TBL Tips-Off 2022 Regular Season With Full Friday Schedule For Fifth Year Of Professional Basketball
With 23 expansion teams joining The Basketball League for the 2022 season, the TBL is ready to get underway with a number of teams and players to watch.
Nine months after the Enid Outlaws captured the 2021 Championship in The Basketball League with an unforgettable 120-107 win over the Syracuse Stallions in the TBL Finals, basketball returns for what is expected to be an exciting 2022 season with 23 expansion teams joining the upstart 42-team TBL in their fifth year of existence.
What better way to start this first Around The Basketball League newsletter on Substack than by providing the latest news, updates, insight, and interviews on the TBL and respective teams that make up the six conferences. Before doing so, make sure to stay connected to the TBL on their social media channels and official website throughout the season, as David Magley (President of The Basketball League) and Evelyn Magley (CEO of The Basketball League) have done a remarkable job in offering exposure, opportunities, and competitive pro basketball across the United States as the league grows and graduates players to the next level from overseas, to the G-League, and NBA, including Xavier Moon, Lindy Waters III, and Craig Sword who made it to the NBA with 10-day and two-way contracts with the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Washington Wizards.
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Across the league, 12 games are slated to tip-off on Friday, March 4 with games also scheduled for Saturday, March 5 when 13 teams see action, and 14 games on the docket for Sunday, March 6. The first full weekend of TBL games concludes on Monday, March 7 when the defending champs — Enid Outlaws — open their season at home against newcomer, the Beaumont Panthers led by former NBA center Kendrick Perkins and his cousin, Jay McDonald. Here is a breakdown of the teams in each conference who will compete in the 24-game regular season in the TBL:
Central - Beaumont Panthers, Dallas Skyline, Enid Outlaws, Little Rock Lightning, Potawatomi Fire, Rockwall 7ers, Shreveport Mavericks, Sugarland Imperials, Waco Royals
Lower Midwest - Indiana All-Americans, Kentucky Enforcers, Kokomo BobKats, Lebanon Leprechauns, Medora Timberjacks, Owensboro Thoroughbreds
Northeast - Albany Patroons, Atlantic City Gambits, Connecticut Cobras, Lehigh Valley Legends, Massachusetts Monarchs, Pennsylvania Kings, Reading Rebels, Syracuse Stallions, Tri-State Admirals
Southeast - Carolina Coyotes, Central Alabama Jaguars, Huntsville Hurricanes, Gulf Coast Lions, Raleigh Firebirds, Tallahassee Southern Kings, Tampa Bay Titans
Upper Midwest - Cincinnati Warriors, Dayton Flight, Detroit Hustle, Flint United, Jamestown Jackals, Lansing Pharaohs, Toledo Glass City B.C.
West - Bakersfield Magic, California Sea-Kings, Salem Capitals, SoCal Moguls, San Diego Sharks, Vancouver Volcanoes
Making News In The TBL
The NBA influence is heavily imprinted on the make up of the TBL and its teams, ranging from the aforementioned Kendrick Perkins owning the team in Beaumont, Texas to three-time NBA All-Star Steve Francis owning the Houston Push, while former NBA players Cliff Levingston (Kokomo), James White (Sugarland), Wallace Bryant (California), Brian Rowsom (Lebanon), Derrick Rowland (Potawatomi), and Olden Polynice (SoCal) will roam the sidelines as head coaches this season.
The TBL also boasts second generation players with NBA connections. With the Reading Rebels, Berks Catholic graduate Marquis Marshall played at Alvernia and is the son of former NBA player and Reading High grad Donyell Marshall. With the Connecticut Cobras, the son of former New York Knicks and Syracuse University player, John Wallace, will have his son, Joey Wallace, go to work in the TBL after concluding his college career at Daemen College. Two expansion teams, the Cobras and Rebels go head-to-head on Friday at the University of Bridgeport.
Former Houston Rockets draft pick, BJ Young, out of the University of Arkansas who has played in the NBA G League with the Delaware 87ers has joined the Atlantic City Gambits for the 2022 season.
After 20 seasons on the sidelines at the University of Albany, head coach Will Brown will be wearing two hats this season with the Albany Patroons as he also serves as General Manager. He recently announced his roster for the season which includes half of the players having prior experience in the NBA G League. The Patroons open their season against the Massachusetts Monarchs at Washington Avenue Armory on Friday.
Along with players with vast G League experience, a number of overseas vets are also getting their chance to shine in the TBL this season. At 37-years old, Kevin Johnson’s professional basketball career has included stints in Turkey, Poland, and Taiwan and now he can add Salem, Oregon to that list with Johnson being named team captain of the Capitals.
When the Lehigh Valley Legends make their TBL debut on March 6 against the Syracuse Stallions, they could receive some divine intervention. The team introduced Michael Spence as one of its players. A youth pastor at Phillipsburg (New Jersey) Alliance Church, Spence also runs a community center called The Crossbar in P’burg and has aspirations to build a strong bond between the community and the Lehigh Valley Legends this season.
Kellen Dunham is continuing his professional basketball career as part of a TBL “super team”. A year ago, Dunham helped lead the Pendleton Legends to the team title in the Hoosier Hardwood Basketball Association, as the Legends are now the Indiana All-Americans of the TBL. Dunham, who was the state’s leading scorer his senior season at Pendleton Heights, is a professional veteran, formerly playing in the NBA G-League and overseas, before joining the Legends last season. At Butler, Dunham was a first-team All-Big East selection in 2015.
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Wendell Maxey has covered and written about professional basketball for 19 years and has previously been featured on ESPN.com, NBA.com, USA Today, FOX Sports, and SLAM Magazine among other publications and outlets.