Continental Basketball Association (1991-1992)
Tombstone
Born: July 22, 1991 – Re-branded from Tulsa Fast Breakers
Moved: April 1, 1992 (Fargo-Moorhead Fever)
First Game: November 8, 1991 (L 101-93 vs. Wichita Falls Texans)
Last Game: March 15, 1992 (L 130-118 @ Tri-City Chinook)
CBA Championships: None
Arena
Tulsa Convention Center
Opened: 1964
Marketing
Team Colors: Black & Silver
Ownership
Owners: Horn Chen, Ray Compton & Bob Salyers
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
Tulsa, Oklahoma briefly had a championship-calibre pro hoops team during the late 1980’s. The Tulsa Fast Breakers, named for owner Larry Stone’s regional chain of Fast Break convenient stores, enjoyed a three-year run at the Expo Square Pavilion from 1988 to 1991. The Fast Breakers won the championship of the Continental Basketball Association, the NBA’s developmental league at the time, during their first year in the league in 1989. The team also helped revitalize the pro career of future NBA All-Star Anthony Mason, who played in Tulsa during the 1990-91 season.
In June 1991 the owners of the Indianapolis Ice minor league hockey team purchased the Fast Breakers and made a number of big changes. First up, they changed the team’s name to the ‘Zone’ and adopted a logo inspired by the old Twilight Zone television show. The new owners also changed the team’s color scheme to the same black-and-silver palate worn by their Ice hockey team. Finally, they moved the team out of the Expo Square Pavilion and into the Tulsa Convention Center downtown.
One & Done
Former Tulsa University shooting guard Tracy Moore was the Zone’s top scorer. He averaged over 30 points per game through the first two months of the CBA’s 1991-92 season before earning a call-up to the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks for the remainder of the year.
The Zone finished the season 24-32 under Head Coach Steve Bontrager and missed the CBA playoffs.
Attendance dipped considerably from the Fast Breakers days and the owners moved the franchise to Fargo, North Dakota shortly after the season ended.
Trivia
The Tulsa Zone, like the Fast Breakers before them, drew their name in part from basketball game strategy. But while the fast break offense was true to the essential spirit of the run-and-gun Continental Basketball Association, the zone defense was actually illegal in the CBA!
Tulsa Zone Shop
Links
Continental Basketball Association Media Guides
Continental Basketball Association Programs
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