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Team and League History

July 5, 2004

	American Basketball Association commissioner Joe Newman

Joe Newman, co-founder of the American Basketball Association, confirms that Birmingham will have an ABA team beginning in 2005.

"It is impossible to keep a secret. I'm getting calls everyday. The word is out; we will be in Birmingham and it will make a great addition to our Southeast division. The team will be operated by an ownership group led by Birmingham attorney Reginald McDaniel. Reggie recently attended the ABA League Meeting in Indianapolis. All I can say is that he has some great ideas and is very committed to making his team successful. Beyond that, I'll let the world contact Reggie directly," Newman said.

The ABA's first season was in 2000-01 and originally began playing under the name ABA2000.

The league suspended operations for the 2002-03 season but has been playing ever since.

May 14, 2005
In announcing free agent tryouts, it seems the local ABA franchise will be known as the Birmingham Magicians.

October 1, 2005

	Head coach Jim Farmer

McDaniel announces that former University of Alabama basketball player Jim Farmer has been named the first head coach of the team. "Jim and I grew up in the Dothan area around the same time and I have followed his career through the great years at Alabama and his professional career. Jim brings a wealth of basketball knowledge and experience to our organization and we are confident in his abilities as a head coach."

Farmer, who now resides in Nashville, was All-SEC and an All American while at Alabama. He was a first round draft pick of the Dallas Mavericks in 1987 and spent five years in the National Basketball Association. In 1991 he was a member of the Birmingham Bandits, a Continental Basketball Association team that only lasted one year before moving to Rochester, MN. He also toured with the Magic Johnson All-Stars for three years. Farmer has since coached the Kentucky Reach in the World Basketball Association where he led the first year team to the playoffs.

Farmer believes the Birmingham Magicians will be one of the premiere teams in the ABA and that Birmingham will be a great city for professional basketball, if done right. "We are looking forward to a long and successful tenure in the great city of Birmingham."

Also, the Birmingham Magicians are finalizing a deal to play their home games in the Bill Harris Arena at the Alabama State Fairgrounds.

November 2005

			2005-06                             American Basketball Association
xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx
	Atlanta Vision		Baltimore Pearls		Beijing Aoshen Olympian		Bellevue Blackhawks		Bellingham Slam
									NEED LOGO
	Birmingham Magicians		Boston Frenzy		Buffalo Rapids		Charlotte Krunk		Detroit Wheels
	Florida Pit Bulls		Fresno Heatwave		Gallup Talons		Harlem Strong Dogs		Hawaii Mega Force
	Indiana AlleyCats		Inglewood Cobras		Kentucky Colonels		Lake Erie Rockers / Cleveland Rockers		Las Vegas Rattlers
	Lincoln Thunder		Los Angeles Aftershock		Maryland Nighthawks		Mississippi Stingers		Montreal Matrix
	Nashville Rhythm		New Mexico Style		Newark Express		NE Pennsylvania Breakers		Ohio Aviators
	Orange County Buzz		Pittsburgh Xplosion		Reigning Knights of Georgia		Richmond Generals		Rochester Razorsharks
	San Francisco Pilots		San Jose Skyrockets		SoCal Legends		Strong Island Sound		Tacoma Navigators
	Tijuana Dragons		Toledo Ice

2005-06 American Basketball Association
Marvin Barnes Division	Moses Malone Division	Spencer Haywood Division	Ron Boone Division
Atlanta Vision	Baltimore Pearls	Beijing Aoshen Olympian	Bellevue Blackhawks
Birmingham Magicians	Charlotte Krunk	Inglewood Cobras	Bellingham Slam
Florida Pit Bulls	Nashville Rhythm	Las Vegas Rattlers	Fresno Heatwave
Mississippi Stingers	Richmond Generals	Los Angeles Aftershock	Hawaii Mega Force
Reigning Knights of Georgia		Orange County Buzz	San Francisco Pilots
		SoCal Legends	San Jose Skyrockets
		Tijuana Dragons	Tacoma Navigators
Roger Brown Division	Connie Hawkins Division	Freddie Lewis Division	George Gervin Division
Boston Frenzy	Buffalo Rapids	Detroit Wheels	Gallup Talons
Harlem Strong Dogs	Maryland Nighthawks	Indiana AlleyCats	Lincoln Thunder
Montreal Matrix	NE Pennsylvania Breakers	Kentucky Colonels	New Mexico Style
Newark Express	Rochester Razorsharks	Lake Erie Rockers / Cleveland Rockers
Strong Island Sound		Ohio Aviators
		Pittsburgh Xplosion
		Toledo Ice

December 16, 2005
The Magicians announce that the team is rescheduling the remaining December home and away games to dates in 2006 due to several opponents suspending operations for the year.

The ABA announced recently that Chattanooga, Nashville, and Georgia will not play the rest of the season due to their not meeting league requirements. While details are hard to come by, apparently there are a few other ABA teams that have folded or have ceased operations this season in an attempt to return next season. Rumors continue to swirl that other franchises seem to be on the brink of folding as well.

David Sayers, director of basketball operations for the Magicians, said he is working with the remaining teams in the Southeast to get the revised schedule completed. "It has been quite unfortunate that the franchises of Chattanooga, Nashville, and The Reigning Knights of Georgia were unable to complete the season. But this will allow the remaining teams of Florida, Atlanta, Charlotte, Mississippi, Richmond, Birmingham, and the ABA league office to work together to adjust schedules and finish the season united."

January 5, 2006
Jim Farmer makes his debut as player-coach in a home game against the Florida Pit Bulls. Another former NBA player, Tim Hardaway, is player-coach of the Pit Bulls.

"I’ve been trying to get in shape,’’ said Farmer, who is now 41. "I don’t know how much I’ll actually be out there on the court - maybe five or ten minutes. Reggie has been wanting me to get out there and play, so we thought this might be a good game for that. I practice with the guys when somebody is hurt, so I’ve been out there some."

Farmer believes the ABA has a strong future despite some ownership problems in other markets. "Most of the teams have players fans would have heard of through college. It’s semi-pro basketball, but there’s plenty of good talent."

January 12, 2006
In an apparent attempt at reducing overhead, all remaining home games will be played at Jefferson State Community College's LeRoy Brown Health, Physical Education and Recreation Building.

January 16, 2006

	Owner Reginald McDaniel

With the purpose of gauging interest for possibly placing a team there, owner McDaniel announces the Magicians will play a designated home game in Dothan on January 26th. "I'm 95% sure it's going to happen. We're committed to it."

McDaniel says he has an interest in placing a team in Dothan next season if the response from the community is good. He said there's even a possibility the Magicians could return to Dothan again this season. "If it works out well and we get a good response, we'd really look forward to coming back. I'd personally like to see a team down here. We have so much (entertainment) competition in Birmingham, but we have a pretty strong core of fans."

Matt Parker, president of the Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce, said preliminary discussions with McDaniel about locating a team here in the future were initiated during the summer. "It's a good opportunity to get a feel for what having a team here would be like. I think folks would like to see something like this here. There is a lot of former college players in the league."

June 1, 2006
McDaniel announces that the team will not play during the 2006-07 American Basketball Association season but will return for the 2007-08 season.

His statement said, "The Birmingham Magicians have decided to defer playing until the 2007-08 ABA basketball season. The Magician's management wish to thank the fans, the ABA, and our supporters for a great inaugural ABA season. We will continue to work in the community as we have done during this brief hiatus as we prepare for the 2007-08 season. We strongly support the ABA and its continued growth and progress. We look forward to a long successful future in the ABA."

Epilogue
The Birmingham Magicians did not return for the 2007-08 season or beyond.

The city has since been host to three American Basketball Association teams; the Birmingham Blitz (2012-13 to 2016-17), the Southeast Pro Elite Flyers (2017-18), and the Magic City Surge (2017-18 to present).

The ABA continues to play to this day.

Champions of the American Basketball Association
Year	Team	Year	Team
2000-01	Detroit Dogs	2013-14	Shreveport-Bossier Mavericks
2001-02	Kansas City Knights	2014-15	Shreveport-Bossier Mavericks (2nd)
2003-04	Long Beach Jam	2015-16	Jacksonville Giants (3rd)
2004-05	Arkansas RimRockers	2016-17	Jacksonville Giants (4th)
2005-06	Rochester Razorsharks	2017-18	Jacksonville Giants (5th)
2006-07	Vermont Frost Heaves	2018-19	Jacksonville Giants (6th)
2007-08	Vermont Frost Heaves (2nd)	2019-20	Playoffs cancelled: COVID-19
2008-09	Kentucky Bisons	2020-21	Jacksonville Giants (7th)
2009-10	Southeast Texas Mavericks	2021-22	Steel City Yellow Jackets
2010-11	Southeast Texas Mavericks (2nd)	2022-23	Burning River Buckets   Indiana Lyons
2011-12	Jacksonville Giants	2023-24	Chicago Fury
2012-13	Jacksonville Giants (2nd)

	Years local team participated

			Previous Teams of the                                American Basketball Association
xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx
	Atlanta Mustangs 2004-05		Calgary Drillers 2004-05		Carolina Thunder 2004-05		Central Valley Dawgs 2004-05		Chicago Skyliners 2000-01
					NEED LOGO
	Chicago Soldiers 2004-05		Cincinnati Blaze 2004-05		Cincinnati Monarchs 2004-05		Colorado Springs Storm 2004-05		Detroit Dogs 2000-01 to 2001-02
	Fort Worth Tycoons 2004-05		Harlem Revival 2004-05		Hermosillo Seris 2004-05		Indiana Legends 2000-01 to 2001-02		Jacksonville Wave 2004-05
	Jersey Squires 2003-04		Juarez Gallos de Pelea 2003-04		Kansas City Knights 2000-01 to 2004-05		Kentucky Colonels 2004-05		Kentucky ProCats 2001-02
									NEED LOGO
	Las Vegas Rattlers 2004-05		Las Vegas Slam 2001-02		Long Beach Jam 2003-04 to 2004-05		Los Angeles Stars 2000-01; 2004-05		Louisiana Cajun Pelicans 2004-05
	Memphis Houn'Dawgs 2000-01		Mississippi Stingers 2004-05		Motown Jammers 2004-05		Nashville Rhythm 2004-05		New Jersey SkyCats 2004-05
	Oklahoma City Ballhawgs 2004-05		Ontario Warriors 2004-05		Orange County Crush 2004-05		Pennsylvania Pitbulls 2004-05		Philadelphia Fusion 2004-05
	Phoenix Eclipse 2001-02		Portland Reign 2004-05		Reigning Knights of Georgia 2004-05		San Diego Wildfire 2000-01		Southern California Surf 2001-02
	Tampa Bay Thunder Dawgs 2000-01		Tijuana Diablos 2003-04 to 2004-05		Utah Snowbears 2004-05		Visalla Dawgs 2004-05

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Last update: April 23, 2024