Continental Basketball Association (1994-1996)
Tombstone
Born: June 1994 – The Wichita Falls Texans relocate to Chicago, IL
Moved Announced: March 1996 (La Crosse Bobcats)
First Game:
Last Game:
CBA Championships: None
Arena
UIC Pavilion (6,636)11995-96 Continental Basketball Association Official Guide & Register
Opened: 1982
Marketing
Team Colors: Orange, Silver & Black21995-96 Continental Basketball Association Official Guide & Register
Ownership
Owner: Chris Devine
OUR FAVORITE STUFF
Continental Basketball Association
Logo T-Shirt
This Old School Shirts release is strictly for the hardcore hoop heads.
Before the NBA had the G-League, it had the CBA with teams stretched from Puerto Rico to Honolulu. During the CBA’s 1980’s and 90’s heyday, the league provided a launching pad for future NBA All-Stars such as John Starks and Michael Adams as well as coaching legends Phil Jackson and George Karl.
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Background
The Chicago Rockers basketball team was a minor league outfit that tried to carve out an affordable family entertainment niche during the peak of Jordan-era Chicago Bulls dynasty in the mid-90’s. The Rockers were part of the Continental Basketball Association, the official development league of the NBA at the time. The team played at the UIC Pavilion on the West Side of Chicago.
Owner Chris Devine operated radio stations and licensed syndicated radio programming to stations all around the country through his Major Broadcasting Company. Devine owned Chicago’s WWBZ-FM (“The Blaze”) hard rock station in the early 1990’s. He sold WWBZ for $32 million shortly before purchasing the CBA’s Wichita Falls Texans franchise and relocating the team to the Windy City in June 1994. Devine also operated the Chicago Marathon at the time. His Devine Racing and related companies would go on to operate marathons from Florida to California during the 1990’s and 2000’s, leaving a trail of lawsuits and controversy across the country.
On The Court
Head Coach John Treloar moved with the team from Wichita Falls. The 1994-95 squad finished .500 with a 28-28 regular season record. The Rockers advanced to the CBA’s 1995 playoff semi-finals, where they lost in a three-game sweep to the Pittsburgh Piranhas.
Former Bulls center Dave Corzine coached the team during its second and final season. The Rockers finished last in their division at 26-30 and missed the playoffs.
Move To Wisconsin
Owner Chris Devine acknowledged the Rockers lost between $700-$800K during the 1994-95 season as the team struggled to find an audience (Chicago Tribune 11/17/1995). Not helping matters, Chicago also gained a new minor league hockey team, the Chicago Wolves of the International Hockey League, just as the Rockers opened for business in 1994. The Wolves averaged over 11,000 fans at the suburban Rosemont Horizon during the winter of 1994-95, while the Rockers’proclaimed average of 3,766 per game was widely considered to be a face-saving invention.
“We had a big playoff game [in Chicago] last year, and they couldn’t have had more than 50 people there,” Pittsburgh Piranhas head coach Don Zierden told the Lacrosse (WI) Tribune (2/4/1996). “And 15 of them were my friends.”
Before the 1995-96 season was through, the Rockers announced they would leave Chicago for Lacrosse, Wisconsin for the 1996-97 season. La Crosse previously hosted one of the CBA’s most popular franchises – the Catbirds – from 1995 to 1994.
The franchise played on in Wisconsin as the La Crosse Bobcats for five more seasons before going out of business in 2001.
Trivia
The Rockers inaugural home game on November 26, 1994 featured a halftime free throw shooting contest between Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.
Chicago Rockers Shop
Links
Continental Basketball Association Media Guides
Continental Basketball Association Programs
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One Response
The Chicago wolves still are one of better drawing teams in minor league hockey. Their first year was aided by NHL short season. Good idea suburban pro hockey. I thought the WHA Chicago Cougars could have made it the NHL if the Rosemount could have been built during their exsistance.