Cleveland Pipers

From Hoopedia

The Cleveland Pipers was an American basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio, playing in the National Industrial Basketball League (NIBL) and the short-lived American Basketball League (ABL).

The Pipers began as an Amateur Athletic Association (AAU) team that played in the NIBL from 1959 to 1961. George Steinbrenner led a group of investors who bought the Pipers in 1961 for $25,000. Playing under head coach John McLendon, the Pipers won the 1961 AAU national tournament.

The Pipers played in the ABL from 1961-62, winning the league championship in its only year in the league. An innovative league scoring rule allowed a 3-point goal if made from an arc 25' from the basket. The Pipers, coached by John McLendon, the first black coach in professional basketball, included Ben Worley, John Barnhill, Rossi Johnson, Dick Barnett, and Larry Siegfried. They defeated the Hawaii Chiefs in their first home game, played November 21, 1961 at the Cleveland Public Hall before an announced crowd of 3,318. To increase fan interest, preliminary games featuring the Harlem Globetrotters and a basketball team consisting of Cleveland Brown football players. When Bill Sharman took over as coach in February 1962, attendance was poor even though the Pipers won the league championship. Although Steinbrenner signed Ohio State's Jerry Lucas to a generous contract for the 1962-63 season.

In July 1962 the NBA announced that Cleveland would be joining the league as an expansion franchise at a cost of $400,000 (including a $100,000 indemnity to Cincinnati who held the NBA rights to Jerry Lucas). The ABL quickly filed a lawsuit blocking the Pipers from joining the established league. Steinbrenner and his partners could not raise the money. The team went bankrupt.

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