Global Basketball Association (1991-1992)
Tombstone
Born: 1991 – GBA founding franchise
Folded: Postseason 1992
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GBA Championships: None
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Background
The Greensboro City Gaters were a one-year wonder in the pretty much forgotten Global Basketball Association.
The GBA was announced in March 1991 with former ABA Commissioner Mike Storen as the front man. The original plan called for a group of American franchises playing a fall/winter schedule with the “Global” element being the participation of a couple of European clubs from Estonia and the Republic of San Marino. The Euro clubs never materialized and the GBA ended up clustered in the Southeastern United States (3 of the 11 clubs were in North Carolina), along with a few nonsensical far-flung franchises in places like Wichita, Kansas and Saginaw, Michigan.
The Gaters featured a couple of basketball names of cult interest. Original Gaters Head Coach Ed McLean was the former high school basketball coach of Hall-of-Famer Pete Maravich. But Greensboro fired McLean two months into the season.
Lloyd Daniels
The bigger name was Lloyd “Sweet Pea” Daniels, a can’t-miss New York City playground legend who missed badly due to drug and alcohol problems. Daniels landed in Greensboro in October 1991 as a weathered 24-year old. Nearly illiterate when admitted to Jerry Tarkanian’s infamous basketball program at UNLV, he was kicked off the team and out of school for buying crack cocaine from an undercover cop. During the next four years, pro teams from Topeka to New Zealand rid themselves of Daniels for poor fitness and heavy drinking. In 1989 he stole crack cocaine from two dealers back in New York. The men tracked down Daniels later that night and shot him three times in the chest.
Daniels cleaned up with assistance from former NBA star, addict and rehab specialist John Lucas and landed in the GBA soon afterwards. The 6′ 7″ forward regained his old scoring touch and won GBA Most Valuable Players honors for the 1991-92 season.
Demise & Aftermath
The Greensboro City Gaters finished the 1991-92 season at 30-33 and then disbanded.
The Global Basketball Association attempted a second season in November 1992. But the remaining teams fell apart almost immediately. The league shut down in mid-season on December 19, 1992.
Lloyd Daniels made it to the NBA in 1992, reunited with Jerry Tarkanian on the San Antonio Spurs. He appeared on and off in the NBA for most of the 1990’s.
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One Response
The owners were father/son, Joe and Bill Moore. NC State grads, former textile executives, and owners of Sally Foster Gift Wrap.