The Calgary 88's was a professional basketball franchise based in
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, from 1988 to 1992. The team played in 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 ...
. The 1992 season saw the league fold before the season was completed.
The 88's played their home games at the
Olympic Saddledome
Scotiabank Saddledome is a multi-use indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located in Stampede Park in the southeast end of downtown Calgary, the Saddledome was built in 1983 to replace the Stampede Corral as the home of the Calgary Flames ...
. Their best players during their time in Calgary consisted of Jim Thomas (Indiana)
Chip Engelland
Arthur Edward "Chip" Engelland III (born May 9, 1961) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He is currently an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Career
A nati ...
Texas A&M
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...
) John Spencer (Howard U), Chris Childs (Boise St), Kelby Stuckey (SW Missouri), Roland Gray (Saint Louis), Jerry Stroman (Utah),
Nikita Wilson
Nikita Franciscus Wilson (born February 25, 1964) is a retired American professional basketball player. He was selected by the National Basketball Association's Portland Trail Blazers with the 30th overall pick in the second round of the 1987 NB ...
Andre Turner
Andre Devalle Turner (born March 13, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently the head coach for Lane College. A 5'11", point guard, he played collegi ...
,
Sidney Lowe
Sidney Rochell Lowe (born January 21, 1960) is an American former basketball player and coach. He is currently an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lowe played college basketball and served ...
,
Kelsey Weems
Kelsey Russell Weems (September 16, 1967 – August 20, 2019) was an American professional basketball player. A point guard from the state of Georgia, Weems played college basketball at NC State and stayed four years despite limited playing time ...
Corey Gaines
Corey Yasuto Gaines (born June 1, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He played five seasons in the NBA, and was a four-time Israeli Premier League Assists Leader, in 1999 and in 2001 to 2003. He was also a forme ...
, and David Boone. Calgary coaches included
Mike Thibault
Michael Francis Thibault (born September 28, 1950) is an American basketball head coach, formerly of the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA, and now of the Washington Mystics. In 2013, Thibault became the WNBA's all time most successful coach with 212 ...
and Roger Lyons. In five seasons, the 88's went 151-78.