Las Vegas Dealers
September 13, 2020
The Las Vegas Dealers were one of seven founding teams in the Western Basketball Association in 1978. The Dealers proved to be the league’s shakiest franchise and barely made it through the season. Dealers founders James Speed and his wife Sylvia came to the ownership suite through unusual – and sad – circumstances. 6′ 7″ James Speed was a prized recruit for the University of Iowa basketball program in 1970. Before he ever took the floor for the Hawkeyes, complications from routine medical procedures left him permanently blind in both eyes. Speed later used part of his $750,000 malpractice judgment to buy the Dealers.
