Famous CBA Alumni

The following are a list of players and coaches from the CBA or the Eastern League (the CBA's predecessor) who later went on to successful careers, either in the NBA or in the top college divisions.


Phil Jackson
Coached the Albany Patroons for five years; later won nine rings as an NBA head coach.

Flip Saunders
Ranks second in the CBA with 253 career victories as a head coach; moved on to coach the Minnesota Timberwolves and currently coaches the Detroit Pistons

George Karl
Coached the Montana Golden Nuggets and Albany Patroons; later became a head coach with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics and Denver Nuggets.

John Chaney
The longtime Temple Owls coach played for the Eastern League's Sunbury Mercuries, and later coached the Williamsport Billies.

Tim Legler
The Omaha Racers star later became an NBA player with the Washington Bullets.

Jim Boeheim
Long before he became head coach of the Syracuse Orange men's basketball team, Boeheim was a star for the Scranton Miners in the 1960's.

Paul Arizin
When the Philadelphia Warriors moved to San Francisco in 1961, Arizin chose to stay in Philadelphia, playing three years with the Eastern League's Camden Bullets.

John Starks
Started his professional basketball career with the 1989-90 Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets.

Bill Musselman
Coached the Tampa Bay/Rapid City Thrillers and Albany Patroons to four consecutive CBA titles; later became the first head coach of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.

Eric Musselman
The son of the late Bill Musselman, Eric ranks as one of the winningest coaches in CBA history; later became the head coach of the Golden State Warriors, finishing as runner-up for NBA Coach of the Year in 2002-2003, and the Sacramento Kings.



Current NBA players with CBA experience include Raja Bell, Jeff McInnis, Voshon Lenard, Stephen Jackson and Smush Parker.