Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets

Continental Basketball Association (1988-1991)

Tombstone

Born: June 1988 – The dormant Cincinnati Slammers franchise moves to Cedar Rapids, IA
Moved: June 14, 1991 (Tri-City Chinook)

First Game: November 17, 1988 (L 92-80 @ Rockford Lightning)
Last Game: March 16, 1991 (W 138-124 vs. Rockford Lightning)

CBA Championships: None

Arena

Five Seasons Center (7,247)¹
Opened: 1979

Marketing

Team Colors: Red, Blue & Silver²

Ownership

Owner: Kevin Krause, et al.

Attendance

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Sources:

1990-91 & 1991-92 CBA Official Guides
NO BYLINE. “CBA Attendance”. Rapid City Journal (Rapid City, SD). March 19, 1989

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 Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets were members of the Continental Basketball Association, the top developmental league of the NBA, during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. The club was owned by the Krause Gentle company, the corporate parent of the ubiquitous Kum & Go convenience store chain in the Midwest and Great Plains. The team’s ‘Silver Bullets’ name came about through a sponsorship with Coors Brewing Company, which used the expression in advertising for its Coors Light line, referring to the brand’s silver aluminum cans.

The Silver Bullets were the second pro hoops team to play at Cedar Rapids’ Five Seasons Center, opened in 1979. The women’s Iowa Cornets played select dates in the building during the winter of 1979-80.

The Silver Bullets great success story was former Oklahoma State shooting guard John Starks. Starks arrived in Cedar Rapids in 1989 for the Silver Bullets’ second season. The 24-year old led the Silver Bullets in scoring during the 1989-90 CBA season (21.7 ppg) before a February 1990 confrontation with a referee during a game against the Quad City Thunder resulted in a season-ending 10-game suspension. Starks signed with the New York Knicks later that year and went on the play twelve more years in the NBA, including an All-Star nod with the Knicks in 1994.

The Krause family put the Silver Bullets up for sale after three seasons in the spring of 1991. With no viable local buyers, the franchise moved to the Tri-City region of Washington state in June 1991.