The Buffalo Sharks were a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team in the American Basketball Association 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 Sou ...

. The team played two seasons as the Buffalo Rapids and Buffalo Silverbacks before suspending operations. This team is not to be confused with 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 ...

of the

Premier Basketball League The Premier Basketball League, often abbreviated to the PBL, is an American professional men's basketball minor league that began play in January 2008. The league folded after the 2017 season. It was announced that the league would be revived un ...

History

Buffalo Rapids (2005–06)

The Buffalo Rapids were founded by Gary Nice and began play in the fall of 2005 as part of the ABA's Connie Hawkins Division. It was the first professional basketball team to play in

since the

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball franchise based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division from 1970 ...

. The team's name was chosen by a fan voting, with "Rapids" finishing second to "Braves". Trademark restrictions prevented the franchise from adopting the Braves name, but the Rapids team colors were identical to those of the Buffalo Braves. Dan Robbie and Todd Wier became co-owners of the franchise in December 2005 following the league's removal of Gary Nice. Initial games were played at Burt Flickinger Center, but a financial dispute left the team searching for a new permanent home. They played most home games at Park School of Buffalo until February 2006. The final home game of the 2005–2006 season was played at Buffalo State Sports Arena, with the team later utilizing the venue for most 2006–2007 home games.

Buffalo Silverbacks (2006–07)

It was announced in May 2006 that the franchise had changed its name to the Buffalo Silverbacks. Controversy arose in August 2006 when the ''

Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...

'' ran an article condemning the team's logo, which featured a silverback

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

, as racist. The team responded by adopting a new team logo featuring a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

in October 2006. Another bit of controversy involved the Silverbacks announcing that DayShawn Wright had been signed to the team in September 2006. Soon after this announcement, Wright signed with the

Minot SkyRockets The Minot SkyRockets were a team in the Continental Basketball Association. They played their home games at the Minot Municipal Auditorium. The team began play in 2005 as the San Jose Skyrockets of the American Basketball Association (2000–pre ...

of the CBA. Head coach

Richard Jacob Richard L. Jacob Ph.D. (born September 24, 1958, in Niagara Falls, New York), is a sports coach and professor. He graduated from Niagara Catholic High School and Eisenhower College and obtained master's degrees in physical education and educa ...

resigned from the team in November 2006 to focus on his job at

Medaille College Medaille University is a private university in Buffalo, New York. The Sisters of St. Joseph founded Medaille in 1937. Medaille serves roughly 1,600 students from Western New York and Southern Ontario. Campuses Medaille's main campus is in Buffa ...

. Trevor Ruffin, a player from the team's inaugural season and an assistant coach during their 2006–07 training camp, replaced him as head coach. In 2007, Weir sold the team to Vincent Lesh. Lesh has been an entertainment promoter in Western New York for 25 years and is the owner of Concerts Plus. On November 11, 2007, the Silverbacks announced that they were suspending operations. On their official MySpace page, the team stated "If you did not already know, the Silverbacks are not playing this fall in the ABA. New ownership has decided to take this season off after taking over the team with 5 weeks before tip off."

Buffalo Sharks (2008)

Lesh re-branded the team as the Buffalo Sharks and reactivated them to begin play in November 2008.

was named the Head Coach and General Manager as he was for both the Rapids and Silverbacks. The Sharks were to play at

Koessler Athletic Center Koessler Athletic Center is a 2,196-seat multi-purpose arena in Buffalo, New York on the campus of Canisius College. It was built in 1968, is home to the Canisius College Golden Griffins men's and women's basketball teams and women's volleyball ...

on the campus of Canisius College. However, on 2008-09-18, Lesh announced his folding of the Sharks, his leaving of the ABA, and his purchase of the former Buffalo Dragons. The ABA would later return to Buffalo with the

Buffalo 716ers The Buffalo 716ers were a basketball team based in Buffalo, New York, they played in the PBL. The 716ers were originally granted an expansion team with the American Basketball Association., before joining the IBA. The team takes its name from ...

, set to begin play in 2013; that team has since moved to the

. The ABA would again return to Buffalo with the Buffalo Blue Hawks, who began play in 2016.

Standings

Game results

2005–2006

2006–2007

Roster and staff

2005–2006

*Team Captain – Tim Winn *All-Star Selection – Tim Winn *All-ABA Selection – Tim Winn Released Staff *Owners – Gary Nice (11/05 – 12/05), Dan Robbie and Todd Wier (12/05 – 11/07) *General Manager –

*Head Coach –

*Assistant Coach – Tyrone Thomas *Player Assistant Coaches – Modie Cox and Tim Winn *Strength and Conditioning Coach – Bob Bateson *Account Executive – Bryan Perry *Game Day Operation Manager – Timothy M. Simko *Media Relations – Nadia Fezzani

2006–2007

*All-Star Selection – Antoine Sims *ABA Community Service Award – Modie Cox Released Staff *Owners – Dan Robbie and Todd Wier *Head Coach – Trevor Ruffin *Player Assistant Coach – Modie Cox *Strength and Conditioning Coach – Bob Bateson

References

{{Upstate New York Sports Defunct American Basketball Association (2000–present) teams Sports in Buffalo, New York 2005 establishments in New York (state) 2008 disestablishments in New York (state)