In 1979-80, the Northern Knights captured the CBA Championship by defeating Rochester in seven games. It was the first professional sports championship won by an Alaskan team. Brad Davis played for the Northern Knights in the 1978–79 and 1979–80 seasons, capturing the CBA Newcomer of the Year Award in 1978–79. Davis then embarked on a long NBA career, highlighted by twelve seasons with the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

, where he became the first player to have his

jersey number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to ...

retired by the NBA franchise. Ron Davis was a two-time CBA scoring leader; in 1979–80, he was

CBA Most Valuable Player Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Most Valuable Player (MVP) is the annual award that is handed out at the end of each Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) regular season to the league's most valuable player. From the league's inaugural 1995� ...

for the Anchorage squad. Notable Northern Knights players included

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, Tico Brown, Steve Hawes, Arvid Kramer, Steve Hayes,

Brad Branson Bradley Alexander Branson (born September 24, 1958) is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and other leagues. He was a 6'10" and forward. Branson played college basketball f ...

, and Al Fleming. The Knights were coached by Bill Klucas, who won the 1980 CBA Coach of the Year award. Dick Lobdell, who was the voice of the

Alaska Baseball League The Alaska Baseball League (ABL) is an amateur collegiate summer baseball league. Players in the league must have attended one year of college and must have one year of NCAA eligibility remaining. The Midnight Sun Game, held at Growden Memorial ...

, served as the Northern Knights play-by-play commentator.

Season-by-season standings

;Key ;Table

All-time roster

* Nate Barnett *

Norton Barnhill Norton Barnhill (born July 15, 1953) is a retired American basketball player. Barnhill was a shooting guard, he played collegiately for Washington State University. Barnhill played for the Seattle SuperSonics in the NBA The National Bas ...

* Greg Bell *

* Tico Brown *

Roger Burkman Roger Allen Burkman (born May 22, 1958) is a retired American basketball player and athletic director at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, he played high school basketball at Franklin Central High Schoo ...

* James Cornelious * Brad Davis * Harry Davis * Melvin Davis * Ron Davis * Paul Dawkins * Craig Finberg * Pat Flanigin * Al Fleming *

Lucious Foster Lucious is a masculine given name, popular in the United States. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Lucious Boyd (born 1959), American serial killer * Lucious Harris (born 1970), American basketball player * Lucious Jackson (1941� ...

* Tony Fuller * Curt Gilstrap * Jerome Gladney * James Hardy *

Herman Harris Herman B. Harris (born December 1953) is an American former professional basketball player. Playing career Harris played basketball at Chester High School in his hometown of Chester, Pennsylvania. He was lightly recruited despite being one of t ...

* Steve Hayes * Tony Jackson * Roy Jones *

Clarence Kea Clarence Leroy Kea (born February 2, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He was a 6'6" (1.98 m) 218 lb (99 kg) power forward. High school Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, Kea attended New Hanover High School, ...

* Andre Keys *

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Larry Knight Larry Knight (born November 5, 1956) is an American former collegiate and professional basketball player. Knight was drafted by the Utah Jazz in the first round (20th pick) of the 1979 NBA draft, 1979 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft. ...

* Arvid Kramer * Edmund Lawrence *

Rickey Lee Rickey may refer to: Surname or given name * Anna S. Rickey (1827–1858), American poet * Branch Rickey (1881–1965), Major League Baseball executive * Branch Rickey Jr. (1913–1961), son of Branch, also a Major League Baseball executive * ...

* Jim Perryman * Keith McCord *

Dick Miller Richard Miller (December 25, 1928 – January 30, 2019) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 180 films, including many produced by Roger Corman. He later appeared in the films of directors who began their careers with Corm ...

* Purvis Miller *

Charles Mitchell Charles Mitchell may refer to: * Charles Mitchell (footballer), British soccer player * Charles Mitchell (academic) (born 1965), professor of law at University College, London * Charles Mitchell (American football) (born 1989), American football ...

* Ron Moore *

Alex Oliveira Alex de Oliveira (born February 21, 1988) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Born and raised in Três Rios, Rio de Janeiro, Oliveira ...

* Stan Pietkiewicz * John Ramsay * Clarence Ruffen *John Smith *

Dean Tolson Byron Dean Tolson (born November 25, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player. Tolson played three seasons for the Seattle SuperSonics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Arkansas R ...

* Tony Turner *

Jeff Tyson Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

* Bernard Vaughan *

Slick Watts Donald Earl "Slick" Watts (born July 22, 1951) is an American former basketball player. He is perhaps most well known for being the first NBA player to lead the league in both assists and steals, in 1976. College "Slick" Watts originally attend ...

*Dave Wear *

Tom Wheeler Thomas Edgar Wheeler (born April 5, 1946) is an American businessman and former government official. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 31st Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He was appointed by President Bara ...

* Connie White * Rudy White :''Sources''

References

External links

1977-1982 Anchorage Northern Knights
via FunWhileitLasted.com {{Alaska Sports Basketball teams in Alaska Continental Basketball Association teams Defunct basketball teams in the United States Basketball teams established in 1977 Sports clubs disestablished in 1982 Sports in Anchorage, Alaska Defunct sports teams in Alaska