Founded 1978 No. of teams 7 | Ceased 1979 Country United States | |
The Western Basketball Association was formed in 1978 and played for one season during 1978-79. Organized by Larry Cregar, a former assistant coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA), and real estate developer Neil Christianson.
The seven-team league included the Fresno Stars, Great Falls (Montana) Sky, Las Vegas Dealers, Reno Bighorns, Salt Lake City Prospectors, Tucson Gunners, and Washington (Tri-City) Lumberjacks
Tucson, coached by Herb Brown, went 32-16 during the regular season to finish first in the WBA's only season. Washington (29-19) and Reno (28-20) rounded out the top three.
In the finals, Brown's Gunners defeated Reno, which was coached by Bill Musselman, four games to three. Future Boston Celtic Gerald Henderson became the playoffs MVP.
Washington's Jeff Cook earned league MVP honors. Al Smith, Walt Jordon, Cook, Del Beshore, and Willie Smith earned first-team all-league honors. Randy Ayers, Jackie Robinson, Major Jones, Brad Davis, and Jim Boylan were named to the second team.
The league merged with the more established Continental Basketball Association (CBA), but when none of the former WBL teams filed the required financial letter of credit, their franchises were revoked and the CBA continued play as the CBA.