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NBL of Canada forfeits Game 7 of final after 'physical altercation' at shootaround; Windsor Express declared champs
The National Basketball League of Canada has been prone to coming off as a farce in hightops. Even by the NBLC's sliding scale for what constitutes absurdity, having the Windsor Express declared league champions by the two sweetest words in the English language — de-fault! de-fault! — might be the topper.
The defending champion Windsor Express were slated to take on the Halifax Rainmen on thursday in an all-or-nothing Game 7 for the title, which would have capped off what by most accounts has been a riveting series. Tensions were understandably high when teams arrived at the WFCU Centre arena for the customary afternoon shootaround. According to the Express' account, the Rainmen "showed up too early" for their court time. That touched off "an altercation between members of the two teams. Punches were thrown, and chairs were tossed." Consequently, the Rainmen got back on their bus and headed out of town. The owner of the London Lightning, Vito Frijia, tried to talk the Rainmen into coming back, but they refused, so the championship has been forfeited to the Express.
It's not often a team calls it a "sad day" when they win a championship.
From Aadel Haleem:
"Before we even got on the floor for our warm-up session in the morning, our shoot-around we call it, there were some things that happened," said Gerry Brumpton, assistant coach, of the Windsor Express. "Never in my 60 years of basketball in this city, I've never, ever been in a situation like this."
Brumpton said there was an issue over the time — the Halifax Rainmen showing up too early after being scheduled for 1 p.m.
"They has snuck in here before they even had the light on," he said. "We were here in the dark, I opened up the curtain and I looked in and there they were they were still here working out. So they had been here for a while. So then Bill [Jones] tried to get a ball from the, from the big guy, and he wouldn't give it to him, so what ended up was an altercation.
Brumpton said Bill Jones, the Windsor Express head coach had tried to get the balls ready for his team. (CBC)
With the growth of basketball in Canada, the country truly needs a stable league of its own. The NBLC seems to be getting some traction; the eight franchises that competed this season were the same eight that existed during 2013-14. Without getting into a blame game, it's a shame that this probably undoes some of the progress. Generally, people expect games to be played as scheduled unless there's unforeseen circumstances and that doesn't included self-inflicted ones. Not only that, but a series that's gone to a seventh game is also important for attracting a walk-up crowd and converting some of those ticket buyers into regular fans.
Rainmen owner Andre Levingston seemed to try to shift the onus to the league in a statement issued at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday.
“Today is truly a black eye for our league, when the games is not safe for players to compete there is a problem,” Levingston said in a statement. “We have to do a better job of governing our league and putting principles in place where there are strict consequences.
“I've played basketball all my life and have the utmost respect for the game, but what I witnessed today leaves me saddened, not just for me but for our fans, our partners and community who fought so hard to get us to this point. I’m sure today’s incident will come with much criticism which is well deserved, but I’m hoping it serves as a wake up call that we the owners must do a better job.
“Again my sincere apologies to the entire Rainmen family and I hope that we can one day soon re-earn your trust.” (Metro Halifax)
As alluded to, the NBLC has had an issue with avoiding bad publicity. In 2012, the owner of the since-folded Ottawa franchise tried to give his team a nickname that was offensive to aboriginal people. Last year, the Express ejected London Free Press sports columnist Morris Dalla Costa from a playoff game, and then-commissioner Paul Riley doubled-down on the tone-deafness by defending the decision.
In those cases, at least the games were played.
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.
