Vancouver, BC - It has been 17 years since the Vancouver Grizzlies departed Vancouver for Memphis. Since then, a few teams have tried to get their roots in the ground including the BC Titans and Balloholics to name a few. Arguably, those teams entered the Vancouver market at the wrong times when Vancouver just wasn’t ready for a professional basketball team. Since then, basketball has flourished in Vancouver, partly because of the Toronto Raptors and the #WeTheNorth movement growing basketball across Canada and partly because of all the opportunities now available to players to train, play, and watch basketball in the Lower Mainland.
In 2017, the North America Premier Basketball League (NAPB) announced its inaugural season launching an eight-team league that would play across North America, including a team in Vancouver. Thus, the Vancouver Knights were born. The Knights season began in early January and will see the team travel to Albany, Yakima, Ohio, Kentucky, Nevada, Kansas City, and Rochester over the course of their four-month season. The Knights will split the season at two home facilities: the Richmond Oval and UBC’s War Memorial Gym. Though the Knights feature a roster that is comprised of mostly American athletes, there are some familiar faces and Canadian representation. There is Terrell Evans of Las Vegas, who spent three years starring at the University of Victoria. There are Canadians on the team, two of whom are from out of town in Tyler Murray and Jamal Mullings. Lastly, Demi Harris who needs no introduction to the Vancouver Basketball Community.
Vancouver Basketball was at the Knights game Sunday afternoon and was impressed by what the team has achieved in such a short amount of time in the city so far.
The Knights play a full NBA length game with 12 minute quarters and a 24 second shot clock which made for a high-scoring and fast paced game (eight more total game minutes and six less seconds on the shot clock than local USports, CCAA and NCAA competition). The final score was 137-116 in regulation! The game also featured a number of dunks from both teams which bring excitement to the game like no other play can.
Throughout the game there was dance performances, t-shirt tosses, and halftime activities for the kids on the court. One lucky sideline fan was given the opportunity to hold the game ball for the duration of a timeout and after the game a number of players stayed behind to talk with the crowd and sign autographs for young fans.
We talked with Knights player and manager, Jamal Mullings, after the game about the opportunity and experience in Vancouver through the first month of the season.
On bringing a team to Vancouver:
“I’m from Toronto and pretty aware of the Canadian basketball market, pretty much Toronto is taken by the Raptors, so we figured the next best bet was Vancouver. It’s a basketball hot bed without professional basketball, so we might as well capitalize on the opportunity.”
On experience in Vancouver so far:
“Everybody’s been very respectful and very supportive, we’ve got kids here that obviously support us and we need to make sure we take care of the kids and they got an opportunity to see quality basketball and be quality people at the same time. At the end of the day we’re nothing without these kids.
On why Vancouverites should come to a game:
“Come help build professional basketball in your city. We are nothing without you. We’re only going to do as well as our fan base.”
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