The Western Basketball Association was formed in 1978 and played for one season during 1978-79. Organized by Larry Cregar, a former assistant coach in the National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA), and real estate developer Neil Christianson.

The seven-team league included the Fresno Stars, Great Falls (Montana) Sky, Las Vegas Dealers, Reno Bighorns, Salt Lake City Prospectors, Tucson Gunners, and Washington (Tri-City) Lumberjacks

Tucson, coached by Herb Brown

Herb Brown

Herb Brown is an American basketball coach. He is the former head coach of the Detroit Pistons . Brown was named head coach of the NBA's Detroit Pistons during the 1975-76 NBA season, replacing Ray Scott, who'd gone 17-25...

, went 32-16 during the regular season to finish first in the WBA's only season. Washington (29-19) and Reno (28-20) rounded out the top three.

In the finals, Brown's Gunners defeated Reno, which was coached by Bill Musselman

Bill Musselman

William Clifford Musselman was an American basketball coach in the NCAA, the ABA, the WBA, the CBA, and the NBA. He was a fiercely intense coach who once was quoted as saying "defeat is worse than death, because you have to live with defeat."-Early life:Musselman was the second of five children....

, four games to three.

Washington's Jeff Cook earned league MVP honors. Al Smith, Walt Jordon, Cook, Del Beshore, and Willie Smith earned first-team all-league honors. Randy Ayers

Randy Ayers

Randall Duane Ayers is a retired American college basketball player and former assistant coach of the Washington Wizards. His youngest brother, Tim Ayers, served as Mayor and City Commissioner of Springfield, Ohio from 1984–1990.Ayers was born in Springfield, Ohio, the fourth child of Frank Ayers...

, Jackie Robinson, Major Jones

Major Jones

Major James Brooks Jones is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA. He attended and played collegiately at Albany State University....

, Brad Davis

Brad Davis (basketball)

Bradley Ernest Davis is a retired professional basketball player who spent the bulk of his National Basketball Association career with the Dallas Mavericks.-Biography:...

, and Jim Boylan were named to the second team.

The league attempted to merge with the more established Continental Basketball Association

Continental Basketball Association

The Continental Basketball Association was a professional men's basketball league in the United States, which has been on hiatus since the 2009 season.- History :...

(CBA), but when the deal failed, the league folded.

For WBA- Women's Basketball Association Defunct basketball league All-Star Cards: http://www.wnbacards.com/WBL.htm