Eastern Basketball Association (1977-1978)
Continental Basketball Association (1978-1979)
Tombstone
Born: 1977 – The Hazleton Bullets relocate to Asbury Park, NJ
Folded: 1979
First Game:
Last Game:
EBA Championships: None
CBA Championships: None
Arenas
1977: Neptune High School
1977-78: Red Bank Regional High School (3,500)11977-78 Eastern Basketball Association Official Guide
1978-79: Asbury Park Convention Hall (3,750)21978-79 Continental Basketball Association Official Guide
Marketing
Team Colors: Orange & Navy31977-78 Eastern Basketball Association Official Guide
Ownership
Owners:
- 1977-78: Andy Vecchione & Greg Kapalko
- 1978-1979: Art Stock, et al.
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Jersey Shore Bullets Logo T-Shirt
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Background
The Jersey Shore Bullets were an roaming minor league hoops outfit that found its final resting place in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The franchise originally set up shop in 1972 in tiny Hamburg, PA (pop. 4,114 circa 2000) in Berks County between the larger cities of Reading and Pottsville. The Bullets were originally a member of the Eastern Basketball Association, a weekends-only league based in Pennsylvania and neighboring states.
After just a handful of games in Hamburg, the Bullets departed for Hazleton, Pennsylvania midway through their first season. During the 1976-77 season the Bullets would make another midseason switcheroo, pulling up stakes in Hazleton and washing up on the Jersey Shore just before Valentine’s Day.
The team finished out the 1976-77 season at Neptune High School as the “Shore Bullets”. For the 1977-78 season, the team shifted operations over to Red Bank Regional High School in Silver Lake and took the on the “Jersey Shore Bullets” moniker.
For the team’s final campaign in the winter of 1978-79, the Bullets upgraded to the Asbury Park Convention Hall. The 50-year old Convention Hall sat directly on the beach and, as a concert venue, hosted many of the top rock acts of the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Fly vs. Bear
For the 1978-79 season, the Bullets signed the Brooklyn street ball legend Fly Williams. A record-setting (and abrogated) stint at Austin Peay University in Tennessee fueled Williams’ cult status. After two seasons at Austin Peay, he was ruled ineligible on an admissions technicality and joined the St. Louis Spirits of the top flight American Basketball Association. He lasted just one season in the ABA and spent the rest of the 1970’s kicking around as a “name” player in the EBA and other hardscrabble minor leagues. In a 2001 New York Times column, the sportswriter Harvey Araton recalled covering a Bullets game as a young reporter and watching Williams wrestle a bear for the halftime show before a small but appreciative crowd at the Convention Hall.
Williams never made it to the NBA. He battled addiction, served considerable time in prison and nearly died from a drug-related shotgunning in 1987. More details on his story can be found at his website.
The Jersey Shore Bullets announced plans to move to Syracuse, New York for the 1979-80 season4Hirsch, Rod. “Merger of basketball’s ‘little guys’ is a shot at the big time.” The Central New Jersey Home News (New Brunswick, NJ). May 13, 1979, but ended up shutting down instead.
Jersey Shore Bullets Shop
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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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Links
Eastern Basketball Association Programs
Continental Basketball Association Programs
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