The Springfield Fame were a men's spring-professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team in the United States Basketball League from

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

, the hometown of the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

, which gave the inspiration of the team name.

History

The Springfield Fame were founded in 1985. In their inaugural season, they finished with a record of 19-6 and were the first USBL Champions. The league did not add a playoff system until the 1987 season. In their second season, the Fame made national headlines by signing 27-year-old women's basketball legend

Nancy Lieberman Nancy Ilizabeth Lieberman (born July 1, 1958), nicknamed "Lady Magic", is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) who is currently a broadcaster for the Oklahoma City Thun ...

. Lieberman thus became the first female basketball player to play regular season minutes in a men's pro league. They would finish second with a 23–10 record and 0.5 game behind the Tampa Bay Flash. The Fame would fold following the 1986 season.

Season-by-season records

Honours

USBL Player of the Year USBL Coach of the Year All-USBL Teams ''First Team'' *Tracy Jackson (1985) *Billy Goodwin (1986) ''Second Team'' *Larry Lawrence (1985) * Michael Adams (1985 and 1986) * Jerome Henderson (1986) USBL All-Rookie Team *Andre Goode (1985) *Michael Adams (1985) * Dominic Pressley (1986) USBL All-Defensive Team *Michael Adams (1985 and 1986) *Jerome Henderson (1986)

References

{{United States Basketball League United States Basketball League teams Basketball teams in Springfield, Massachusetts