The California Heatwave was 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 (ABA) team based in

Madera, California Madera (Spanish language, Spanish for "Wood") is a city and county seat of Madera County, California, Madera County, California. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 66,224. Located in the San Joaquin Valley, Madera i ...

. The team began play in the fall of 2003 at

Selland Arena Selland Arena is a multi-purpose arena built in 1966 that makes up part of a four-venue complex of the Fresno Convention and Entertainment Center in Fresno, California. It is named after former Fresno mayor Arthur L. Selland and has had over 1 ...

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

. The founder of the Fresno Heatwave was Albert Ellis and Richard Hanna. The Fresno Heatwave was coached by Sean Higgins, and its vice president was Janine Nkosi. Originally, the team was called the Fresno Heat, but it was renamed Fresno Heatwave to avoid brand confusion with the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

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 Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

History

On December 3, 2006, the team officially moved to

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

and became the Sacramento Heatwave. They played at Natomas H.S. Event Center before settling at Cosumnes River College. They team moved to play at

Folsom High School Folsom High School is a public secondary school in the western United States, located in Folsom, California, a suburb east of Sacramento. Established in 1922, it is a part of the Folsom Cordova Unified School District. School history The firs ...

northeast of Sacramento before settling a
West Campus High School
in Sacramento. On October 28, 2013, the Heatwave moved to

(25 miles northwest of

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

) and changed its name to the California Heatwave. In November 2014 team owner Reggie Davis announced that the Heatwave was ceasing operations immediately.

References

External links

Official Site

ABA Site
Defunct American Basketball Association (2000–present) teams Basketball teams in Sacramento, California Basketball teams established in 2003 2003 establishments in California 2014 disestablishments in California Sports clubs disestablished in 2004 Madera, California Sports in Fresno, California {{California-basketball-team-stub