The Buffalo 716ers were a basketball team based in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, they played in the PBL. The 716ers were originally granted an expansion team with the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

., before joining the IBA. The team takes its name from

area code 716 Area code 716 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and four surrounding counties in western New York. It was one of the original North American area codes established in 1947. Histor ...

, the telephone

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

for Buffalo and much of the rest of

western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...

. Home games were originally played at

Tapestry Charter School Tapestry Charter School is a K-12 charter school in Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at th ...

. The team then played home games at the

Burt Flickinger Center Burt Flickinger Center is a multipurpose indoor venue located in downtown Buffalo, New York. The venue is named after Burt Prentice Flickinger, Jr., an heir to the S.M. Flickinger food distribution company who spearheaded efforts to bring the ...

in downtown Buffalo. The team owner, and head coach, is Tawan Slaughter, a native of the Buffalo area. The 716ers were the fourth minor league franchise to play in Buffalo, after the

Buffalo Rapids The Buffalo Sharks were a professional basketball team in the American Basketball Association based in Buffalo, New York. The team played two seasons as the Buffalo Rapids and Buffalo Silverbacks before suspending operations. This team is not to ...

(later known as the Silverbacks and Sharks), which played from 2005 to 2007, the

Buffalo Stampede The Buffalo Stampede was a basketball team in the Atlantic Coast Professional Basketball League (ACPBL) that started as a franchise in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) in the 2009 season. The team was originally the NexxNow Buffalo Dragons (c ...

, which played from 2008 - 2011, and the Buffalo Warriors.

History

2012

In October 2012 the team held open tryouts allowing members of the public to work out and earn a spot on the team roster.

2013

During the summer of 2013 the 716ers played in 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 ...

-sanctioned Los Angeles

Summer Pro League The Summer Pro League (SPL), formerly known as the Southern California Summer Pro League, was a basketball league held every summer in Long Beach, California. The SPL moved to the Walter Pyramid on the campus of Long Beach State in 1995. Before th ...

from July 23 to 29, 2013.

2014

The inaugural 2014 season began in January 2014. The Buffalo 716ers finished the season with the PBL with a six-game winning streak, leading to a 9–7 regular-season record. The 2014 season was played at the Thunder Dome at Tapestry Charter School in Buffalo, New York. The season did not start out promising, with the 716ers standing at 1–7 at the midway point. Those seven losses were the only ones the 716ers would see that season. Going into the 2015 season the 716ers announced they were holding open tryouts on Saturday, September 13, 2014.

2015

The 716ers started the 2015 season with a 4–7 record. On February 14, 2015, the team's starting point guard, Amir Billups, was killed in a multi-car pile up in Morrow County, Ohio, at the age of 24. (Amir Billups is a second cousin of former NBA player

Chauncey Billups Chauncey Ray Billups (born September 25, 1976) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 17 seasons in the NBA. Afte ...

.) A week later, the team dedicated their next game to Billups, beating the Philadelphia Flight at home by a score of 143–114. The following day, they also beat the Erie Hurricane and improved their record to 6–7.

Relaunch

In June 2018, the 716ers' official Facebook page announced https://www.facebook.com/Buffalo716ers/posts/1738202946266799 that the team would be returning for the 2018-2019 season, in a new venue.

Notable players

* Charles Vanderpool

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Buffalo 716ers WebsiteBuffalo 716ers Granted ABA Expansion Team for 2013Buffalo 716ers join the PBL
Basketball teams in New York (state) 2012 establishments in New York (state) Basketball teams established in 2012 Sports in Buffalo, New York 2015 disestablishments in New York (state) Basketball teams disestablished in 2015