The Rockford Lightning was a basketball team that played in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

. They were based in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

History

The Lightning were the oldest team in the CBA, originally existing as the

Lancaster Red Roses The Lancaster Red Roses baseball team, originally known as the Maroons, changed its name at the start of the 1906 season during a bitter match with the York, Pennsylvania-based White Roses. Some sources indicate that the rival teams were named fo ...

from

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

. That team changed their name to the Lancaster Lightning, then the franchise moved to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

for a year before relocating in Rockford. Their home arena was the MetroCentre. They were the runners-up in the 2001-02 and 2004-05 CBA seasons, losing a winner-take-all championship game to the

Dakota Wizards The Dakota Wizards were an American professional basketball team based in Bismarck, North Dakota. They played in the NBA Development League from 2006 until 2012. After the 2011–12 season, the team relocated to Santa Cruz, California, and now pl ...

116–109 in 2002, and a best-of-5 series to the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...

3–1 in 2005. On January 20, 2006, the

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...

's owner announced that the Lightning would cease operations after the season unless other investors purchased the team and continued its operations. An attempt was made to constitute a new local ownership group, but it was unsuccessful, and the team folded. The Lightning's main rival was 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 ...

NBA call-ups

Bruce Bowen Bruce Eric Bowen Jr. (born June 14, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. Bowen played small forward and graduated from Edison High School and Cal State Fullerton. He went on to play for the National Basketball Association' ...

(1995-97) -

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

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 (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

Sam Mack Sam Mack (born May 26, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player. The 6'7" shooting guard from Dolton, Illinois played with five different NBA teams over a 10-year span and has had a 20-year international basketball career. Colleg ...

- Vancouver Grizzlies *

Gerald Madkins Gerald Madkins Jr. (born April 18, 1969) is an American professional basketball executive who is a former assistant general manager for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a former professional basketball pla ...

Golden State Warriors *

Earl Boykins Earl Antoine Boykins (born June 2, 1976) is a former American professional basketball player. Standing at in height, he is the second-shortest player in NBA history behind Muggsy Bogues, who is tall. He was the head coach for the Douglas Cou ...

(1998-99) * Matt Steigenga *

Linton Johnson Linton Johnson III (born June 13, 1980) is an American professional basketball player. He is married to a woman from Caserta, and has Italian citizenship. Linton Johnson is the nephew of former NBA player Mickey Johnson. Career After a four-yea ...

Darrell Walker Darrell Walker (born March 9, 1961) is an American college basketball coach and retired professional player. He is currently head men's coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. At 6'4" (1.93 m) and 180 lb (82 kg), he played as ...

(coach) * Mike James *

Larry Sykes Larry Sykes (born April 11, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player born in Toledo, Ohio. A 6'9" power forward from Xavier University, Sykes appeared in one game for the Boston Celtics during the 1995-96 NBA season. He tallie ...

Desmond Ferguson Desmond Ferguson (born July 22, 1977, in Lansing, Michigan) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He last played with the Halifax Rainmen of the PBL. He attended and played college basketball at the University of Missou ...

Howard Eisley Howard Jonathan Eisley (born December 4, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player and current coach. Born in Detroit, Eisley played college basketball at Boston College and was drafted in 1994 by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Eisl ...

Ken Bannister Kenneth Darnell Bannister (born April 1, 1960) is a retired American professional basketball player, from Baltimore, Maryland. At 6' 9" tall he was a power forward-center. College career Bannister played college basketball at Trinidad State Junio ...

References

Basketball teams in Illinois Basketball teams in Baltimore Basketball teams in Philadelphia Basketball teams established in 1978 Basketball teams disestablished in 2006 1978 establishments in Pennsylvania 2006 disestablishments in Illinois {{Illinois-basketball-team-stub