# London Lightning

The London Lightning is a Canadian professional basketball team based in London, Ontario, with home games at Canada Life Place. The team competes in the Basketball Super League.

## History

The Lightning name was announced on August 12, 2011. The team was a charter member of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC) that began play for the 2011–12 season and won the league's first championship. The Lightning have won the most NBLC championships with six. On August 17, former Albany Patroons and Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry head coach Micheal Ray Richardson was announced as the Lightning's first head coach. The Lightning would go on to win the 2012 NBL championship, defeating the Halifax Rainmen 116-92 on March 25, 2012 at the John Labatt Centre to take the best-of-five championship series three games to two.
Carlos Knox was unveiled as the new Lightning head coach on July 17, 2014. He led the team to an 18–14 record. Knox was dismissed in August 2015 after hiding player Jonathan Mills' positive drug test results from Vito Frijia and the league. He was replaced by former Mississauga Power head coach Kyle Julius later in the month.
Julius would lead the Lightning to back-to-back championship appearances in 2016 and 2017, winning the championship in the latter. He would be replaced by former Niagara College and interim Niagara River Lions head coach, Keith Vassell. Vassell led the Lightning to another championship in 2017–18, but was fired after a 4–4 record in the 2018–19 season.

## Home arenas

Originally opened in 2002, Canada Life Place is a sports-entertainment centre, in London, Ontario, Canada. The arena has a capacity of 9,000. The Lightning shares the arena with London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.

## Personnel

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

## Season-by-season record

| Season | Coach | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Post season | Post season | Post season | Post season |
| Season | Coach | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result |
| 2011–12 | Micheal Ray Richardson | 28 | 8 | .778 | 1st | 5 | 2 | .714 | Champions |
| 2012–13 | Micheal Ray Richardson | 33 | 7 | .825 | 1st | 6 | 2 | .750 | Champions |
| 2013–14 | Micheal Ray Richardson | 23 | 17 | .575 | 4th | 6 | 6 | .500 | Conference semi-finals |
| 2014–15 | Carlos Knox | 18 | 14 | .563 | 3rd | 2 | 3 | .400 | Conference quarter-finals |
| 2015–16 | Kyle Julius | 26 | 14 | .650 | 1st | 10 | 6 | .500 | League runners-up |
| 2016–17 | Kyle Julius | 35 | 5 | .875 | 1st | 11 | 2 | .846 | Champions |
| 2017–18 | Keith Vassell | 27 | 13 | .675 | 1st | 11 | 6 | .647 | Champions |
| 2018–19 | Keith Vassell Elliott Etherington | 22 | 18 | .550 | 1st | 2 | 3 | .400 | Division Semifinals |
| 2019–20 | Doug Plumb | 15 | 9 | .625 | Season curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic | Season curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic | Season curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic | Season curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic | Season curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2023–24 | Doug Plumb | 20 | 12 | .625 | 2nd | 2 | 1 | .667 | - |
| Totals | Totals | 227 | 105 | .684 | | 53 | 30 | .639 | 4 championships |