The Birmingham Bandits were a professional basketball team based in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. They played 1 season in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the defunct development league for the

National Basketball Association 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 ...

(NBA).

History

In April 1991, the owner of the

Pensacola Tornados The Pensacola Tornados was a basketball team that played in Pensacola, Florida in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1985–1991. 1985–1986 season Ted Stepien bought a CBA franchise for Toronto in 1983 after threatening to mov ...

, Tom McMillan announced his intention to relocate the team, citing poor attendance. After considering

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

and

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in ...

, McMillan ultimately decided to move the team to

, officially announcing it in May 1991. The team was affiliated with two NBA franchises, the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

and the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

, and

Morris McHone Morris Daniel "Mo" McHone (born June 17, 1943) is a former coach for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, a professional team in the NBA Development League. He is also a former NBA basketball coach and assistant coach. Career McHone served as an assistan ...

was named head coach, replacing former Tornados coach Fred Bryan. With their first pick in the 1991 CBA draft (8th overall), which took place in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, the Bandits selected

Melvin Cheatum Melvin is a masculine given name and surname, likely a variant of Melville and a descendant of the French surname de Maleuin and the later Melwin. It may alternatively be spelled as Melvyn or, in Welsh, Melfyn and the name Melivinia or Melva may b ...

, a former player of the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a me ...

. Their other draft picks were

Tank Collins Derwin F. "Tank" Collins (born January 28, 1969) is a retired American professional basketball player. He played for Presto Ice Cream in the Philippine Basketball Association but is best known for his high school and college careers in the United ...

from

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, Corey Crowder from Kentucky Wesleyan, Emmitt Smith from

Georgia Southern Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hin ...

, Ron Moye from

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

and Chris Collier from Georgia State; the Bandits traded Tank Collins' rights to the

Tri-City Chinook The Tri-City Chinook were a professional basketball team based in Kennewick, Washington. They played 4 seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the defunct development league for the National Basketball Association (NBA). The te ...

in exchange for Michael Ansley. The Bandits were included in the Eastern Division of the American Conference with the Albany Patroons, the

Columbus Horizon The Columbus Horizon is a defunct basketball team from Columbus, Ohio that played for five seasons in the Continental Basketball Association from 1989 to 1994. History Plans to bring professional basketball to Columbus were unveiled in Septembe ...

and the

Grand Rapids Hoops The Grand Rapids Hoops were a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their first season was in 1989 and their final season was in 2003. Professional basketball later returned to Grand ...

. The team played their first game against the

Quad City Thunder The Quad City Thunder was a Continental Basketball Association franchise that was based in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. They played in the CBA from the 1987–88 season until the CBA folded in 2001. The Thunder were successful on the c ...

on November 8, 1991, losing 118–114. The Bandits recorded a 6-game winning streak between November 15 and November 27, before losing to the Tri-City Chinook on November 28: they then lost 7 consecutive games. During the season two players were called up by NBA teams: Ansley by the Philadelphia 76ers and Dave Popson by the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

. The Bandits ended the season with a 25–31 record, good for the second place in the Eastern Division, which qualified them for the playoffs. After winning the first round against the Albany Patroons in a single elimination game, the team advanced to the second round, where they lost to the Quad City Thunder 3–1 in the series. The team recorded the worst attendance of the CBA, and owner McMillan announced that the Kahler Corporation had acquired the franchise on May 28, 1992: the team was relocated to Rochester, Minnesota and became the

Rochester Renegade The Rochester Renegade (later Rochester Renegades) were a professional basketball team based in Rochester, Minnesota. They played 2 seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the defunct development league for the National Basketbal ...

Season-by-season records

All-time roster

* Marvin Alexander * Leonard Allen * Michael Ansley *Chris Collier *

Michael Cutright Michael Cutright (born May 10, 1967) is an American former basketball player. A 6'4 guard, He was named to Southland Conference 1980's All-Decade Men's Basketball Team, which also includes Joe Dumars and Karl Malone. He was drafted in the secon ...

*William DeVaughn *

Jim Farmer James Hubert Farmer (born September 23, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player who was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round (20th pick overall) of the 1987 NBA draft. Farmer, a 6'4" 190 lb small forward, p ...

*Mike Goodson * Skeeter Henry *

Richard Hollis Richard Hollis (born 1934) is a British graphic designer. He has taught at various art schools, written books, and worked as a printer, as a magazine editor and as a print-production manager. Biography Hollis was born in London and studied ...

*Anthony Houston *Larry Houzer *Elfrem Jackson *

Eric Johnson Eric Johnson may refer to: Music *Eric Johnson (guitarist) (born 1954) an American guitarist and recording artist * Eric D. Johnson (born 1976), member of multiple indie-rock bands including Fruit Bats, The Shins and Califone Politics * Eric Joh ...

* Eugene McDowell * Dave Popson *Rob Robbins *Emmett Smith *

Irving Thomas Irving Thomas (born January 2, 1966) is a retired American professional basketball player born in Brooklyn, New York, formerly of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A 6'8" small forward from the University of Kentucky and Florida State U ...

* Mark Wade *Earl Warren * Robert Youngblood ::''Sources''

References

{{reflist Basketball teams in Alabama 1991 establishments in Alabama Continental Basketball Association teams Sports in Alabama Basketball teams established in 1991 1992 disestablishments in Alabama Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1992 Sports clubs and teams in Birmingham, Alabama