# Cape Town Tigers

The Cape Town Tigers are a South African professional basketball team founded in Cape Town. The Tigers have played in the Basketball National League (BNL) and played in three seasons of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) between 2022 and 2024.
Established in 2019, the Tigers are based in Gugulethu, and have won the South African national championship three times, and qualified for the BAL through the Road to BAL three times.

## History

The Cape Town Tigers (Pty) Ltd. was founded in 2019 by U.S.-based holding company Severus LLC.
The Tigers' first roster featured American import players Davon Dillard, Shaq McFarlan and Nigerian import Austin Ajukwa. Two former NBA players Billy Preston and Ben Uzoh joined the second roster in 2021 and helped winning the first national championship. Several players for the South African national team were also on the team, such as Pieter Prinsloo, Christopher Gabriel, Thabo Sithole and Lehlogonolo Tholo.
In September 2021, the Tigers won their first national championship. The team beat Jozi Nuggets after overtime in the final, behind Ben Uzoh who scored 22 points in the championship game. Later in the year, the team competed in the qualification games of the BAL for the first time. The team finished third without playing its last game which was forfeited by opponent New Star after players tested positive for COVID-19.
On August 22, 2022, the Tigers successfully defended their national title. Three months later, on November 26, the Tigers clinched their second consecutive BAL spot after beating City Oilers in the Road to BAL semi-finals.
The Cape Town Tigers were quarter-finalists in the BAL once again in 2023, as they lost to Stade Malien in the playoffs.
Since June 2023, the Cape Town Tigers have joined the Basketball National League (BNL), the most notable private men's league in the country. They won the 2023 championship, following a 5–0 record in the group phase and wide-margin wins in both the semi-finals and finals.
The Tigers had their most successful BAL season to date in the 2024 season, where they finished in fourth place. They were able to eliminate top-seeded FUS Rabat in the quarterfinals after overtime, but lost to the eventual champions Petro de Luanda in the semifinals. The Tigers' star player Samkelo Cele was named to the All-BAL Team, and was later invited to play in the NBA Summer League.
In June 2024, the Tigers withdrew from the 2024 BNL season as they faced "budgetary constraints". In August, the club was probed by FIBA for alleged player payment discrepancy. In August, founder and CEO Raphael Edwards stepped down.

## Honours
### South African National Championship

* Champions (2): 2021, 2022
Basketball National League
* Champions (1): 2023

### Basketball Africa League

* Fourth Place (1): 2024
* Quarterfinalist (2): 2022, 2023

## Season by season

* Key
* Playoffs berth

### BAL (2022–present)

| Season | League | | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Post-season | Head Coach | Captain |
| Season | League | Conference | Finish | Played | Wins | Losses | Win % | Post-season | Head Coach | Captain |
| Cape Town Tigers |||||||||||
| 2022 | BAL | Nile | 3rd | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | Lost quarterfinals (Monastir) 67–106 | Relton Booysen | Pieter Prinsloo |
| 2023 | BAL | Nile | 4th | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | Lost quarterfinals (Stade Malien) 69–78 | Rasheed Hazzard | Pieter Prinsloo |
| 2024 | BAL | Kalahari | 3rd | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | Lost seeding game (Al Ahly Ly) 67–87 Won quarterfinal (FUS Rabat) 91–88$^{OT}$ Lost semifinal (Petro de Luanda) 86–96$^{OT}$ Lost third place game (Rivers Hoopers) 57–80 | Florsheim Ngwenya | Lebesa Selepe |
| Season record | Season record | Season record | Season record | 14 | 5 | 9 | .357 | | | |
| Playoffs record | Playoffs record | Playoffs record | Playoffs record | 6 | 1 | 5 | .167 | | | |

## Players
### Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

### Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.
* Criteria
* To appear in this section a player must have either:
* Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
* Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
* Played at least one official NBA match at any time.
* Christopher Gabriel
* Pieter Prinsloo
* Lehlogonolo Tholo
* Thabo Sithole
* Miguel Ferrão
* Billy Preston
* Cleanthony Early
* Myck Kabongo
* Ben Uzoh
* Evans Ganapamo
* Dhieu Deing

## Head coaches

Thus far, the Tigers have had three head coaches:
* Raphael Edwards: (2021)
* Relton Booysen: (2021–2022)
* Florsheim Ngwenya: (2022)
* Rasheed Hazzard: (2023$^{BAL}$)
* Florsheim Ngwenya: (2023-present)
$^{BAL}$ denotes the coach only coached the Tigers during Basketball Africa League games.