The Saskatoon Slam were a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

professional basketball franchise based in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, that played in the National Basketball League in 1993 and 1994.

Team history

Saskatchewan Storm (WBL)

The Slam were founded in 1990 as the Saskatchewan Storm of the

World Basketball League World Basketball League (WBL) was a minor professional basketball league in the United States and Canada that ran from 1988 to 1992. It was founded as the International Basketball Association in November 1987, before changing its name prior to the 1 ...

(WBL). The Storm narrowly lost their first game, 117–115 against the Las Vegas Silver Streaks, in front of a record crowd of more than 8,000. The team did not win a championship but had some notable alumni, including Thomas Lyles, the father of

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

player

Trey Lyles Trey Anthony Lyles (born November 5, 1995) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted by the Utah Jazz following his freshman season at the University of Kent ...

, and current

UC Davis Aggies The UC Davis Aggies (also referred to as the Ags or Aggies) are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Davis. Seventeen of the school's 25 intercollegiate sports - baseball, men's basketball, men's cross country, men's ...

men's basketball coach

Jim Les James Alan Les (born August 18, 1963) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the UC Davis Aggies men's team. A former point guard, Les played seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after his ...

. The WBL folded before the conclusion of the 1992 season, and the Canadian franchises opted to create a new national league, the National Basketball League (NBL). It was then that the Storm changed their name to the Saskatoon Slam.

Saskatoon Slam (NBL)

The Slam were a success in the only full NBL season. On 8 September, 1993, they defeated the

Cape Breton Breakers The Cape Breton Breakers were a franchise in the National Basketball League that began play in 1993, the league's first season. The team played their home games at Centre 200, in Sydney, which was also home of the Cape Breton Oilers. The team w ...

by a score of 109–107 in the fourth game of the championship final to win the league title. This was the province's first professional basketball championship, and the only one until the

Saskatchewan Rattlers The Saskatchewan Rattlers are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, that competes in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). They play their home games at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. History On May ...

won the inaugural

Canadian Elite Basketball League The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) is a men's professional minor league basketball organization. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams competing all owned and operated by ownership group Canadian Basketball ...

title in

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. The NBL struggled financially–for example, all games of the 1993 finals were played in Saskatoon to reduce travel costs–and the league folded in the middle of the 1994 season, along with the Slam. This left the city and province without professional basketball until briefly hosting the

Saskatchewan Hawks The Saskatchewan Hawks was a professional basketball club based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan that competed in the International Basketball Association beginning in the 2000–2001 season. The team's ownership group was composed of Tom Tao and forme ...

, from 2000 to 2002.

Season by season results

''Legend: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, GBL = Games Behind Leader''

Saskatchewan Storm (WBL)

Saskatoon Slam (NBL)

All-time Slam roster

References

World Basketball League teams Basketball teams established in 1990 1990 establishments in Saskatchewan National Basketball League (Canada) teams Sport in Saskatoon Basketball in Saskatchewan Defunct basketball teams in Canada Defunct sports teams in Saskatchewan Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1994 {{Canada-basketball-team-stub 1994 disestablishments in Canada