Anchorage Northern Knights

The Anchorage Northern Knights, based in Anchorage, Alaska, were the city's first professional sports team. They joined the Eastern Basketball Association (EBA) in 1977 for a $10,000 fee. The EBA was a small league of eastern teams, and it became the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) a year later.

The Knights played at the West High School gym, which held about 4,000. They went 24-7 in 1977-78, the league's best record, and drew crowds well above any rival. In 1980 they beat Rochester in a seven-game final, a first title for an Alaskan pro team.

The cost was heavy. The budget ran near $300,000 a year, and for the first two seasons the club paid to fly visiting teams to Alaska. In the summer of 1982, other owners voted to make Anchorage cover travel from Seattle onward. After a poor 1981-82 season, the team sold its franchise back to the CBA for $100,000 and disbanded.