The Raleigh Firebirds are an American professional basketball team based in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, and a member of

The Basketball League The Basketball League (TBL), formerly North America Premier Basketball (NAPB), is a minor league basketball organization. The league began operating in North America in 2018 with eight teams, and expanded to over 44 teams as of 2022. The Bask ...

(TBL). For the 2019 season, their home games were played at

Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School is a magnet high school in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. It opened in 1997 as a magnet school with a focus on math, science, and technology. The current magnet theme is University Connections, which ...

and Robert Brickey served as its head coach.Since then, the Firebirds have played ever year, with a spanning season from March to June. During their first inaugural season, the team went 13-1 at home, and reached the TBL Eastern Conference Finals. The Firebirds also had the number one overall pick in the 2019 TBL Draft, and selected Julian Harris. Harris would win Rookie of the Year, and go on to play basketball overseas.

History

On February 25, 2018,

Dave Magley David John Magley (born November 24, 1959) is a retired American basketball player and coach. He is currently the president of The Basketball League after serving as commissioner of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC). Prior to becomi ...

, owner of

(TBL), stated that

, was approved as a basketball franchise for the upcoming 2019 season. On July 27, 2018, the team was announced as the Raleigh Firebirds. Raleigh previously hosted the

Raleigh Cougars The Raleigh Cougars was a United States Basketball League team based in Raleigh, North Carolina from 1997 to 1999. The team included many well known players from local colleges. The team played its home games at Dorton Arena. The Cougars were ow ...

from 1997 to 1999 in the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

. The Firebirds first season was played during 2019, and they traveled all over the country. During the 14 games they played at home, the team went 13-1, and eventually lost in the TBL Eastern Conference Finals. They were four points from playing in the TBL Finals, which is an amazing accomplishment given the amount of teams in The Basketball League.

Current roster

References

External links

Raleigh Firebirds website
{{The Basketball League Basketball teams in North Carolina The Basketball League teams 2018 establishments in North Carolina Basketball teams established in 2018 Sports in Raleigh, North Carolina