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, ...
based in
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.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 ...
. Their record for the regular season was 14-16 and they finished third in the Roger Brown Division behind the
Harlem Strong Dogs
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...
and the
Strong Island Sound
Strong may refer to:
Education
* The Strong, an educational institution in Rochester, New York, United States
* Strong Hall (Lawrence, Kansas), an administrative hall of the University of Kansas
* Strong School, New Haven, Connecticut, United St ...
. They had a bye week for the first round of the playoffs. They played on March 17, 2006, in Atlanta against their second round opponent, the Atlanta Vision.
The Express started the season with star players Aswan Morris, Rasheed Sparks, Jamie Sowers and Derek Washington and Marcus Toney-El from the Jersey SkyCats. The head coach of the team in their first season was
Darryl Dawkins
Darryl R. Dawkins (January 11, 1957 – August 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. He was particularly known for his tenure with the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, although he also ...
. Former Newark Mayor,
Sharpe James
Sharpe James (born February 20, 1936) is an American Democratic politician from New Jersey, who served as State Senator for the 29th Legislative District and was 37th Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. James was the second African American Mayor of N ...
, and the city council gave money to the team and became an official sponsor during their inaugural season.
The Newark Express had a small number (100-250 fans on average) at their games, but there was more loyalty and noise among the fans toward the end of the season. The team had mentioned the possibility of moving to a larger arena in the future. Although the
Prudential Center
Prudential Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the men's basketball program of Seton Hal ...
was completed in 2007, the low attendance prevented the team from using the arena.
The Newark Express season ended with a loss against the top ranked Rochester Razorsharks 126-98 on March 19, 2006 in the second round of the playoffs. The Razorsharks went on to win the 2005-2006 ABA Championship.
Second season (2006–07)
The Express hired Ron Moore, a
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
native and former New York Knick to serve as head coach beginning in November 2006. At the end of November 2006, Ron Moore resigned from the Express and was replaced by co-owner Marsha Blount, who will serve as interim head coach.