London Lightning: More Than a Spark For Local Basketball

I hadn’t been to a basketball game in a while. It’s not because I don’t enjoy the game, but rather the fact I can’t stand the spectacle of the NBA. Watching men with million dollar contracts loaf around the floor trying to drag their billion dollar egos isn’t for me.

That’s why I was pleasantly surprised with my first visit to see a London Lightning game, one of the newest franchises, and now one of the best teams, in the National Basketball League of Canada.

Thanks to a hometown Wallaceburg connection, I got to experience Sunday’s 125-99 win over the Saint John Mill Rats from courtside at the scorers table. From the opening tip off, which was met with a crescendo of applause building from a Hoosier-esque slow clap, the crowd was into the game. They might not have been 17,000 strong, but the nearly 3000 fans at London’s JLC, thundersticks in hand, were proudly cheering on their team.

Some of the more experienced basketball minds in the building compared the calibre of the game to upper eschelon NCAA Division I ball, which anyone who follows the game, knows can be very exciting. For me, the calibre was outstanding, but more important, unlike their NBA counterparts, these athletes still cared. They weren’t playing because they were making millions, or even with aspirations of making millions, they were playing for the love of the game.

I don’t doubt the NBL of Canada will grow into one of North America’s premier development leagues, which the NBA will eventually begin plucking players from, but the league itself will continue to grow if team’s like London continue putting the fans first.

Before and after the game, players were available for autographs, they interacted with the fans, shaking hands, giving high fives, and exchanging laughs.

It wasn’t simply their courtside demeanor that had me intrigued as a new fan, the on court “performance” had me wondering why I’ve never been a bigger basketball fan. Gabe Freeman has a personality large enough to match any NBA superstar, dominating the scoresheet, and doing it with an exuberance that will endear him to fans. Hometown (London) boy Patrick Sewell hit his first 3-pointer of the season late after seeing limited playing time this year. The importance of that shot wasn’t lost on the fans who erupted for the Fanshawe College grad. Even his own teammates lept off the bench and added to the roar.

Bench boss Michael Ray Richardson, well, quite simply, you’d be hard pressed to find a more animated character in any sports league. From his intricatly beaded black and white loafers, to his icessant playful heckling of officials, which included a repeated chant of “don’t look at the scoreboard” which he yelled at the referees 17 times in a two minute span (yes I counted); he is a character that stands larger than life on the London sidelines.

And all of this for as little as $12 per game. Sure they aren’t from Chatham-Kent…although I bet we could convince the team to run a few practices at our new St. Clair Health Plex; but the London Lightning are the best basketball entertainment, and best bang for your buck around.

To me it felt like seeing a team I’d known for years. It was a family environment, and I mean that as in fans, employees, and players felt like they were all in it together, or a part of something. Perhaps that’s why the Lightning are sitting atop the NBL of Canada standings in their first season.

All I know is, this might have been my first London Lightning game, but it certainly won’t be my last.

Let the games begin.

Below is a photo gallery from Sunday’s game. All photos are copyright of CKSN.ca.