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The Sudbury Five of the National Basketball League of Canada have announced that they have decided to become a member in the new Basketball Super League, by the president of The Basketball League (TBL), David Magley.
The Basketball Super League expects to start play in December, 2023.
In a statement about joining the league, Bob Johnston, the chief operating officer of the Sudbury Wolves Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Five, said the team is excited to join the league.
“The Sudbury Five Basketball Club is extremely excited about joining the Basketball Super League (BSL) for the upcoming 2023-24 season,” Johnston said in the news release. “While we have enjoyed our time as members of the National Basketball League of Canada, the impacts of the Covid pandemic became too much to overcome for many of the NBLC teams.”
He went on to describe the new league the Five is joining as “something truly special.”
“It is important for our community and our loyal Sudbury Five fans to realize that the creation of the BSL will be something truly special, with outstanding basketball and strong credible franchises that are well governed and properly financed,” Johnston said. “Our ambition is to build the BSL into a league that is second in talent only to the NBA in North America, and one that rivals the elite professional leagues in other countries throughout the world.”
Evelyn Magley, the CEO of The Basketball League, agreed with Johnston that the founders have set a high bar for what they want to build with the Super League.
“Our goal with the BSL is to offer a true destination league, serving markets that successfully host games in venues with a minimum capacity of 2,500,” she said.
Magley goes on to say that Kitchener (KW Titans), London (Lightning) and Sudbury are basketball-loving cities that fit the bill, and “we are so excited to welcome them.”
David Magley, president of The Basketball League, praised the Five.
“The Sudbury Five are one of the best run organizations in North America and that’s a big win for BSL to have them as one of the key teams in our inaugural season,” Magley said in a statement. “Great community engagement, excellent in game entertainment & committed owners, sets them apart from most teams at any pro level in North America.”
Super fan Robert McCarthy covers games of the Sudbury Wolves and Sudbury Five for Sudbury.com. Got a question for Robert? Email it to [email protected].
