Hiroshima Lightning

Basketball team in Hiroshima, Japan
   PresidentKenta NakashimaHead coachJoe Navarro (basketball)OwnershipHiroshima Pro Basketball Co., Ltd.ChampionshipsNone
jersey
Team colours

Uniform

jersey
Team colours

Uniform

The Hiroshima Lightning (広島ライトニング, Hiroshima Raitoningu) were a professional basketball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They spent one season (2015–2016) in the Western Conference of the Japanese bj league and then folded after being denied entry into the B.League, the bj league's replacement.

History

Formation

Kenta Nakashima, a Hiroshima-born professional basketball player who had spent time with the Tokyo Apache and Vancouver Volcanoes, returned to his home town in 2012 with the intention of establishing a professional basketball team within Hiroshima Prefecture. Despite facing opposition from the Hiroshima Prefectural Basketball Association, who did not want a professional team within the prefecture,[1] he established a company named Hiroshima Pro Basketball Co., Ltd. in April 2013.[2] In July 2013 the bj league announced that it would commence a new minor league in August 2014, and that the club team operated by Hiroshima Pro Basketball would be granted entry into the league.[3]

bj Challenge League 2015

In October 2014 Nakashima held a press conference in Hiroshima with bj league commissioner Toshimitsu Kawachi [ja] and other league officials to announce that the bj Challenge League would commence in January 2015. At the same press conference, Nakashima announced his team would be named the Hiroshima Sun Stars and introduced Joe Navarro (Nakashima's former head coach in Vancouver) as the team's head coach and five players who had been contracted to play. The press conference was held a week before the Hiroshima Dragonflies, another professional basketball team formed by a rival group, played their first match in the National Basketball League, the bj league's competitor.[4] In December 2014 Nakashima announced that the team's name was to be changed to the Lightning due to receipt of a complaint from a manufacturing company.[5]

Along with the Lightning, the Hyogo Impulse [ja] was the only other team ready to complete in the first round of the bj Challenge League. The round consisted of six games between the two teams played between January and April 2015.[4] Hiroshima won all six matches by an average of 35 points, with the team's three home matches being played at the Naka-ku Sports Center, Asakita-ku Sports Center and Asaminami-ku Sports Center.[6] On 6 April 2015, the day after the Lightning's fifth win against the Impulse, Nakashima held a press conference to announce that the Lightning had been granted entry into the bj league's 2015–2016 season, which was to commence in October 2015.[7] The team's entry into the league was made possible due to the withdrawal of a Nagasaki-based team the previous month.[1]

A second round of the Challenge League was held between June and August 2015, with the Gifu Seiryu Heroes [ja] joining as a third team in July.[8]

Failed B.League bid

In early 2015 it was announced that the bj league and NBL would merge to form a new league to commence in the new 2016–17 season. In April 2015 both the Lightning and Dragonflies submitted applications to enter the new league (later named the B.League). However, only the NBL's Dragonflies received support from the Hiroshima Prefectural Basketball Association. Supporting documentation from the local association was a requirement for acceptance into the new league.[9] The Lightning lodged an appeal with the Japan Sports Arbitration Agency in June, which was withdrawn soon after following the new league's administration agreeing to reconsider the Lightning's application.[1] Ultimately, it was announced on 16 July that the Lightning was refused entry into the league, the only team out of the 46 active teams across the two leagues to be denied entry.[9] The Dragonflies were assigned to the league's second division.[10]

bj league 2015–16 season

Before their first season in the bj league, the Lightning signed Americans Andre Murray and Adam Herman and Bahaman Gjio Bain as their three import players.[11] The team played their first match on 2 October 2015, which ended as a 127–75 loss at home to the Ryukyu Golden Kings.[12] The team suffered a further four losses before recording their first win on 18 October by defeating the Takamatsu Five Arrows 95–79.[13] This would be the team's only win in the 52-game season, as they lost their next 44 games in a row to finish with a 1–49 record, the worst in the league's 11-year history.[14][15] On 15 April 2016 the club announced that two home matches against the Tokyo Cinq Rêves that were postponed in December 2015 were to be forfeited due to "unavoidable circumstances attributable to the home team", effectively shortening each team's season to 50 games.[16] The team had an average attendance of 322 at its 24 home games.[17]

Notable players

  • Gjio Bain
  • Yuji Funayama (basketball)
  • Adam Herman
  • Andre Murray [tl]
  • Takeshi Nomoto

Coaches

  • Joe Navarro (basketball)
  • Kenta Nakajima
  • Hideki Katsumata
  • Takatoshi Ishibashi

References

  1. ^ a b c Odeven, Ed (4 July 2015). "Fairness prevails in Hiroshima saga". Japan Times. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  2. ^ "bj下部リーグへ参戦決定！　～広島から世界へ～" [Entry into the bj league's minor league confirmed: From Hiroshima to the world] (in Japanese). 2 July 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  3. ^ "bj下部リーグ新設へ　来年開幕、広島の1チーム参戦" [New bj league minor league to commence next year, Hiroshima to have a team]. Chugoku Shimbun (in Japanese). 3 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  4. ^ a b "広島に新たなプロチーム"デビュー"、その名は「広島サン・スターズ」" [Hiromshima's new pro team "debuts", named "Hiroshima Sun Stars"]. Hiroshima Sport (in Japanese). 3 October 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  5. ^ "サン・スターズが名称変更　bj下部の広島、メーカーが要請" [Sun Stars name change: bj league minor team Hiroshima receives demand from manufacturer]. Chugoku Shimbun (in Japanese). 19 December 2014. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  6. ^ "兵庫インパルスゲームスケジュール" [Hyogo Impulse Game Schedule] (in Japanese). Ahiya Gakuen. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  7. ^ Nakazaki, Taro (7 April 2015). "広島）bjリーグに県内チーム　来季、ライトニング参入" [Hiroshima: Lightning to enter bj league next season]. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  8. ^ "チャレンジリーグに岐阜が参戦" [Gifu to join Challenge League] (in Japanese). bj league. 7 July 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  9. ^ a b "広島ライトニング、バスケの新リーグ参入への道、開かれず" [Road to new league doesn't open for Hiroshima Lightning]. Hiroshima Sport (in Japanese). 16 July 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  10. ^ Nagatsuka, Kaz (29 August 2015). "JPBL finalizes division placements for 2016–17". The Japan Times. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  11. ^ Odeven, Ed (13 August 2015). "Defending champ Hamamatsu signs Warren". Japan Times.
  12. ^ "Ryukyu, Niigata win openers". Japan Times. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  13. ^ Odeven, Ed (19 October 2015). "Lightning beat Five Arrows for first-ever bj-league win". Japan Times. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  14. ^ "順位表" [Standings] (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  15. ^ Odeven, Ed (14 April 2016). "Ryukyu setting pace as final season winds down". Japan Times. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  16. ^ "広島ライトニング" [Hiroshima Lightning]. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  17. ^ "ターキッシュ エアラインズ bjリーグ 観客数" [Turkish Airlines bj league attendance records]. 20 May 2016. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.