London Lions (basketball)
| London Lions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| League | British Basketball League | ||
| Established | 1977 | ||
| History |
Hemel Hempstead Lakers 1977–1985 Hemel Royals 1985–1996 Hemel & Watford Royals 1996–1997 Watford Royals 1997–1998 Milton Keynes Lions 1998–2012 London Lions 2012–present |
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| Arena | Copper Box | ||
| Capacity | 7,000 | ||
| Location | London, England | ||
| Team colours | Yellow, Black and Indigo |
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| Team manager |
 [Christian Kumar]] |
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| Head coach |
 Nigel Lloyd |
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| Ownership |
Vince Macaulay
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| Website | LondonLionsBasketball.com | ||
| Uniforms | |||
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London Lions is a professional basketball team based in London, who compete in the British Basketball League – the top level men's basketball league in the United Kingdom. The club has previously been based in Hemel Hempstead, Watford and Milton Keynes prior to its relocation to London for the 2012–13 season.
The franchise’s only trophy success to-date is the BBL Cup title, won in 2008 as the Milton Keynes Lions. The club also operate the Milton Keynes College Lions Basketball Academy in partnership with Milton Keynes College, which was established in 2007 and remains running despite the professional team's departure from Milton Keynes in the summer of 2012.
From the start of the 2013–14 season, the team has used the Copper Box, originally built for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, as its home venue.
The franchise that would become London Lions initially started out in the town of Hemel Hempstead, as the Hemel Hempstead Lakers. The team was named after one of the NBA’s most famous teams, Los Angeles Lakers, and even adopted the LA Lakers' colours of Purple and Gold. In 1977, the Lakers entered the National Basketball League’s Division 2, and enjoyed a rather successful first season, finishing fifth (from 11 teams) with a 10–10 record. Their second season would be even more successful, with the Lakers finishing second in Division 2 (15–3) and winning promotion to the top-level league Division 1.
With entry into the country’s top league ensure, the club received a major sponsorship deal from beverage brand Ovaltine, and as part of the deal were known as Ovaltine Hemel Hempstead. The franchise became a formidable force in Division 1, regularly finishing at the top-end of the table and making many appearances in the Play-off semi-finals at Wembley Arena, finishing third in 1981. Following the end of the Ovaltine sponsorship and a one-year deal with retailers Poundstretcher, the franchise was rebranded as the Hemel Royals in 1985. Meanwhile, on court, the team failed to reproduce the performances of the past few seasons and often settled for mid-table positions. This was a golden period in British Basketball and Hemel regularly brought top American talent from the States. Dick Miller is the greatest defensive player in the franchises history and probably the game as a whole in the UK. The enigmatic Harvey Knuckles is considered one of the greatest players ever to play in Britain. Steve Hale was a fourth round draft pick, Sam Smith scored big points from all round the court and Daryl Thomas was a prolific scorer.
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